Claire Cotgrove, BACP

Claire Cotgrove offers a calm, non-judgemental space for people facing difficult life moments. She is a BACP counsellor who listens without rushing and places the client at the centre of the work. Many people come to her feeling overwhelmed by relationships, trauma, identity questions, or chronic health problems. Claire aims to help people feel more accepted, understood and able to make changes that matter to them.

Claire uses a person-centred style that focuses on the individual’s experience in the room. That means sessions concentrate on what the person brings each time and move at a pace that feels manageable. She also draws on trauma-focused ideas when past harm affects daily life, helping people process upsetting memories and reduce their ongoing impact.

Her approach is practical and straightforward. Sessions can include talking, reflecting back what someone has said, and gentle experiments to try different ways of relating or coping. Creative methods may sometimes be offered to help express things that are hard to put into words.

Claire has three years of counselling experience and works with a wide range of concerns, including LGBT issues, relationship difficulties, intimacy-related problems and ADHD-related challenges. She also supports people dealing with chronic pain, illness and disability, and those recovering from abuse or difficult family dynamics.

People who choose Claire can expect a warm, accepting atmosphere and a focus on their goals. The time together is shaped by the client’s needs, with the counsellor walking alongside them as they explore change and healing.

How Claire's approaches can work online

Client-centred therapy places the person and their concerns at the heart of sessions. It relies on warm listening, reflection and helping people find their own solutions. This style can help with relationship worries, identity questions and low self-worth by building a steady, accepting therapeutic relationship.

Trauma-focused therapy concentrates on the effects of traumatic experiences and on reducing their hold over daily life. It uses careful, paced work to help people process painful memories and to develop new ways of coping when trauma affects relationships or functioning.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Claire will collaborate with each person to decide which methods suit their goals, needs and comfort levels. Decisions about pace, focus and whether to use creative methods are made together rather than imposed.

The biography does not list specific online session formats, so confirm available options before booking. In general, working remotely can make it easier to fit sessions around daily life, reduce travel time and allow for shorter check-ins when needed. It can also help people maintain continuity of care during life changes while they explore which ways of working feel most useful.