About Alex
Alex Hayes is a counsellor who works from a somatic-informed perspective to help people manage stress, anxiety and addiction. He is a BACP counsellor based in the United Kingdom and brings three years of clinical experience across counselling centres, addiction services and independent practice. He takes a person-centred approach and aims to walk alongside clients rather than direct them.
Sessions focus on what the person needs now, using both talking and body-aware techniques to address feeling states and unhelpful patterns.
Background and approach
The tone is straightforward and practical, with space to reflect and try new ways of coping. Alex trained and practised in several countries before moving to the UK, with work in Cape Town and Belgium included in his background. That lived and professional experience informs how he talks about recovery from addiction and the slow work of rebuilding confidence and routine.
In sessions he draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy alongside attachment-informed ideas. He uses somatic awareness to help people notice tension, grounding and physical cues that connect to emotions. This mix helps with problems such as trauma, compulsive behaviours, low mood and relationship difficulties.
Alex aims to create a calm, non-judgemental space where people can name their struggles and practise different responses. He supports people with issues including grief, parenting stress, intimacy-related concerns, ADHD and career problems. Practical next steps and small experiments in everyday life are often part of the work.
How somatic and talking therapies work online
Somatic-informed work helps people notice how stress and emotion show up in the body. In online sessions this might mean gently tracking breathing, posture or areas of tension while talking through difficult moments. It can be useful for anxiety, trauma and compulsive behaviours that also have a physical component.Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on noticing thoughts and values and choosing actions that matter. It helps people live with difficult feelings while moving towards things that matter to them, which is useful for stress, depression and life changes. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns shape current connections and communication, and it can help with intimacy, trust and relationship difficulties.
Choosing the right approach is part of the process and will be decided together. The therapist will discuss your goals, preferences and what feels most helpful, then adapt techniques as needed in a collaborative way. That means you shape the pace and focus of the work.
Online therapy offers flexibility with video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text messaging. These options make it easier to fit therapy around work and family life and allow people to use the format that feels safest and most practical for them.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does Alex specialise in?
What is Alex's therapeutic style like?
How much clinical experience does he have?
Where is Alex based and what are his credentials?
Which languages are sessions offered in?
What session formats does he offer?
How are fees and payment handled?
How do I begin therapy with Alex?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Grief
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 3 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English