Tracey Gardener

Tracey Gardener is an integrative counsellor who focuses on helping people manage anxiety, stress, low self-esteem and relationship patterns. She works with issues linked to early life experiences and trauma, and supports people living with eating and food-related issues. Her approach is described as warm, steady and down-to-earth, offering space to talk and breathe without pressure.

Tracey adapts therapy to each person rather than using a single method. She draws strongly on attachment-based ideas to help people recognise how past relationships affect current ones. She also uses a trauma-informed stance to gently work through painful memories and responses.

Practical strategies are blended with reflective work. Cognitive behavioural techniques are used alongside mindfulness practices to help manage unhelpful thinking and intense emotions. Psychodynamic ideas may be brought in to explore patterns that repeat over time.

Tracey has 12 years of experience and holds a BA (Hons) in Integrative Counselling and an FdA in Counselling. She also completed a Diploma in Mindful Mental Health and a range of recent professional development, including workshops on eating disorders and attachment-related topics.

Sessions aim to move at a pace that suits the individual. The emphasis is on understanding what’s happening now, tracing where patterns began, and finding realistic ways to feel steadier day to day. Reaching out is framed as a first step rather than a full solution.

How Tracey’s approaches translate to online working

Tracey commonly draws on attachment-based ideas and cognitive behavioural techniques when working with clients. Attachment-based approaches focus on how early relationships shape current ways of relating, helping people notice patterns and try new ways of connecting. Cognitive behavioural work aims to identify unhelpful thinking and behaviour and offers practical steps to reduce anxiety and low mood.

Finding the right way of working is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences and what feels manageable, then choose or combine approaches that suit those needs. The emphasis is on trying methods together and adjusting them as therapy progresses.

Please confirm the available session formats before booking, as the biography does not list specific online options. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into everyday life by removing travel time, allowing shorter check-ins when needed, or offering sessions from a familiar environment. It also lets people continue work between appointments using mindfulness exercises and practical CBT tasks agreed with the therapist.