Deborah Gray, BACP

Deborah Gray is a counsellor with ten years' experience who helps people facing midlife questions and major life changes. She works with adults on stress, anxiety, low mood and relationship concerns. Her approach is down-to-earth and respectful, and she focuses on helping people find clearer direction and more manageable ways of coping.

Deborah draws on a mix of approaches to match what each person needs. She uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) alongside attachment-aware and client-centred ways of working. Sessions are interactive and aim to help people notice patterns, choose what matters, and try small changes.

Her background includes a British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy registration, and a decade working with issues such as trauma and abuse, grief, caregiver stress, sleep problems and compassion fatigue. She has supported people dealing with abandonment, attachment concerns, body image and communication difficulties.

In practice Deborah emphasises practical steps alongside reflective work. She helps people build tools for managing anger, improving sleep, and handling relationship and intimacy-related worries. She also offers coaching-style support for career and life transitions.

People can expect a warm, empathic space where the focus is on what they want to change. Deborah works in clear, everyday language and helps people set small goals they can test between sessions.

How Deborah’s approaches translate to online therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify what matters to them and take small steps towards those values while learning to sit with difficult thoughts and feelings. It often suits people facing life transitions, chronic worry, or low motivation. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns and testing alternative ways of responding; it is commonly used for anxiety, depression and sleep problems. Attachment-Based Therapy pays attention to relationship patterns and early bonds, which can help with intimacy issues, abandonment worries and communication difficulties.

Choosing the best approach is a collaborative process. Deborah will work with each person to see which methods feel most helpful, and she adapts sessions as goals and needs evolve. The aim is to find practical steps and clearer ways of relating to problems rather than to fit everyone to a single method.

If you are considering online work, please confirm the session formats before booking as the biography does not list them. Many people find online counselling helps fit therapy into a busy life by saving travel time, allowing sessions during work breaks, or making it easier to join from another location. Phone sessions can be easier when a quieter connection or lower bandwidth is needed, while video sessions allow visual cues for deeper emotional work. Registered or accredited professionals and therapists can explain which option will suit your goals during the initial scheduling process.