Maria "Ri" Punt
Compassionate counsellor for complex life challenges
About Maria
Maria "Ri" Punt supports people facing relationship strain, trauma and abuse, LGBT concerns, family challenges and big life changes. She offers straightforward, calm conversations to help people untangle what feels overwhelming. Maria presents herself in plain terms and aims to make the first steps feel manageable.
Maria holds BACP, which denotes membership of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. She has practised for 19 years in the United Kingdom and brings that experience to each session.
Background and approach
Her work focuses on listening carefully and helping people notice patterns that influence feelings and choices. She uses an integrative approach, drawing on different evidence-based therapeutic techniques to suit each person. Sessions are collaborative - the person and Maria decide together what to try and when to adjust the plan.
The aim is to increase clarity, reduce shame and build practical ways to cope. Maria also works with topics such as sexuality, kink and BDSM, chronic pain and illness, caregiver stress, veteran and first responder issues, and dynamics around prejudice and discrimination. She helps people talk through guilt, forgiveness, and life purpose so they can find steadier ground.
Appointments are offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text messaging. People begin by completing a short matching questionnaire and then schedule sessions to fit their needs. The style is warm, relaxed and non-judgemental, with an emphasis on helping people reconnect with their own strengths.
What Maria works with
Sessions & fees
Practical approaches and online counselling options
Maria uses an integrative set of evidence-based techniques, choosing methods that match each person's situation. One common approach focuses on understanding how past events and current triggers link to symptoms, helping people make sense of trauma responses and reduce their hold on day-to-day life. Another approach looks at thoughts and behaviours, offering practical ways to change unhelpful patterns and build coping strategies for stress, guilt or relationship difficulties.Finding the right approach is treated as a collaborative process. The therapist and the person work together to identify goals, try methods and adjust the plan if something does not fit. This keeps work focused and responsive to changing needs and preferences.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging. Video calls are useful for fuller face-to-face conversation, phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited, and live chat or text-based messaging suit brief check-ins or people who prefer typing. These formats make it easier to fit counselling into busy lives and reach therapists across the United Kingdom.
| 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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Areas of focus
What this therapist works with
Most often
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coping with life changes
- Domestic violence
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Life purpose
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Sexuality
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
- Experience
- 19 years
- Registered with
- BACP
- Languages
- English
