About Nicola
Nicola Spence is a counsellor based in the United Kingdom who helps people facing stress, anxiety, grief, low self-esteem and depression. She also supports those dealing with life changes, relationship and intimacy concerns, addiction and ADHD. Nicola uses a human-centred, compassion-focused style and places the therapeutic relationship at the heart of her work.
She prefers not to work from symptom lists or diagnostic labels. Instead she listens to each person's story and looks for strengths to build on.
Background and approach
Sessions start with exploring what brought someone to counselling and forming a shared understanding of their experience. From that shared understanding Nicola makes gentle links between past events and current difficulties. She offers choices about the pace and direction of work and helps clients set practical steps they can try between sessions.
Her approach aims to empower people rather than tell them what to do. Nicola combines methods from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Attachment-Based approaches where these fit the person's goals. She also draws on Emotionally-Focused and Dialectical Behaviour ideas when helpful.
Her way of working is straightforward and down-to-earth, with lots of listening and practical planning. Nicola is registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, abbreviated as BACP. She has three years of professional experience and conducts sessions in English.
If you prefer a therapist who avoids diagnostic labels, Nicola may be a good match.
Therapeutic approaches adapted for online sessions
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on helping people notice painful thoughts and feelings while taking small steps towards what matters to them. It can help when worry, low mood or life changes make it hard to move forward. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) looks at patterns of thinking and behaviour and teaches practical skills to change those patterns. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression and sleep difficulties. Attachment-Based Therapy pays attention to how early relationships shape current bonds and emotional patterns and can be useful for intimacy and relationship concerns.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Nicola will talk through different methods and decide with each person which fits their goals and preferences. That collaborative process means techniques can be blended and adjusted as progress is reviewed.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging. Video works well for a fuller conversation and visual connection, while phone calls need less bandwidth and can fit during a break from work. Live chat or messaging suits short check-ins, ongoing support and people who prefer writing. These options make therapy more flexible and easier to fit around daily life.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Codependency
- 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
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- 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
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Systemic Therapy
- Experience
- 3 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English
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