Noreen Akhtar, BACP, NCPS

Noreen Akhtar is a counsellor who helps people facing stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, low self-esteem and depression. She also supports people dealing with relationship strain, family problems, anger, coping with life changes and compassion fatigue. Noreen greets new clients with a straightforward, compassionate approach and aims to make the first steps feel manageable. With seven years of experience, Noreen focuses on creating an open space where thoughts and feelings can be shared without judgement. She works with each person to set realistic goals and practical steps that fit daily life. Sessions tend to centre on understanding patterns, developing coping skills and testing small changes between meetings. Her background includes work with issues such as abandonment, adoption and foster care, attachment difficulties, ageing and geriatric concerns, and fertility challenges. She has supported people affected by chronic pain, serious illness, cancer and the effects of disaster or separation. Noreen uses a blend of approaches to suit the person in front of her. She draws on cognitive behavioural techniques to challenge unhelpful thinking, acceptance-based ideas to build tolerance for difficult feelings, and attachment-informed work to look at relational patterns. She also uses client-centred listening and skills from dialectical behaviour therapy when emotional regulation is needed. Sessions are offered in English and Noreen works with clients in the United Kingdom and internationally. She encourages people to take the step to ask questions and complete the initial matching questionnaire before scheduling a session.

Approaches that transfer well to online counselling

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) encourages people to notice painful thoughts and feelings without being driven by them. It asks what matters most to you and supports small committed steps towards those values, which can help with grief, anxiety and life changes.

Attachment-Based Therapy looks at patterns in relationships and how early connections influence current trust and closeness. This approach can be useful for people dealing with abandonment, attachment issues or repeated relationship difficulties.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences and which methods feel most useful. Together they decide whether to use acceptance strategies, cognitive techniques or attachment-focused conversations as sessions progress.

If you are considering online sessions, check the available formats before booking since the biography does not list specific options. Online counselling can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, reduce travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It also lets people try techniques in the settings where difficulties happen and bring examples into the session for discussion.