Carlie Machell-Kay , NCPS

Carlie Machell-Kay is a psychodynamic counsellor who brings both long-standing experience supporting people and a focused clinical skill set to her therapeutic work. She has worked with people for over 25 years and qualified as a therapist 7 years ago, and she applies psychodynamic ideas to help clients explore how past relationships and early experiences influence current thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Her practice has a strong emphasis on trauma and its lasting effects, alongside significant experience addressing relationship difficulties and women's mental wellbeing.

Carlie has professional experience in domestic abuse settings and is familiar with the complex needs that arise from those contexts. She also has personal experience of neurodiversity and brain injury, which informs her empathetic approach when working with clients or families affected by these issues. Flexible and approachable, she adapts therapy to meet each person’s needs and priorities.

Carlie holds the NCPS credential, a recognised professional counselling designation, and she offers therapeutic support for concerns such as stress, anxiety, grief, parenting and family challenges, addictions, intimacy issues, anger, self-esteem, depression, and coping with life changes. Her work aims to combine practical support with deeper exploration of patterns that shape a person’s life.

Approach-Focused Online Therapy for Trauma and Relationships

Carlie uses psychodynamic therapy to explore how early relationships and unconscious patterns shape current feelings and behaviours, helping clients identify recurring themes that affect relationships and self-understanding. Trauma-focused therapy is applied to address the impacts of traumatic experiences, working to reduce distress and support recovery from abuse, loss, or other traumatic events. Client-centered therapy emphasizes a compassionate, nonjudgmental therapeutic relationship that prioritises the client’s pace and goals, offering practical and emotional support for a wide range of concerns including anxiety, stress, and life transitions.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process, and Carlie works collaboratively with each person to determine which combination of methods best fits their needs, goals, and preferences. She adapts her style to suit different issues and life circumstances, involving clients in decisions about focus and pace.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility - sessions can take place over video calls or phone, and shorter or more frequent conversations can happen via live chat or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives, access support from different locations, and maintain continuity of care, while allowing therapists and licensed professionals to tailor interventions to each client’s situation.