Petina Walker , BACP

Petina Walker is an experienced integrative counsellor based in Devon, United Kingdom, who combines practical therapeutic skills with a compassionate, client-centered approach. She trained at The Iron Mill Institute in Exeter and qualified in 2008, and she is a member of the BACP - the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy - which reflects her commitment to professional standards and ethical practice.

Her practice draws on multiple models to tailor treatment to each person's needs, mixing attachment-based ideas, emotionally focused work, mindfulness techniques, and pragmatic, solution-oriented strategies. Petina has extensive experience supporting people with addictions, anxiety, stress, anger, relationship difficulties and co-dependency, as well as grief, trauma, eating and sleeping concerns, parenting challenges, and career or life transition issues. She also works with more specific concerns such as abandonment, attachment issues, body image, caregiver stress, domestic violence, and substance misuse.

Over the years Petina has worked as a counsellor, trainer and drugs and alcohol professional, facilitating groups and treatment programmes and providing assessments and one-to-one interventions within clinical services. She previously ran a wellbeing centre in Exeter for 21 years, an enterprise recognised with a Best Small Business Award for its high quality service. Petina continues to develop her private practice and professional skills, having completed additional training such as StressMap in San Francisco, and she intends to publish a book about her integrative approach to addiction and co-dependency. Her work is guided by attentive listening, empathy and a collaborative, client-led stance that adapts session-by-session to what each person brings.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Petina draws from several established approaches to create a flexible online therapy experience. Attachment-Based Therapy explores how early relationships shape present patterns of relating and can help with issues like abandonment, attachment concerns and intimacy difficulties by identifying and reshaping relational responses.

Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) focuses on understanding and reorganizing emotional responses within relationships. It helps people and couples access core emotions, improve communication and build stronger emotional bonds when working through hurt, conflict or disconnection.

Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices that support emotional regulation and reduce reactivity. It can be useful for managing stress, anxiety, cravings and improving awareness of bodily and emotional states.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the therapeutic process. Petina works collaboratively with each person to identify what matches their needs, goals and preferences, adjusting methods as progress unfolds so therapy remains practical and personally meaningful.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility - sessions can be scheduled as video calls, phone conversations, live chat or text-based messaging to fit different routines and comfort levels. This range of options makes it easier for people to access consistent support from licensed professionals and therapists regardless of location or life demands.