Carol Shields, BACP

Carol Shields is a counsellor who helps people cope with stress, anxiety, relationship strain, family conflict, low self-esteem and life changes. She also supports people dealing with addiction, grief, parenting challenges, anger and mood conditions such as depression, bipolar and ADHD. Carol works with LGBT clients and those affected by trauma and abuse.

She uses straightforward, respectful conversation to help people find practical steps forward. Sessions are aimed at helping people notice patterns, try new ways of responding, and practise skills between meetings. Carol draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Client-Centred approaches, along with mindfulness practices, to fit each person’s situation.

With ten years of experience and registration with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), she brings steady, calm support to sensitive topics. She treats people with respect and aims to make the work feel manageable rather than overwhelming.

Carol often helps people unpack difficult feelings, work through communication problems, and build coping strategies for chronic health issues and caregiving stress. She also addresses attachment concerns, body image, codependency and issues around ageing.

Her style is collaborative and down-to-earth. She focuses on small, achievable changes and on things people can practise in daily life. The goal is clearer thinking, better coping and improved wellbeing over time.

How Carol’s approaches translate to online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people name what matters and take small actions toward those values. It focuses on noticing thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, which can help with anxiety, depression and life transitions.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings and behaviours link together. It offers practical exercises and short experiments to change unhelpful patterns, which suits stress, panic and mood difficulties.

Client-Centred Therapy places the person’s experience at the heart of sessions. The counsellor listens without judgement and helps people find their own solutions, useful for grief, relationship concerns and low self-worth.

Finding the right approach is part of the journey. Carol will work together with each person to choose or combine methods that fit their goals and preferences. That means agreeing goals, trying approaches and adjusting the plan as needed.

If you are considering online sessions, check the current session options before booking as formats are not listed in the biography. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, reduce travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed. Some approaches translate well to remote sessions because they use exercises, mindfulness practices and homework that can be done between meetings.