Sunah Akhtar, BACP

Sunah Akhtar is a counsellor who helps people navigate stress, anxiety and major life changes. She works with clients on relationship and family concerns, grief, addiction, and parenting strain. Sunah uses straightforward, practical conversations to help people find clearer ways forward.

She trained and practised within community services and spent four years on placement at WeStand and Renaissance Horizon. Those roles involved one-to-one emotional support and helping people manage difficult feelings. She also has experience offering therapy online through an established platform and sees people in the United Kingdom.

Sunah draws on a mix of evidence-informed methods, including cognitive behavioural strategies and acceptance-based techniques. Sessions focus on identifying what matters to the client, noticing unhelpful thinking patterns, and trying out doable changes between meetings. Her style is person-centred and empathic, aiming to match the approach to each person’s needs.

She is a BACP member, which indicates formal recognition by a professional body. Sunah has nine years of practical experience working across a wide range of concerns, from trauma and self-esteem to chronic illness, caregiver stress and ageing-related issues. She speaks English, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.

People usually begin by describing their current struggles and practical goals. Sunah then works collaboratively to set small, manageable steps and to build coping skills that fit into everyday life.

How online therapy and approaches work together

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) invites people to clarify what matters most and to take small committed steps toward those values, even when difficult thoughts or feelings show up. It can help with anxiety, depression and coping with life transitions. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns and testing practical alternatives to reduce distress and improve daily functioning. It is often used for anxiety, low mood and sleep problems. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at patterns in close relationships and helps people understand how past connections shape current feelings and reactions; this can support people working on intimacy, relationship strain or attachment issues.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences and what feels most useful. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust the plan as progress is made, so therapy stays relevant to the person’s life.

Practical benefits of online sessions include fitting therapy into busy schedules and removing travel time, which can make it easier to keep appointments. Online work can also allow shorter check-ins or flexible timing when needed. The biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm the current session options before booking to see what will work best for your routine.