Mary Prime , BACP

Mary Prime is a counsellor with eight years of professional experience. She is registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and works from the United Kingdom. Mary aims to make therapy accessible and practical for people who are juggling busy lives.

She meets people where they are and listens first to understand what is affecting day-to-day life. Sessions are shaped around immediate needs such as stress, anxiety, low mood, grief and coping with major life changes. Mary also supports people experiencing relationship difficulties, intimacy-related issues, sleep and eating concerns, and compassion fatigue.

Mary trained initially in person-centred counselling and qualified in 2018. Since then she has completed a higher level diploma and integrates other approaches into her work, including cognitive behavioural techniques and mindfulness. This lets her tailor sessions to what each person finds most useful.

She has worked in NHS talking therapies roles as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner and currently works as a Social Prescriber with community mental health teams. Much of her practice has been online since the COVID-19 pandemic, and she offers appointments at evenings and weekends to fit around people’s schedules.

Mary has particular experience supporting people with chronic pain and long-term health conditions, and she draws on personal lived experience of chronic pain, autism, ADHD and dyslexia to inform her empathy and understanding. She also has experience supporting unpaid carers and people facing major life transitions.

How Mary uses conversational approaches online

Mary works from a person-centred foundation that values listening and building trust. This approach focuses on understanding what matters most to the person and shaping sessions around their priorities, which can help with issues like grief, low mood and relationship stress.

She also uses cognitive behavioural therapy, which looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. CBT is practical and often involves trying small changes or tasks between sessions to reduce anxiety or shift unhelpful patterns. Mindfulness therapy is another part of her work and teaches simple attention and breathing practices to help manage stress and improve focus.

Choosing the right approach is part of the therapy process. Mary works collaboratively to decide which methods fit a person’s goals, needs and preferences, and she adjusts that plan as therapy progresses.

Online sessions can be booked as video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit appointments around work or caregiving, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce travel time. Such flexibility helps people access consistent support even with busy or changeable schedules.