Bridget Hannaford, PACFA

Bridget Hannaford is a counsellor with PACFA and five years' experience supporting people through midlife concerns like stress, relationship change, grief and parenting strain. She helps people cope with anxiety, trauma and the practical fallout of separation or blended family life. Bridget writes plainly and listens closely to understand what is most pressing for each person.

She uses a mix of practical approaches to help people make small, steady changes. Sessions include calm breathing and body-based awareness alongside cognitive strategies for unhelpful thoughts. Bridget often brings in skills from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy to help with emotion regulation and values-based choices.

Attachment-based ideas and client-centred listening shape how she works with relationship issues. This can mean noticing how early experiences affect current connections and learning new ways to express needs and set boundaries. She also draws on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to break patterns that keep stress and anxiety active.

Bridget has worked with trauma, domestic violence, betrayal trauma, grief and perinatal mental health concerns. She pays attention to how the body holds stress and uses somatic techniques to help people feel more grounded in the moment. This can make talking about difficult memories easier.

People who come to Bridget can expect a calm, direct style that balances practical skill-building with deeper emotional work. She acknowledges cross-cultural and migration issues and brings that awareness into planning realistic steps forward.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on clarifying what matters to you and building small actions that align with those values, while teaching ways to notice difficult thoughts without getting stuck. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns shape current connections and helps people try new ways of communicating and relating. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) identifies unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns and teaches practical steps to change them, which is useful for anxiety, low mood and stress.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with the client to pick methods that fit their goals, needs and everyday life. That might mean using ACT skills one week and practical CBT techniques the next. The plan can shift as progress or new challenges appear.

The original biography does not list specific online formats, so confirm the current session options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when needed, or suit people who prefer not to travel. It also supports regular practice of skills learned in sessions, with therapist guidance on applying them between meetings.