Carlie Machell-Kay, NCPS

Carlie Machell-Kay helps with stress, anxiety, relationship and family concerns. She also supports people facing trauma and abuse, parenting strains, addictions, grief, anger, low self esteem and depression. Carlie works with issues around intimacy, ADHD, coping with life changes and compassion fatigue. Her approach is practical and personal, aimed at making therapy feel straightforward.

Carlie trained as a psychodynamic counsellor and uses that approach to look at how past relationships shape current feelings and behaviour. She also draws on Client-Centred and Narrative ideas to make space for each person’s story and priorities. These methods are used to help people make sense of painful patterns and try different ways of responding.

Carlie has seven years as a practising therapist and over 25 years’ experience working in related areas before qualifying. She has specialised in trauma and relationship work and has considerable experience in women’s mental wellbeing and domestic abuse settings. Her background shapes a trauma-aware way of working.

She has personal experience of neurodiversity and acquired brain injury, which informs her empathy and practical adjustments during sessions. Carlie aims to tailor therapy to what each person needs rather than following a fixed model.

Carlie uses plain language in sessions and encourages clear goals you can check as you go. She can help with shorter-term coaching-style work or longer, reflective therapy depending on what you want to achieve.

Approaches to online therapy and how they help

Client-Centred Therapy helps people speak about what matters most to them and shapes sessions around each person’s needs. It works well for emotional support, low self esteem and times of change. Narrative Therapy focuses on the stories people tell about themselves and helps rewrite unhelpful narratives to open up different choices and actions.

Psychodynamic Therapy looks at how past relationships and experiences influence current feelings and behaviour. This can be useful for understanding recurring patterns, relationship difficulties and the impact of past trauma.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will discuss options with the client and jointly decide what feels most useful. That collaborative process means methods can change as needs and goals evolve.

If you are considering online therapy, please confirm which session formats are currently offered before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, reduce travel time and allow regular check-ins during stressful periods. They can also offer simpler options for shorter updates or coaching-style sessions when a full appointment is not needed.