Claire Payne, NCPS

Claire Payne is an NCPS counsellor who offers compassionate support for people facing family strain, trauma, career stress and low self-esteem. She welcomes those who are nervous about starting therapy and aims to walk alongside them through early steps. Claire works from a private practice base in Torbay, Devon and also provides remote sessions for people across the UK. She presents a calm, flexible approach that adapts to each person’s pace and needs.

Claire uses an integrative model that blends Person Centred, Gestalt and cognitive behavioural techniques to match the issue and the individual. She is trauma informed and draws on long experience from social care settings to understand how early life events affect day-to-day functioning. This background informs support for issues such as domestic or sexual abuse, attachment difficulties and post-traumatic stress.

Sessions can focus on workplace stress, burnout and compassion fatigue, as well as relationship and communication problems. Claire also helps people dealing with guilt, shame, isolation and life transitions like divorce or pregnancy and childbirth. She offers Sand Tray work for those who find it hard to put feelings into words.

Her practical style aims to help people notice patterns, try small changes and build safer ways of coping. Claire has three years of counselling experience in this practice context, alongside over 30 years of earlier work in social care settings. She works with people for short or longer periods depending on their needs.

People who want to start are asked to use the Start Therapy button and complete a short matching questionnaire. Sessions use a subscription that can be cancelled at any time, and international clients are not currently accepted.

How therapeutic approaches shape online care

Claire uses a mix of Person Centred, Gestalt and cognitive behavioural methods. Person Centred work focuses on listening closely and giving the person space to find their own insights, which helps when someone needs acceptance and steady support. Gestalt techniques pay attention to present-moment experience and how patterns show up in relationships and daily life, useful for noticing habits and trying new responses. Cognitive behavioural approaches look at thoughts, feelings and actions together and offer practical strategies for managing stress, mood and unhelpful reactions.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Claire will talk with each person about their needs, goals and preferences and together decide which methods to try first. That collaborative process may change as progress is made and new priorities appear.

The biography indicates Claire offers remote sessions nationwide, so confirm current session formats before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, reduce travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It can also make it simpler to keep up with regular sessions during life transitions or work pressures. Registered or accredited professionals, including therapists, often find these practical benefits help people maintain momentum between sessions.