About Richard
Richard Schafer is a counsellor with more than two decades of experience. He works with people facing stress, anxiety, addiction issues, low self-esteem and major life changes. He offers individual and couple counselling and sees clients in the United Kingdom and internationally in English.
Richard trained as a psychodynamic counsellor in 2003 and began independent practice in 2004. He is a long-term registered member of the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists - BACP.
Background and approach
He has also spent many years as a clinical lead in statutory therapeutic residential settings, bringing practical experience of complex cases. His approach is integrative, drawing mainly on psychodynamic and person-centred ideas. That means sessions can include exploring how past experiences shape current feelings, alongside straightforward, empathetic listening and practical conversation about what would help now.
In sessions he aims to tailor methods to each person’s needs, recognising that different problems and moments call for different ways of working. He helps people talk through relationship difficulties, issues with control or impulsivity, and struggles with guilt, shame or a sense of emptiness.
Richard also supports people dealing with separation and divorce, fatherhood issues, communication problems, loneliness and addiction to drugs or alcohol. He combines clinical training with long experience to offer steady, thoughtful support. People can expect a calm, reflective style that balances understanding and practical steps.
Scheduling is arranged by an initial matching and booking process through the service.
Therapeutic approaches and online access
Richard draws mainly on psychodynamic and person-centred approaches to help people understand and change patterns that cause distress. Psychodynamic work looks at how earlier experiences and relationships still shape feelings and reactions today, which can be useful for anxiety, abandonment concerns and attachment issues. Person-centred work focuses on empathic listening and creating a non-judgemental space so clients can find their own solutions and build self-esteem.Finding the right approach is part of the work. He will talk with each person about their goals and try different ways of working until something fits. This is a collaborative process that balances exploring deeper patterns with practical steps for coping and change.
Online therapy is offered using video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text-based messaging, which makes it easier to fit sessions around work, family and travel. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when that helps, phone sessions work well if bandwidth is limited, live chat suits shorter check-ins and messaging can be useful for ongoing support between meetings. These options aim to make counselling more flexible and accessible for different lifestyles and needs.
Questions people ask
What concerns does Richard help with?
How would he describe his therapeutic style?
What is his professional background?
What credentials and location are on record?
Which languages and international arrangements are supported?
What session formats are available?
How is cost handled for sessions?
How do I begin working with him?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Money and financial issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexuality
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Workplace issues
- Experience
- 21 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.