Heli Annika Giles, BACP

Heli Annika Giles is a qualified integrative therapeutic counsellor who primarily works using a person-centred approach. She is a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), the professional body for counsellors and psychotherapists in the United Kingdom. Annika aims to create a welcoming space for people taking the often-difficult first step toward counselling, recognising how daunting that contact can feel.

She supports clients facing a range of everyday and complex stresses, including worries related to the cost-of-living crisis, pressures from university or college studies, general and social anxiety, work-related stress, relationship difficulties, and a pervasive sense of not feeling "right". Annika also works with trauma and traumatic experiences, low self-esteem and perfectionism, feelings of rootlessness or not belonging, and stress or burnout that may benefit from career-focused coaching.

Annika believes that with appropriate support people have the capacity to find greater wellbeing. Her approach treats counselling as a process of understanding and clarification rather than a search for something "wrong" to fix. Clients set the topics and goals for sessions while she offers empathetic support, practical tools to challenge negative thinking patterns, and collaborative review of progress.

She offers relationship counselling for individuals and for couples, and aims to help clients understand how past experiences, including family relationships, can influence current patterns and coping. Annika emphasises increased self-awareness, acceptance, and practical coping strategies so clients can regain a stronger sense of themselves over time.

Therapeutic approaches and online care

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) invites people to notice and make space for difficult thoughts and feelings while identifying what matters most to them and taking steps in that direction. It can be helpful for anxiety, stress, and navigating life changes by focusing on values-driven action rather than avoidance.

Attachment-Based Therapy explores how early relationships shape current patterns of relating and emotional responses. This approach can support clients working through intimacy-related issues, attachment concerns, and relationship difficulties by building greater awareness and developing more secure ways of connecting.

Client-Centered Therapy emphasises empathic listening and the client’s own capacity for growth. A therapist adopting this approach offers non-judgemental presence and collaboration to help clients increase self-understanding, self-esteem, and clarity about personal goals.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic journey. Heli Annika Giles works collaboratively with clients to determine which methods best match their needs, goals, and preferences, and she adapts the work as understanding and circumstances evolve.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility for people balancing work, study, caregiving, or mobility constraints. Through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, registered professionals can provide ongoing support that fits into daily life, helps maintain continuity of care, and makes it easier to access therapy from different locations.