Carlie Machell-Kay, NCPS

Carlie Machell-Kay is a counsellor who helps people facing midlife shifts, anxiety, stress and relationship difficulties. She also supports people dealing with trauma and abuse, parenting strain, grief, addictions and changes to self-esteem. Carlie uses straightforward language and aims to make the first steps feel manageable for someone worried and unsure.

Carlie trained as a psychodynamic counsellor and holds the NCPS credential. She qualified seven years ago and brings seven years of practice as a therapist to her work. Before qualifying she spent many years working in related roles over a longer career, which shapes how she understands life changes and long-term stress.

Her work often focuses on how past relationships affect current feelings and behaviour. Sessions include talking through personal history, noticing repeated patterns and testing out new ways of relating to oneself and others. She also offers trauma-informed support for people coping with the aftereffects of abuse and violence.

Carlie has significant professional experience in women's mental wellbeing and in domestic abuse settings. She also has personal experience of neurodiversity and brain injury, which informs how she listens and adapts her approach to meet different needs. She aims to be approachable and flexible when planning sessions.

People meet Carlie to sort through big life decisions, manage emotional overwhelm, or to get practical help with day-to-day coping. She works collaboratively to set goals and to decide what feels most useful at each stage of therapy.

How Carlie works online and her therapeutic approaches

Client-Centred Therapy places the person at the heart of the work, focusing on listening and responding to what matters most to them and helping them find their own solutions. Narrative Therapy looks at the stories people tell about their lives, separating problems from identity so that different, more helpful stories can be tried out. Psychodynamic Therapy explores how earlier relationships shape current feelings and patterns, helping people understand why they react in certain ways.

Finding the right approach is often part of early sessions. Carlie will discuss goals, preferences and practical needs with each person and work together to pick or blend approaches that feel most helpful. This is a collaborative process and can change as therapy progresses.

Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, reduce travel time and allow people to join from wherever they are based. It can also help with practical needs like shorter check-ins or sessions that do not require being on camera. Session formats are not specified here, so confirm current online options with Carlie before booking to make sure they suit your schedule and needs.