Charlene Barlow

I currently have availability for face to face clients & telephone/online sessions. Please contact me for further details.

Hello, I'm Charlie Barlow & I offer counselling and psychotherapy for adults in Greater Manchester, Warrington, the wider Cheshire area and online UK wide. 

I provide a trusting and confidential place in which you can feel seen and heard, enabling you to explore the issues you are facing right now. 

The way I practice allows you a place to speak openly and get underneath whatever issues are troubling you at a pace that works for you. This may include; stress, depression, anxiety , burnout, low self esteem or confidence issues and bereavement or loss.

I offer therapy for complex based issues like depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, reconstruction of self after grief and loss, work related stress and relationship challenges whether that is at home or work.

We can only truly move past issues we face by gaining an understanding of where they originate from and deal with them as they present in your current life. This may involve looking at past experiences and the emotions associated with them in a compassionate, empathic, non-judgemental, curious way, creating the right conditions for you to get to the source of your problem and see how certain triggers from the past directly inform how you think, feel, and behave in the present moment.

I work across different disciplines and draw from several therapeutic orientations to find the approach that works best for you. The work I do is adapted to your specific needs, whatever they may be, in an empathic, confidential, secure space where we can stimulate "change through talking and take action."

My work is relational at its core. I believe real therapeutic change occurs not through techniques, manipulation or interventions during sessions, but through a meaningful and trusting relationship in which you feel truly heard, valued & appreciated as a fellow human.

During your 50-minute session with me, you will be free to bring anything you wish. I will be listening closely, not just to your words during our session, but to your felt experience beneath them. 

I will provide a space to work through discomfort and internal conflict naturally at a pace that works for you, without giving you advice and guidance.  I will hold the therapy space for you while encouraging you to take responsibility for the direction of your therapy and the depth of our interactions. I will provide you with a space in which you feel deeply seen and heard. 

I hold a Level 7 qualification and practice as a person-centred therapist.

With a rich tapestry of 25 years of experience, I have supported individuals and groups in enhancing mental health and well-being. I offer a client-led approach rather than using a prescriptive one-size-fits-all therapy model.

I have an enhanced DBS disclosure and have full insurance. 

I offer a complimentary 15-minute initial consultation before your first session. During this time, you are free to ask me any questions about the type of therapy I offer, and I will do my utmost to explain how I work, free from jargon and psychological babble. I will approach your reason for coming to therapy with curiosity & warmth.

Before our first session, I will send you any necessary paperwork and ask that you complete and return it before our initial meeting, so that it does not interrupt our first encounter. 

I will aim to make you feel as relaxed as possible during our first session, so please take your time and get comfortable. We won't rush or start a session together until you feel ready.  

Our first session together will last 50 minutes. Clients often tell me that they were very nervous at the thought of the first session & worried about how they would fill the time. However, most clients tell me that they realised they had nothing to fear, and in fact, can't quite believe how fast the time passed.