Vanessa Higgins , BACP

Vanessa Higgins is a counsellor with ten years' experience supporting people through difficult life moments. She focuses on stress, anxiety, depression, grief and issues arising from trauma and abuse. Vanessa aims to help people feel listened to and regain a sense of direction.

Vanessa draws on an integrative approach that adapts to each person's needs. She combines methods from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, person-centred work, and psychodynamic ideas to create practical, personalised plans. Sessions typically involve talking things through, trying out small changes, and checking what is and isn't working.

People come to Vanessa with a wide range of concerns beyond mood and anxiety. She supports those coping with attachment and abandonment worries, caregiver stress, chronic illness or pain, and the emotional effects of divorce or separation. She also helps people dealing with guilt, shame, loneliness, questions of life purpose and challenges around pregnancy and childbirth.

Vanessa offers appointments in the United Kingdom and works in English. Her practice uses a subscription model for sessions which can be cancelled at any time. She usually has most availability on Mondays and on Fridays, with occasional slots at other times of the week.

To begin, people complete a short matching questionnaire and then schedule sessions according to therapist availability. Vanessa aims to move at a pace that feels comfortable and to support each person in finding practical ways to cope and to grow.

Therapeutic approaches and how they work online

Vanessa uses a blend of evidence-based therapeutic techniques to suit different problems. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) helps people spot and change unhelpful thought and behaviour patterns that feed anxiety or low mood. Person-centred work focuses on listening and reflecting so the person feels understood and can find their own solutions. Psychodynamic ideas look at repeating patterns and relationships to uncover why certain feelings keep returning.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Vanessa treats this as a collaboration - she and the client discuss goals, try methods, and adjust the plan if something does not help. That way the approach stays practical and relevant to the issues being faced.

Online formats let people fit therapy into busy lives. Video calls approximate a face-to-face conversation, phone sessions use less bandwidth and suit shorter check-ins, and live chat or text messaging can work for people who prefer writing or need asynchronous contact. These options make it easier to book around work, caregiving and day-to-day demands while still getting regular therapeutic support.