Holly Hird, BACP

Holly Hird is a BACP counsellor who helps people facing stress, anxiety, low self‑esteem, addiction and other life strains. She works with individuals who want to understand difficult thoughts and habits, cope with grief or trauma, or make changes around career, relationships and parenting. Her style is straightforward and warm, aimed at helping clients feel more able to move forward.

Holly explains problems in plain terms, and she focuses on thoughts and everyday habits that keep issues going. Sessions look at how feelings, behaviours and thinking link together, and build small, manageable steps to try out in everyday life. She invites humour and personality into sessions where it feels right, and adapts the pace to each person.

She uses a mix of approaches to suit different needs, including client‑centred methods that follow the person’s priorities, cognitive behavioural ideas to spot and change unhelpful thoughts, and emotionally focused work to improve understanding of difficult feelings. Mindfulness and existential perspectives are also part of her toolbox when they fit the client’s goals.

Holly has ten years of practice in a range of settings and has worked with adults and adolescents. She is an Accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, BACP. That membership reflects the ethical framework she follows in her work.

People who book with Holly can expect a collaborative process. Together they identify concerns, set realistic aims and review progress. The emphasis is on practical change and clearer thinking about everyday habits and choices.

How Holly uses practical approaches in online counselling

Holly commonly draws on client‑centred work and cognitive behavioural therapy to help people change thoughts and everyday habits. Client‑centred work focuses on what matters to the person and builds the sessions around their priorities; it helps when someone needs a supportive space to make sense of feelings. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and actions and offers simple exercises to try between sessions to shift unhelpful patterns.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Holly will discuss different ways of working and agree a plan together based on the person’s needs, goals and preferences. That collaborative choice helps make the sessions feel useful and relevant from the start.

If you are considering online therapy, check which session formats Holly offers before booking so you know what to expect. Online work 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 use mindfulness practices or thought‑recording exercises between sessions to support change in day‑to‑day life.