Counsellor profile
Carol Barker, BACP
Counsellor - stress and relationship support
See online counselling options- ACT
- CBT
- Attachment work
About Carol
Counsellor and member of BACP, Carol Barker has seven years' experience working with stress, anxiety, relationship issues, family matters, grief and depression. She practises in the United Kingdom and offers short-term and longer-term work for adults seeking one-to-one counselling.
Carol draws on several common counselling approaches. She uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Attachment-Based Therapy and client-centred methods. These give a range of ways to talk through thoughts, feelings and patterns that get in the way of daily life.
Sessions are conversational and focus on practical change as well as understanding. Carol aims to be direct and non-judgemental, helping people notice unhelpful patterns and try new ways of responding. She keeps her work flexible so it can fit around busy days.
Her background includes many years in health-care settings. That experience influences how she responds to long-term illness, caregiving strain and life transitions. Carol also has experience relating to adoption and foster care and issues around ageing and cancer.
People come for help with relationship communication, codependency, attachment concerns, body image and coping with loss. She also works with stress linked to chronic pain, disability and major life disruptions. Carol aims to help each person clarify their goals and take small, practical steps towards them.
To begin, prospective clients follow the site process to match with her and arrange a first session. Sessions use a subscription model that can be cancelled at any time.
Therapeutic approaches used in online counselling
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and focus on what matters to them. It uses simple exercises to increase psychological flexibility and can be useful for anxiety, stress and patterns that limit daily life.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) identifies unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns and tests them with practical experiments. It is often used for anxiety, low mood and problems with coping strategies.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The counsellor will discuss options and decide together which methods fit the person's needs, goals and preferences. That decision is reviewed as therapy progresses so adjustments can be made.
If you are considering online counselling, check which session formats the counsellor currently offers before booking. The practical benefits of remote sessions include fitting appointments into a busy week, shorter check-ins when time is tight, and avoiding travel. Registered or accredited professionals often use online work to make it easier to keep therapy going alongside daily commitments.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
7+ years
Listed in
United Kingdom
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What issues does she commonly help with?
She works with stress, anxiety, relationship problems, family concerns, grief and depression. She also works with adoption and foster care, ageing, cancer, caregiver stress and chronic illness issues.
What style of therapy does she use?
Her work is integrative and practical. She uses ACT, CBT, DBT, attachment-based and client-centred approaches to help people notice patterns and try new responses.
How many years of experience does she have?
She has seven years' experience as a counsellor and prior work across health-care settings that inform her practice.
Which professional body is she a member of?
She is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, listed as BACP.
Which languages are sessions offered in?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can people outside the UK work with her?
International clients are not accepted.
How are sessions charged?
Costs vary with location and sessions are arranged through a subscription that can be cancelled at any time.
How do I start a first session?
Use the See online counselling options button, complete the short matching questionnaire and then schedule a first session through the site booking process.
Details come from information the counsellor supplied to BetterHelp. A membership or registration can be checked on the professional body's own register.
Online counselling is not emergency care. In an emergency call 999, or see the help numbers.