Marcos Alves Ribeiro, BACP

How therapy approaches translate online

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people notice painful thoughts without being driven by them and then take small, value‑based actions. It is often used for anxiety, depression and coping with life changes. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and changing unhelpful habits through practical exercises and experiments between sessions. It is commonly used for worry, panic and low mood. Client‑centred therapy puts the client's experience at the heart of the work, offering a non‑judgemental space where the person leads the conversation and therapy follows their pace and concerns.

Finding the right mix of these approaches is part of the process. The therapist will work together with each person to choose which methods fit their goals and preferences, and may combine elements from different approaches as needed. That choice is made collaboratively and can change over time as progress is reviewed.

Online sessions are offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text‑based messaging, which makes therapy easier to fit around work, family and travel. Video is useful for deeper conversation and exercises, phone calls work well for brief check‑ins or when bandwidth is limited, and text or live chat suit shorter check‑ins and day‑to‑day support. These options help people keep therapy consistent while matching the format to their daily life.