Virginia Bowley, BACP

Virginia Bowley is a counsellor with 24 years of experience. She trained as a nurse and worked for 25 years as a rehabilitation case manager for people with catastrophic injuries. She is an Accredited Counsellor with the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP).

She has worked in many settings since 2001, including Cruse bereavement care, private practice and further education. That background means she is used to supporting people through loss, big life changes and long-term health impacts. She also brings practical experience of working alongside medical and care teams.

In sessions she draws on client-centred ways of working. That means the conversation is shaped around each person's concerns and priorities. She also uses cognitive behavioural techniques when helpful to tackle unhelpful thoughts and build coping skills.

Virginia commonly supports people facing stress, anxiety, grief and relationships issues. She also helps with depression, addiction, anger and self-esteem. Additional foci include adoption and foster care, caregiver stress, chronic illness and end-of-life concerns.

She works in English and accepts international clients. She undertakes monthly supervision and follows the BACP code of ethics. Outside work she enjoys swimming, walking, cycling and reading.

How her approaches translate to online counselling

Virginia works from client-centred principles, which means the focus is on understanding each person's priorities and tailoring sessions to what matters most to them. This approach is useful for grief, caregiving stress and relationship concerns because conversations follow the client's pace and priorities.

She also uses cognitive behavioural therapy, a practical method that looks at how thoughts, feelings and actions interact. CBT can help with anxiety, depression and anger by teaching practical techniques to manage thinking patterns and build coping strategies.

Finding the right way of working is part of the therapy process. The therapist will work collaboratively to decide which approach or mix of approaches fits best with a person's goals and preferences, and will review progress as sessions continue.

The biography does not list specific online session formats, so please confirm available options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, reduce travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed. Registered or accredited professionals offering remote counselling can adapt tools from client-centred work and CBT to suit video or phone conversations and to focus on practical steps between sessions.