Laura West, NCPS

Laura West is a psychotherapist and counsellor with 19 years of healthcare experience. She draws on her nursing background to help people manage stress, anxiety, grief, low self-esteem, depression and major life changes. Laura also supports clients facing chronic pain, illness and disability, relationship breakdown, isolation and questions about life purpose.

She trained in psychotherapy and counselling after a long nursing career and holds NCPS. Her clinical work blends psychodynamic ideas with a person-centred outlook. That means she pays attention to past patterns while keeping the conversation focused on what matters now.

Sessions tend to be practical and conversational. She works with clients to make small, realistic changes and to build coping skills. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques are sometimes used to spot unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviours.

Laura treats each person as an individual and aims to create a calm, respectful space for talking. She draws on years of experience supporting people through serious illness and bereavement to handle sensitive topics gently.

Her approach is collaborative - she listens first, then helps set goals together. People come with different needs, so she adapts her style to suit each person’s pace and priorities.

How Laura uses different approaches in online therapy

Laura often combines Client-Centred ideas with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Client-Centred Therapy emphasises listening and acceptance and helps people feel heard before making changes. It is useful for emotional pain, low self-worth and coping with loss. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy looks at how thoughts, feelings and actions interact and uses simple experiments and exercises to shift unhelpful patterns, which can help with anxiety and low mood.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will listen to a person’s goals and preferences, then suggest methods to try together. They review progress and adjust the plan so it fits what is actually helping the client.

Confirm the current session options before booking, as formats are not specified in the biography. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, reduce travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It also lets conversations happen from wherever someone is able to focus and reflect, and can be a practical way to maintain momentum between sessions.