Claire Bottomley
Compassionate, practical counselling for lifes challenges
About Claire
Claire Bottomley offers calm, practical support for people feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety or big life changes. She meets each person where they are and helps them find ways to cope that fit their life. Claire aims to create an accepting space where worries can be talked through and small steps toward change are planned together.
She holds BACP, which stands for British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists. Claire also has a first class honours degree in Therapeutic Counselling and a postgraduate diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy.
Background and approach
These qualifications inform a blended way of working rather than a single fixed method. Claire uses a mix of approaches to suit the concern at hand. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy helps with unhelpful thinking and behaviours.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy supports people to focus on values and take manageable action. Client-centred principles ensure the conversation follows the client’s priorities. Sessions look at how past experiences shape current patterns.
Together, Claire and the person explore what keeps difficulties going and try out different ways of responding. Practical techniques are offered alongside time to reflect on deeper themes when needed. Her experience includes helping with anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, sleeping problems, addictions, self-esteem and relationship issues.
She also supports people with ADHD, attachment and neurodiversity-related concerns. Sessions are designed to be steady, clear and focused on achievable change.
What Claire works with
How Claire works
Listed by Claire among the ways they work.
Listed by Claire among the ways they work.
Listed by Claire among the ways they work.
Listed by Claire among the ways they work.
Listed by Claire among the ways they work.
Listed by Claire among the ways they work.
Sessions & fees
How Claires approaches translate to online therapy
Claire uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours, useful for anxiety, low mood and sleep problems. She also draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which focuses on clarifying personal values and taking manageable action even when difficult feelings remain. Client-centred work keeps the focus on what the person wants from therapy and ensures sessions follow their priorities.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss options and try out different methods to see what fits best with the persons goals and preferences. This is a collaborative process where adjustments are made as understanding deepens.
Online sessions can be booked as video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text-based messaging. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat suits shorter check-ins and text messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These formats offer flexibility to fit therapy around work, family and daily life.
| Session length | Typically 50 minutes |
|---|---|
| Client ages | Adults, 18 and over |
| Fees | Subscription via BetterHelp, cancel anytime |
| Insurance | Not billed directly |
Questions people ask
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How much clinical experience does she have?
What professional accreditation does she hold and where is she based?
Can I work with her if I live outside the UK or prefer another language?
Which session formats are available?
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What steps are involved in beginning therapy?
Areas of focus
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Men's issues
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Somatization
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 5 years
- Registered with
- BACP
- Languages
- English
