Lesley Parfitt, NCPS

Lesley Parfitt is a psychotherapeutic counsellor and psychotherapist who specialises in eating disorders and clinical hypnotherapy. She works from an integrative, pluralistic framework that allows her to tailor therapeutic methods to each person's needs rather than relying on a single model. This depth-oriented practice is grounded in psychodynamic thinking while drawing on a range of approaches including humanistic and Jungian ideas, cognitive behavioural techniques, somatic experiencing, Gestalt, transactional analysis and insights from polyvagal theory.

Lesley primarily practises psychodynamically but blends other modalities to support recovery, self-understanding and symptom change. She is trained in clinical hypnotherapy and uses hypnotherapeutic tools alongside talking therapies to help with patterns that can be hard to shift through conversation alone. Her work explicitly addresses issues such as stress, anxiety, relationships, trauma and abuse, eating concerns, and low self-esteem, and she pays close attention to attachment, body image, control issues, divorce and separation, guilt and shame, and questions of life purpose.

In addition to therapeutic training, Lesley holds NCPS registration and offers complementary skills as a registered 550-hour yoga teacher and breathwork facilitator with a focus on trauma and menopause yoga. She also holds a Menopause Wellness Coach certification and is a qualified women's circle facilitator, trainer and coach, bringing somatic and group-oriented options into her wider practice.

Therapeutic approaches and online support

Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationship patterns shape current ways of relating. It explores trust, closeness and safety in relationships and can help people understand and change repetitive interaction styles that affect partnerships and attachment issues.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - CBT - is a practical, skills-oriented approach that helps people identify and work with unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. It is commonly used for anxiety, mood difficulties, panic and many aspects of eating concerns where changing patterns of thinking and behaviour is useful.

Clinical Hypnotherapy uses guided relaxation and focused attention to support access to inner resources and to complement talking therapy. It can be offered alongside other approaches to support habit change, emotional regulation and deeper somatic work without replacing conversational therapy.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Lesley works collaboratively with clients and with other registered professionals where helpful, exploring goals, preferences and practical needs to agree a tailored way forward that may combine methods.

Online therapy offers flexibility - sessions by video, phone, live chat or text-based messaging make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives and to maintain continuity when travel or location are limiting. These options support access for international clients and for people who prefer different modes of communication, while allowing therapists to adapt pace and tools to each person's needs.