Amali Hapugoda , BACP

Amali Hapugoda is a counsellor with ten years' experience supporting people facing anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship strain and a wide range of life challenges. She works with issues such as stress, grief, addiction, sleep problems, self-esteem and sexual abuse. People may come to her feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or unsure how to move forward, and she aims to offer calm, steady help in those moments.

Amali uses a person-focused approach that starts with listening. She helps people talk through what matters to them and to make sense of patterns that keep causing pain. She adapts the work over time, choosing practical strategies when they help and exploring history when that brings clearer understanding.

Her clinical toolkit includes client-centred ways of building trust, cognitive behavioural techniques to shift thoughts and behaviours, psychodynamic ideas to look at past influences, and trauma-focused methods when needed. Motivational interviewing is used to support change for issues such as addictions or health goals.

Sessions are tailored to the individual and reviewed as progress is made. Amali describes the work as collaborative - she and the person shape goals together and try approaches that fit the person’s life and values. She also helps people with parenting strain, career stress, ADHD-related challenges and intimacy-related concerns.

She holds BACP accreditation and practises from the United Kingdom. Sessions can be offered by video, phone, live chat or text messaging, which allows for flexibility around work and daily life.

How her approaches translate to online therapy

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on building a respectful, non-judgemental relationship where the person feels heard. Online sessions keep that same emphasis on listening and reflecting, helping people speak about what matters and set personal goals.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts and actions influence mood. In remote sessions this can mean setting practical tasks between meetings, watching thought patterns, and checking small behaviour changes together over video or messaging.

Trauma-Focused Therapy attends to the effects of past harm and aims to reduce distress from painful memories. Online work may include paced discussion, grounding strategies, and gradual processing while the therapist monitors how the person copes session by session.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Amali will discuss options and tailor methods based on a person’s needs, goals and preferences. She treats choice as a collaboration and adapts the plan as progress is made.

Online sessions offer flexibility in how to meet. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and shared visual cues. Phone work is useful when bandwidth is limited or for shorter check-ins. Live chat and text messaging suit people who prefer writing, need to work around busy schedules, or want more regular, brief contact between sessions. Registered or accredited professionals can provide consistent support through these formats, helping people fit therapy into daily life.