Michael Purvis, BACP

Michael Purvis views counselling as a process that can restore balance and support meaningful change by helping people work through difficult experiences, the thoughts and feelings they bring, and the behaviours those experiences can create. He creates space to explore identity and sense of self while guiding clients toward practical ways to cope and move forward.

He specialises in a wide range of anxiety-related concerns, including obsessive-compulsive patterns, stress and burnout, difficulties socialising or forming close relationships, panic attacks, phobias, and anger management. He also supports people facing loss of purpose after retirement, redundancy, long-term illness, or occupational trauma. These challenges are often linked with low mood or depression and can feel overwhelming; his approach aims to break down those difficulties into manageable steps.

In addition to anxiety and mood-related work, he offers coaching to help clients set and achieve goals across business, health and wellbeing, career, relationships, and work-life balance. He holds the credential BACP, which indicates professional membership in a recognised counselling body and commitment to ongoing professional standards.

Therapeutic approaches and online support

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people clarify what matters most to them and develop practical skills for living in line with those values. It combines mindfulness and behavioral techniques to reduce avoidance and increase psychological flexibility, often used for anxiety, stress, and low mood.

Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationships shape expectations and patterns in current relationships. It can be helpful when difficulties with trust, intimacy, abandonment, or attachment issues affect personal and family connections.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, examines the links between thoughts, emotions, and behaviours and offers structured techniques to change unhelpful patterns. It is commonly used for anxiety, panic, phobias, and depressive symptoms.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Michael works collaboratively with each person to explore which methods suit their needs, goals, and preferences, adapting techniques as work progresses.

Online therapy options - including video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging - make it easier to fit sessions into busy lives and to access support from home or other convenient locations. These formats provide flexibility in scheduling and communication style while preserving the opportunity for regular, focused therapeutic work with a licensed professional.