Mary Shiels

Mary Shiels is a counsellor who works with people facing stress, anxiety, trauma and grief. She holds BACP registration and uses a compassionate, practical style to help clients make sense of difficult feelings. Mary welcomes LGBTQIA+ clients and those exploring diverse gender and sexual identities. She also supports people experiencing isolation and loneliness.

Mary blends talking therapy with concrete skills. She draws on approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy to help people notice unhelpful patterns and try different ways of coping. Sessions focus on what matters to the person and on small steps that can fit into daily life.

Her background includes work as a trainer and as a TEDx speaker, and she has experience supporting people affected by sexual violence, bereavement, and long-term anxiety. She also offers trauma-led work and supports people with body-mind concerns and emotional regulation.

Sessions emphasise collaboration and practical tools like mindfulness, emotion regulation skills and values-guided action. Mary aims to create a non-judgemental space where people can name painful experiences and practise new ways of responding.

People who want to begin are invited to complete an initial matching questionnaire and then schedule sessions according to availability. Fees vary with location and use a subscription that can be cancelled at any time.

How Mary’s approaches translate to online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice thoughts and feelings without getting overwhelmed, and then choose actions that match their values. It is often used for anxiety, low mood and life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and trying new behaviours to shift mood and panic symptoms. It is practical and goal-oriented for problems like panic attacks and social anxiety. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationships shape current patterns and helps people build safer ways of relating and feeling secure.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. Mary will work collaboratively to decide which methods match a person's goals, needs and preferences. That may mean combining strategies from different approaches and adjusting them as progress is made.

Please confirm the exact online session formats before booking, as the biography does not list them. In general, online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions around work, caregiving and travel, and it can allow for shorter check-ins when needed. It also removes the need to travel to an appointment and can help people keep therapy going across different locations. Registered or accredited professionals can adapt exercises, mindfulness practices and behaviour experiments to an online setting so progress continues between sessions.