Virginia Bowley, BACP

Virginia Bowley is an experienced counsellor with 24 years in the field. She trained and practised as a nurse and then spent 25 years working as a rehabilitation case manager for people with catastrophic injuries. She is an Accredited Counsellor with the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP).

She has worked in a range of settings since 2001, including Cruse bereavement care, independent practice and a further education college. Her background includes six years at Cruse, where she supported people through bereavement, and additional training in online counselling. She also takes monthly supervision and follows the BACP code of ethics.

Her approach combines client-centred work with cognitive behavioural ideas. In sessions she focuses on listening, helping people make sense of what they are facing, and finding practical steps they can try between meetings. She aims to build a calm, steady space for talking things through.

She helps people with a broad range of difficulties such as stress, anxiety, depression, grief and relationship problems. She also works with concerns including addiction, anger, self-esteem, career questions and coping with life changes. Additional focuses include adoption and foster care, attachment issues, ageing and caregiver stress.

People bring both everyday pressures and major losses to sessions. Virginia aims to respond with clear, simple ideas alongside empathic listening. Outside work she enjoys swimming, walking, cycling and reading, activities she says help keep her grounded.

How her approaches translate to online counselling

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on listening with respect and responding to what each person says. It aims to help people feel heard and to work out their own solutions, which can suit worries like grief, loneliness and relationship stress.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings and actions link together. It uses practical steps and short exercises to test different ways of thinking and behaving, often useful for anxiety, low mood and coping with change.

Choosing the right approach is a shared process. The therapist will talk with the client about needs, goals and preferences and then agree on a way of working. That plan can be reviewed and changed as things move forward.

If you are considering online work, please confirm which session formats are offered before booking because the biography does not list them. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy around school or work, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and remove travel time. Registered or accredited professionals use these options to offer consistent weekly support and practical follow-up between meetings.