Claire Sims , BACP

Claire Sims is a UK-based counsellor with two decades of professional experience supporting people through a wide range of life challenges. She has worked with stress and anxiety, relationship difficulties, trauma and abuse, sexual and domestic violence, grief and loss, and many issues connected to self-esteem, addiction and family life. Claire approaches her work with sensitivity, respect and compassion, allowing each person to set the pace and to lead the work according to their needs.

Her clinical foundation is in psychodynamic counselling, and over the years she has broadened her practice to an integrative way of working that draws on her varied experience. That means she adapts her skills to suit the individual while maintaining a focus on helping people regain a sense of control and make meaningful changes. She describes her practice as collaborative - she works alongside people rather than directing them, and aims to create a supportive environment where taking the first step toward therapy is acknowledged and respected.

Claire began training in counselling in 2000 and started seeing clients in 2005. Her roles have spanned direct counselling, helpline work, service coordination and training, including long-term work with services for sexual violence, bereavement support at a hospice, IAPT services, dementia counselling, and projects addressing loneliness and emotional wellbeing. She holds the BACP credential - the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy - which indicates professional affiliation with a major UK counselling body.

Psychodynamic and Integrative Work Online

Claire Sims bases much of her practice on psychodynamic therapy, a method that explores how past experiences and relationship patterns shape present feelings and behaviors. This approach can help people understand recurring difficulties, attachment and abandonment concerns, and emotional responses that feel hard to change. She also describes her practice as integrative, combining insights from psychodynamic work with techniques tailored to the individual - this flexibility supports clients facing issues from anxiety and grief to relationship and intimacy problems.

Finding the right approach is treated as a collaborative process. Claire works with each person to identify what feels most useful for their goals and preferences, adjusting the focus and methods as the therapeutic relationship develops so that the plan reflects the client’s needs.

Online therapy offers practical benefits for this style of work. Video calls and phone sessions allow for real-time conversation and emotional connection, while live chat and text-based messaging provide flexible options for those who prefer written communication or need appointments outside typical hours. These formats make it easier to access licensed professionals and continue consistent therapeutic work despite busy schedules or geographical constraints.