Vanessa Putnam

Vanessa Putnam is a counsellor who uses a person-centred approach to support people facing loss and life transitions. She is a BACP member and brings nine years of practice in the United Kingdom. Vanessa meets people with calm, straightforward care and focuses on hearing each person’s story.

She works with stress and anxiety and helps people who are dealing with grief and bereavement. Relationship and family problems are part of her work, and she supports people through parenting challenges and communication breakdowns. She also supports those affected by chronic illness, cancer, and caregiving strain, and she has experience with hospice and end-of-life counselling.

Vanessa draws on cognitive behavioural ideas to help with unhelpful thoughts and behaviours, and she uses psychodynamic conversation to notice patterns that repeat over time. Systemic ways of thinking help her look at how family and social networks shape problems and solutions. Sessions focus on practical steps, clearer communication, and making small changes that feel manageable.

She has worked with adults, older adults, and young people aged 14 to 25, and she aims to adapt her style to each person’s needs. Vanessa emphasises respect, sensitivity, and compassion in each interaction. Her way of working is collaborative and paced to what the person can manage.

To begin, she asks people to share what matters most to them and then co-creates a plan for therapy. Vanessa encourages straightforward conversation and steady support as people move through difficult experiences.

How therapeutic approaches guide online work

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on the person in the room and on building a respectful, non-judgemental relationship. It helps people who need space to talk about grief, loss, or life changes and want the pace to be led by their concerns.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings and actions interact and uses practical strategies to shift unhelpful patterns. This can be useful for stress, anxiety, low mood and sleep problems by teaching step-by-step coping tools.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about their needs, goals and preferences and then suggest approaches to try. Decisions are made together and can be adjusted as the therapy progresses.

Many people find therapy easier to fit into everyday life when sessions do not require long travel. Online work can make it simpler to schedule appointments around work, caregiving or medical commitments. If you plan to start, confirm which session formats are available before booking so you know what to expect.