Richard Gordon-Smith
Helpful, experienced counsellor for common struggles
About Richard
Richard Gordon-Smith offers support for stress, anxiety, depression, relationship and parenting concerns. He helps with self-esteem, addictions, grief, trauma and abuse, ADHD, eating and sleeping difficulties, anger, career worries and coping with life changes. He also works with intimacy-related issues, compassion fatigue and a range of family-related challenges.
Richard is named with the NCPS credential, which denotes a recognised professional standing. Richard began studying psychology because he was curious about emotions and personality.
Background and approach
He completed an Advanced Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling with the University of Manchester and has worked in mental health for thirteen years. That practical experience shapes how he listens and responds in sessions. His style is down-to-earth and non-judgemental.
He tries to make talking about difficult things easier. Sessions aim to help people make sense of their feelings, spot patterns and find practical ways forward. Richard works in an integrative way.
He draws on client-centred methods to follow what matters most to the person in front of him. He also uses cognitive behavioural ideas to tackle unhelpful thoughts and behaviours, and emotion-focused and psychodynamic ideas to look at deeper emotional patterns. People meet him for short-term practical work and for longer exploration.
He supports those wanting coaching-style help as well as those seeking therapy. Above all, he focuses on building a trusting space where people can talk openly and try out new ways of coping.
What Richard works with
How Richard works
Listed by Richard among the ways they work.
Listed by Richard among the ways they work.
Listed by Richard among the ways they work.
Listed by Richard among the ways they work.
Listed by Richard among the ways they work.
Listed by Richard among the ways they work.
Sessions & fees
How his approaches work online
Attachment-Based Therapy looks at patterns of connection and how they affect current relationships. Online sessions can help people notice attachment patterns and practise new ways of relating in their everyday life. Client-Centred Therapy places the person's experience at the heart of the work, with the therapist following what matters most to the client and offering acceptance and careful listening. This approach is useful for building confidence and exploring what feels important. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and behaviours and testing simple practical changes to improve mood and functioning.Choosing the right approach is usually collaborative. The therapist will discuss what feels most useful and try different methods based on goals and preferences. Over time the plan can change according to progress and what the person finds most helpful.
Online therapy brings practical flexibility. Video calls let people see and be seen, which helps with conversation and emotional connection. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text messaging suit quick check-ins, shorter work between sessions or people who find writing easier than speaking. These options make it simpler to fit therapy around work, family and life commitments while keeping the same therapeutic focus.
| Session length | Typically 50 minutes |
|---|---|
| Client ages | Adults, 18 and over |
| Fees | Subscription via BetterHelp, cancel anytime |
| Insurance | Not billed directly |
Questions people ask
What kinds of problems does he help with?
How would you describe his therapeutic style?
What experience does he have?
What credentials and location are listed?
Can sessions be held in languages other than English?
Which session formats are available?
How is cost handled for sessions?
What are the first steps to begin working with him?
Areas of focus
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Parenting issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 13 years
- Registered with
- NCPS
- Languages
- English
