Gillian Smith, BACP, NCPS

Gillian Smith is a UK-based counsellor who brings four years of professional counselling experience alongside more than two decades of broader professional work supporting children, young people, and adults. She practices person-centred therapy, focusing on each client’s individual experiences and emotions to ensure they are listened to with empathy and without judgement. Her approach emphasises building trusting therapeutic relationships where clients can explore difficult feelings and life challenges at their own pace.

Gillian’s path into counselling was informed by personal experience of childhood trauma, workplace anxiety, grief, and depression, which shaped her commitment to offering compassionate and practical support. She retrained in 2019 and earned an Advanced Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling, combining formal training with extensive hands-on experience to help clients discover their strengths and find sustainable coping strategies.

She is credentialed with BACP and NCPS, credentials that reflect professional counselling qualifications and adherence to recognised standards. Gillian integrates client-centred principles with psychodynamic perspectives to tailor therapy to each person’s needs, addressing issues such as stress, anxiety, grief, low self-esteem, depression, relationship and family difficulties, trauma and abuse, anger, career concerns, coping with life changes, and ADHD. Additional areas of focus include abandonment, attachment issues, communication problems, guilt and shame, and cultivating self-love.

Gillian aims to create an ethical, supportive space where clients feel empowered to work through challenges and move toward a more fulfilling life. She approaches each therapeutic relationship with respect and a commitment to helping people find practical, meaningful ways forward.