Lisa Barkley

At present I have availability both face to face and online. I work flexibly so please contact me to arrange a convenient time, I work both in the day and evenings.

Are you feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or struggling to cope with life's challenges? Do you find yourself repeating patterns that no longer serve you? Perhaps you're dealing with anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem? Or maybe you're simply seeking personal growth and a deeper understanding of yourself? 

My integrative approach combines Person-Centred Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Schema Therapy. This allows me to tailor our sessions to your unique needs. You are the expert on your own life, and my role is to work alongside you, helping you tap into your inner wisdom and strengths.

Person-Centred Therapy

At the heart of my practice is the belief that you are the expert on your own life. Person-centred therapy focuses on creating a warm, non-judgemental environment where you feel truly heard and understood. This approach helps you explore your thoughts and feelings freely, leading to greater self-awareness and personal growth.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a goal-oriented approach focusing on the present. It's based on the idea that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are interconnected. In our sessions, we'll identify specific challenges, recognize negative thinking patterns, and learn to challenge these thoughts with evidence-based reasoning. We'll develop practical coping strategies and set achievable goals. 

Schema Therapy

Schema Therapy delves deeper, addressing long-standing, self-defeating patterns that typically begin in childhood. We'll identify core emotional needs that weren't met in childhood, recognise how these affect your current life, and work on healing early emotional wounds. This approach is beneficial for chronic depression or anxiety, relationship issues, personality disorders, and complex trauma. Schema Therapy often involves more in-depth, emotion-focused work, making it transformative for those with deeply rooted issues or who haven't found lasting change through other approaches.

Who I work with:

I offer counselling to individuals 18+ Face to face in Cardiff and Online Sessions for the rest of the UK.

Issues I Can Help With

I have experience helping clients with a wide range of concerns. These include anxiety, depression, childhood trauma, OCD, grief and loss, low self-esteem, relationship difficulties, and stress management. I also support those navigating life transitions or seeking personal growth and self-discovery. 

Experience

My path to becoming a counsellor has been a rich and varied one, shaped by a lifelong passion for helping others feel their best.

For the last three decades, I have worked as a beauty therapist, a career that taught me the profound impact of creating a safe, relaxing space where people could feel truly seen and cared for. I found that my favourite part of the job wasn't just the physical transformations, but the conversations and connections I made with my clients. Many opened up about their lives, sharing their joys and struggles, and I realised how much I valued being a supportive listener.

This realisation led me to explore counselling as a way to deepen my ability to support others. As I began my training, it felt like coming home – a natural evolution of the work I'd been doing all along. Now, as a qualified integrative therapist, I bring together that wealth of experience in nurturing environments with evidence-based therapeutic approaches.

Qualifications 

Foundation Degree in Person-Centred Counselling

Level 5 Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Schema Therapy trained

Current DBS

Initial Consultation

I offer a free 15-minute initial consultation, either by phone or video call. This brief session allows us to get to know each other a little and discuss what brings you to therapy. It's an opportunity for you to ask any questions you might have and for us to determine if we're a good fit for working together. There's no obligation to continue after this consultation.

First session

Your first session will be assessment & gathering information on what is troubling. In this session we will look at what you goals for therapy are and agree how we will work together.