Michelle Banks, BACP

Michelle Banks offers straightforward, compassionate support for people feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, loss or life changes. She creates a calm, respectful space where clients can talk about what matters most. Michelle writes plainly and listens closely to understand each person's experience and goals.

She uses a person-centred approach that puts the client's perspective at the heart of sessions. That means sessions focus on the client's priorities and personal strengths rather than a fixed agenda. Michelle also draws on mindfulness practices to help people manage intense feelings and grounded techniques for trauma-related concerns.

Michelle has seven years of counselling experience and holds membership with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, listed as BACP. Her background includes helping people with depression, anxiety, relationship and intimacy concerns, parenting difficulties, and career-related stress. She has also supported people with obsessive-compulsive tendencies and post-traumatic stress symptoms.

She pays particular attention to complex or overlapping issues, such as gender dysphoria, HIV and AIDS related challenges, grief, and multicultural concerns. Michelle aims to be sensitive to the whole person and the context in which difficulties happen.

Sessions are warm and interactive, with an emphasis on respect and compassion. Michelle encourages clients to find their own solutions while offering practical tools for coping with emotional pain, sleep and eating difficulties, anger, and changes that follow significant life events.

How Michelle’s approaches translate to online counselling

Michelle works from a person-centred perspective, which means sessions begin with the client's concerns and priorities. The therapist follows what the person brings and helps them explore options at their own pace. This approach supports emotional growth and clearer decision making when facing relationship, work or personal challenges.

She also uses mindfulness techniques to help people notice and manage strong emotions. Simple breathing and grounding practices are introduced to reduce anxiety and improve sleep and focus. Where trauma is part of a person's story, trauma-focused methods help address distressing memories and reduce their hold on day-to-day life.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic work. Michelle will work collaboratively to decide which methods suit the client's needs, goals and preferences. That means trying small steps, reviewing how they feel, and adapting the plan together rather than imposing a single method.

If you are considering online sessions, confirm the available session formats before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy around family, work and travel commitments and can reduce time spent commuting. It can also allow shorter check-ins when schedules are tight or options that do not require video when bandwidth or comfort make that preferable.