Michael Harland, BACP

Michael Harland is a counsellor who focuses on helping people dealing with stress, anxiety, low self-esteem and intimacy-related issues. He uses talk-based work to help people access feelings that are hard to reach. Michael has five years' experience and is registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, BACP. Michael describes his work as depth-focused therapy. That means he pays attention to feelings as they appear in the session and explores how people may use thinking to avoid difficult emotions. He aims to help clients notice patterns that keep them stuck and to make space for feelings that have been pushed aside. He is cautious about when depth work is helpful. Michael does not recommend depth therapy for people in active crisis, those who have had non-drug-induced psychosis, or people with a history of extremely severe trauma. In those situations he suggests approaches that prioritise immediate stabilisation and safety. In routine cases he combines mindfulness and psychodynamic ideas. Mindfulness helps people notice present-moment experience, such as bodily sensations and breath. Psychodynamic work looks at how past relationships and early experiences shape current reactions. Michael works with a wide range of concerns including addiction, ADHD, grief, relationship and family difficulties, body image and sexual intimacy matters. He also supports people affected by chronic illness, adoption and foster care issues, attachment questions and neurodiversity like autism and Asperger syndrome.

How Michael combines approaches for online work

Michael draws on mindfulness and psychodynamic ideas to guide online conversations. Mindfulness therapy focuses on noticing present-moment experience such as breath, bodily sensations and passing thoughts; it can help with anxiety, sleep problems and stress management. Psychodynamic therapy pays attention to how early relationships and repeated patterns shape current feelings and behaviours; it can be useful for understanding long-standing relationship difficulties and attachment questions.

Finding the right approach is something to do together. Michael will talk with each person about their goals, what has or has not helped before, and how they prefer to work. From that discussion he helps choose whether to emphasise mindful practices, deeper exploration of patterns, or a mix of both.

Confirm the session formats before you book, as the biography does not list specific options. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life by removing travel time and allowing sessions around work or family commitments. It also lets people choose sessions that match practical needs, for example shorter check-ins when time is limited or audio-only meetings when bandwidth is low.