Ruth Barrett, BACP

Ruth Barrett welcomes people who are feeling stuck after loss, relationship breakdown, trauma or life change. She introduces therapy in a calm, straightforward way so parents and adults can decide what feels right. Ruth is clear and compassionate in sessions and aims to help people find practical ways forward.

Ruth trained as a person-centred counsellor and holds a Master’s in Clinical Counselling. She is an Accredited Registered member of the BACP (British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists). She also holds certification in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which she uses alongside other approaches.

Her work often focuses on complex trauma, adverse childhood experiences and attachment. She helps people process grief, sexual abuse, anxiety, depression and panic, and supports those dealing with relationship difficulties, codependency and separation.

Ruth has nearly a decade of counselling experience and a long background in education, having taught young people aged 11 to 18 for more than twenty-five years. That experience informs her understanding of how early adversity can affect later life.

In sessions she adapts the approach to the person rather than only treating a label. People can expect a blend of person-centred listening, psychodynamic thinking, attachment ideas and practical CBT tools when helpful.

Ruth offers an initial session so you can decide whether to continue, with options for either a fixed block of sessions or more open-ended work. She undertakes regular supervision and ongoing professional development to guide her practice.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online work

Ruth uses person-centred counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as core ways of working. Person-centred counselling focuses on listening without judgement, helping people feel heard and understood so they can find their own path. CBT offers practical techniques to spot unhelpful thoughts and try different behaviours to reduce anxiety and low mood.

She also draws on attachment-informed ideas to help people understand how early relationships affect current patterns. Attachment work can help with codependency, communication problems and managing strong emotions linked to past hurt.

Choosing the right approach is part of therapy. Ruth will work with each person to try different ways of working and agree what fits best with their goals and preferences in a collaborative way.

Confirm the exact session formats available before booking, as these are not listed here. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions around family and work life, reduce travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed. Many people find online conversations let them try therapy without rearranging their whole day, and different methods can be adapted to suit how you prefer to work.