About Michael
Michael James is a counsellor with nearly three decades of experience. He works with people who are anxious, grieving, struggling with relationships, or trying to manage life changes. He also helps those coping with phobias, addiction, mood changes and issues around intimacy and self-esteem.
He follows a person-centred way of working, which means sessions are guided by what the client brings. That makes therapy practical and focused on real-life problems rather than a fixed programme.
Background and approach
Mindfulness is offered as intentional awareness, taught in small steps to help notice unhelpful patterns. Michael often looks at how past hurt and trauma affect current behaviour. He uses present-centred body awareness alongside reflective conversation to help people reframe what matters to them.
This combined approach aims to reduce the hold of old patterns and open pathways to change. His work draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Attachment-based ideas and Emotionally-Focused methods, mixed with existential reflection. The emphasis is on steady exploration of meaning, identity and purpose so people can move towards solutions they choose.
Sessions aim to be collaborative and paced to the individual. Michael brings long experience and a calm, exploratory style to each meeting. He practises in the United Kingdom and works with English-speaking clients, including international clients when arrangements allow.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice painful thoughts and feelings without being driven by them, then commit to actions that match their values. It suits worries, anxiety, phobias and life transitions. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns shape current connections and emotional responses, which is useful for relationship difficulties, intimacy concerns and patterns of avoidance.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences and what has or hasn't helped before, and together they will try methods that fit the person's needs. This collaborative process can adapt methods over time as things change.
Online sessions offer practical benefits. Video calls allow a face-to-face feel when longer conversation and visual cues help. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can be easier on the day of a busy schedule. Live chat or text-based messaging suit brief check-ins, ongoing reflection between sessions or people who prefer writing. These options increase flexibility and make it simpler to keep continuity of care despite travel, work or family commitments.
Questions people ask
What kinds of issues does he help with?
What is his therapeutic style like?
How much experience does he have?
What credentials and location are listed?
Which languages and international options are available?
Which session formats does he offer?
How are costs and payment handled?
How do I begin working with him?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hearing impaired
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 28 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.