Vanessa Lindley

I offer a free 20-minute introductory call online.

I'm currently available for online sessions on Thursdays, starting immediately.

 I’m a qualified BACP counsellor with a deep and genuine interest in your unique experience. I support adults who are feeling depressed, overwhelmed, anxious, different, misunderstood and alone. I’m here for you, and will be alongside you as you find peace, clarity, a true sense of yourself and your place in the world.

I offer online counselling and psychotherapy for adults throughout the UK.

Many of my clients are looking for meaning and a way through their current struggles, want strategies for expressing themselves and their needs in relationships, are rediscovering themselves after loss, separation, or significant life changes, and live with minoritized identities such as neurodivergence or sex, gender and romantic identities. I provide an affirming space, inviting you to be fully yourself and led by your unique experiences.

A bit about me

I understand therapy from both sides, as a therapist and someone who has been a client. I know what it’s like to feel hopeless, helpless, wondering if there’s “something wrong” with you, desperate for answers whilst trying to cope with everyday life. My lived experience as someone who is neurodivergent and also part of the LGBTQ+ community, alongside my professional training, shapes how I work.

My qualifications include:

• Post graduate diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling, completion of Masters in Psychotherapy expected 2026.
• BSc in Psychology and Counselling.

About my approach to counselling

I’m an integrative counsellor. That means I can use different approaches so we can find out together what works best for you.

My relational approach recognises that our identity is shaped by our relationships with others, past, present, family, work, partners and friends.  Working in a trauma-informed way, I accept trauma can happen to anyone and "it's not what is wrong with you but what happened to you".  My holistic perspective welcomes all of you—physical, emotional, social, historical, cultural and spiritual—into our work.

Led by you and what’s brought you to therapy, we might explore relationships in your family or workplace, your childhood experiences, or patterns of thinking and behaving that are influencing you now. Our overall aim is to support you to grow and develop in ways that reflect who you are and want to be. The specific goals are defined by you.

Areas we can explore together

Here are some common starting points. We can work together to focus on what matters most to you.

• Depression, hopelessness, and feelings of suicide
• Overwhelm, exhaustion, patterns of perfectionism or people-pleasing and cycles of burnout.
• Struggling to cope with complex feelings after a break-up, death, medical diagnosis, traumatic event, or significant life change.
• Over-giving, hyper-vigilance, losing your sense of yourself and your needs in relationships.
• Identity, belonging, masking, self-acceptance, and self-compassion for being different.
• Understanding your triggers, how to self-regulate and set boundaries for yourself and others for self-care.

How I can help

People who work with me often describe feeling supported, accepted, and validated. You can expect:

• A confidential safe space where you can be fully yourself however you’re feeling.
• Patience and compassion as you get to know different parts of yourself and find meaning in your experiences.
• Insight and challenges to consider different perspectives if that suits your goals.
• Creative and gentle alternatives to try in our work together, when talking alone is not enough.

How it works

I offer one-to-one counselling and psychotherapy for adults aged 18+ in the UK. Sessions are online via Google Meet £55 per session paid in advance. A counselling session lasts 50 minutes and we would usually meet weekly. We agree together how many sessions depending on your goals. I offer short term, long term, and open-ended options according to your needs.

Finding the right therapist for you is important so my first session is a free 20-minute introductory call online.

Free 20-minute introductory call online

This gives us both a chance to see whether you feel comfortable talking with me, whether we might be a good fit and how counselling might support you with your experiences. I’ll ask you about yourself, what’s brought you to seek therapy now and answer any questions you have.

If it’s your first time looking for a therapist, or if you’re not sure how to choose, it might be useful during our call and afterwards to notice how you feel when we’re talking. For example:

• How does it feel talking about your life experiences with me?
• Do you feel I’m compassionate and interested in you?
• How does it feel to ask me questions?
• Do my responses feel relevant, respectful, and genuine to you?

If you’re here, you’ve already taken that first difficult step. You don’t have to take the next step alone. Let’s work towards your next chapter together.