Maria Baxendale Hume

How these approaches work online

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, ACT, helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings and choose actions that matter to them. It encourages small experiments and values-based steps to manage stress, anxiety and life transitions.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, CBT, focuses on the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It often uses straightforward exercises and homework to reduce anxiety, improve sleep and change unhelpful patterns in relationships and work.

Existential therapy looks at meaning, choice and responsibility in life. It can help when people are facing big questions about identity, loss or purpose and want a space to think these through.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will listen to your goals and preferences and together you will try methods that fit your situation. That collaborative process helps shape whether more ACT, CBT or existential ideas are used as therapy progresses.

Online sessions offer practical flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when visual connection matters. Phone sessions can be easier if bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text-based messaging suit brief check-ins, ongoing support between sessions or people who prefer writing. These options help make therapy fit around work, caring responsibilities and daily life.