Sayma Arshad, BACP

Sayma Arshad is a BACP counsellor with 13 years working in mental health. She blends human-centred and cognitive methods to help people manage anxiety, depression and life changes. Sayma aims to create a calm, respectful space where people feel listened to and understood from the first session.

She trained and practised as a social worker and has frontline experience in the NHS, social services and charity settings. That background informs how she looks at practical pressures alongside emotional struggle. She has worked with people who have learning differences and with other mental health professionals, so she understands complex and linked challenges.

Her approach is integrative and tailored to the individual. Sayma draws on attachment-based ideas to look at relationship patterns, client-centred listening to prioritise the person's experience, and cognitive-behavioural techniques to tackle unhelpful thinking and coping habits. She also uses emotionally-focused and mindfulness methods where helpful.

Sayma has supported people with a wide range of concerns. These include stress, grief, relationship issues, trauma and abuse, addictions, bipolar and attention differences such as ADHD. She also helps with sleep, eating issues, parenting strain, self-esteem and career-related stress.

She describes herself as warm, open-minded and patient. In sessions she aims to balance logical tools with intuitive listening so people can set and work towards realistic goals. To begin she focuses on building a trusting relationship and understanding each person's situation.

How therapeutic approaches shape online support

Attachment-based work looks at how early relationship patterns affect current connections and emotional responses; it can help people understand recurring difficulties in close relationships. Client-centred therapy focuses on accepting, non-judgemental listening and lets the person lead the pace and topics of sessions. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) helps identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviour patterns, which suits issues like anxiety, low mood and some sleep or eating problems.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapy journey. The therapist will work collaboratively to decide which methods suit a person’s needs and goals. That choice can change over time as priorities shift and progress is made.

The biography does not list specific session formats, so please confirm the available online options before booking. In general, remote counselling can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, shorten travel, or allow for a quieter check-in during a work break. Some approaches lend themselves to practical exercises that work well in online sessions, while others focus on feeling and relationship patterns that can be explored equally well at a distance. Registered or accredited professionals will guide that decision based on what the person wants to achieve.