Colette Safhill , BACP

Colette Safhill is a person-centred counsellor with 20 years of experience. She uses a warm, non-judgemental style to help people talk through problems and find practical ways forward.

Colette draws on person-centred principles to place the client’s experience at the centre of each session. She also uses cognitive behavioural therapy to address unhelpful thinking patterns and dialectical behaviour therapy skills for emotion regulation and stress management. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, known as EMDR, is another approach she uses for trauma-related work.

People come to Colette with many concerns, including anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, grief and issues around intimacy. She also supports those facing addiction, eating and sleeping problems, chronic illness or caregiver stress. Other areas she addresses include body image, adoption and attachment questions, and coping with life changes.

Colette is BACP accredited, which means she is registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. She practises from the United Kingdom and works with clients in English. She is experienced in online and telephone work as well as in-person sessions.

Sessions aim to be straightforward and practical. Colette helps clients set goals, try different coping strategies and review what works. Her approach is collaborative and paced to each person’s needs.

How Colette’s approaches work online

Colette uses person-centred therapy to prioritise each person's lived experience and to build a trusting therapeutic relationship. This approach focuses on listening, reflecting and helping people find their own solutions, which fits well with conversational online formats.

She also uses cognitive behavioural therapy, which looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and actions and offers practical exercises to change unhelpful habits. Dialectical behaviour therapy skills are used to teach emotional regulation and coping techniques for stress and intense emotions.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will discuss goals and preferences at the start and adapt methods over time. Decisions about which techniques to try are made together, revisited as needed and tailored to each person’s pace.

Online therapy offers flexibility with video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging. Video is useful for deeper conversations when visual cues help. Phone sessions can suit shorter check-ins or lower bandwidth situations. Text and chat are helpful for ongoing check-ins, journalling prompts and quick coping tools between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy around work, caregiving and other commitments while keeping continuity of care.