Ian Smith
Support for stress, anxiety and life changes
About Ian
Ian Smith offers straightforward support for people feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, addiction or life changes. He helps with low mood, relationship and intimacy concerns, grief, parenting strain, and questions around identity including LGBT matters. People come to him for help with sleep and eating problems, anger, self-esteem and career doubts.
He also works with neurodiversity, trauma and complex health-related stress. Ian uses plain, practical language in sessions. He begins by meeting each person where they are and building from what already works in their life.
Background and approach
Sessions focus on small, doable changes and clearer ways to manage difficult feelings. With ten years' experience in social services and mental health settings, Ian has supported people from diverse backgrounds. He draws on several evidence-based approaches to tailor work to the individual rather than using a one-size-fits-all method.
His training is recognised by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, BACP. That registration reflects his adherence to professional standards of practice in the United Kingdom. Ian offers a calm, non-judgemental space for people to talk through worries and make practical plans.
He treats each person as an expert in their life and works collaboratively to set realistic goals. The focus is on steady progress and building skills that can be used between sessions.
What Ian works with
How Ian works
Listed by Ian among the ways they work.
Listed by Ian among the ways they work.
Listed by Ian among the ways they work.
Listed by Ian among the ways they work.
Listed by Ian among the ways they work.
Listed by Ian among the ways they work.
Sessions & fees
How Ian uses common therapy approaches online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people notice difficult thoughts without getting pulled into them and focus on what matters most. It is useful for anxiety, stress and life changes where values-based action is the goal. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, CBT, looks at patterns of thinking and behaviour and teaches practical techniques to reduce worry, low mood and unhelpful habits. It is often used for anxiety, depression, sleeping and eating problems. Attachment-Based Therapy pays attention to how early relationships shape current connections and can help with intimacy issues, trust and family-related difficulties.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Ian will discuss goals, preferences and what has or has not helped before. Together they decide which methods to try and adapt those methods as therapy progresses so it fits the person's life and needs.
Online sessions are available by video call, phone, live chat or text-based messaging to make therapy easier to fit into busy schedules. Video calls are good for face-to-face conversation, phone sessions need less bandwidth, and chat or messaging can suit shorter check-ins and flexible pacing. These options help people access support from different locations and at times that match their routine.
| Session length | Typically 50 minutes |
|---|---|
| Client ages | Adults, 18 and over |
| Fees | Subscription via BetterHelp, cancel anytime |
| Insurance | Not billed directly |
Questions people ask
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Areas of focus
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counselling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centred Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 10 years
- Registered with
- BACP
- Languages
- English
