Claire Bosanquet
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Does your chronic illness feel like it’s taking over not just your body, but also your emotions, relationships, and sense of self? It’s exhausting to manage the constant demands of your health while trying to live your life, but you don’t have to face this alone. In a warm, supportive space, we’ll explore your experiences, help you process the emotional weight of your condition, and work towards creating more balance, control, and positive change in your life.
Hello, I'm Claire. I help individuals living with chronic health conditions navigate the mental and emotional challenges they face, so they can feel more empowered and create a fulfilling life.
I also enjoy working with university students who are navigating the unique challenges of academic life. Whether you’re dealing with stress, anxiety, burnout, academic pressure, or adjusting to new life transitions, therapy can provide a safe space to process these experiences and develop healthy ways to cope.
Are you?
Feeling anxious / stressed
Feeling overwhelmed
Feeling powerless
Feeling guilty
Do you worry about losing your independence or feel uncertain about your future?
Does your chronic illness feel like it’s taking over not just your body, but also your emotions, relationships, and sense of self?
It’s exhausting to manage the constant demands of your health while trying to live your life.
Struggling to accept life with a long-term / chronic physical health.
Living with a chronic illness is more than just a physical experience, it can deeply affect your emotions, relationships, and sense of identity. The frustration of unpredictable symptoms, the guilt of needing support from others, and the loneliness of feeling like no one truly understands can be overwhelming. Over time, this can lead to anxiety, low mood, or a sense of isolation.
As a student in higher education you might be experiencing:
Academic pressures / stress / anxiety
Social expectations
Struggling with the transition to independent living.
Perfectionism
Self-doubt
Imposter syndrome
Having high expectations of yourself, often accompanied by fear of making a mistake.
Feelings of unworthiness, or incapable, often comparing yourself unfavourably to others.
These experiences can create intense stress. Balancing coursework, deadlines, and social life while also managing your well-being can feel overwhelming. If you have a chronic illness, juggling university life while managing your health can feel especially challenging.
You don’t have to face this alone. Therapy offers a compassionate space where your experiences are heard and validated.
I specialise in supporting individuals living with chronic illness, as well as students facing academic and personal challenges. Together, we’ll explore how these experiences are affecting your emotional well-being and daily life, while developing practical strategies to help you regain a sense of control, build resilience, and move forward with greater self-compassion.
My approach is warm, integrative, and tailored to your unique needs. Whether you’re struggling with the uncertainty of your health, the pressures of student life, the loss of your old self, or the challenge of balancing self-care with daily responsibilities, therapy can help you process, heal, and rediscover your inner strength.
Therapy can help you:
- Regain a Sense of Control:
Chronic illness and university stress can make it feel like life is happening to you. Together, we’ll identify small but meaningful ways you can take back control - whether that’s setting boundaries with loved ones, managing the mental load of your condition, or feeling more confident in academic or medical settings.
- Feel More Empowered:
It’s easy to feel unheard or misunderstood when living with a long-term condition or facing university pressures. Therapy supports you in strengthening your voice, communicating your needs, and setting boundaries that honour your well-being. Learning to advocate for yourself, whether in relationships, academics, or healthcare, can help you feel more confident and in control.
- Find Fulfilment Beyond Your Illness or Studies:
Your condition or academic stress is part of your life, but it doesn’t define you. Therapy can help you reconnect with who you are beyond your diagnosis or academic achievements, guiding you toward choices that align with your values, passions, and aspirations.
- Manage Stress and Prevent Burnout:
Whether you’re coping with chronic illness, university stress, or both, therapy can help you balance the demands of your health, studies, and personal life. You’ll learn practical techniques to manage stress, improve self-care, and develop a healthier relationship with your well-being.
- Overcome Self-Doubt and Imposter Syndrome:
Many students struggle with feelings of not being good enough or comparing themselves to others. Therapy can help you develop confidence, self-compassion, and a healthier mindset, allowing you to approach challenges with resilience and self-belief.
At times, we all face moments in life where we feel uncertain, burdened, or disconnected, and have a sense of being stuck or unable to move forward in life. Reaching out for support can be a meaningful step forward.
How can working with me support you?
Having lived with a long-term health condition myself, I know how overwhelming it can be when your body dictates your plans, your relationships shift, and anxiety creeps in about what the future holds. I also know that with the right support, it’s possible to navigate these challenges with more self-compassion, confidence, and balance.
I started my practice because I saw how many people, whether living with chronic illness or navigating the pressures of university were struggling with the emotional and psychological toll of their experiences. Often, they felt overwhelmed, isolated, and unsure of how to move forward. Through my own journey and my work with clients, I’ve seen first-hand that even in the face of physical or academic challenges, it’s possible to build a life that feels fulfilling and in your control.
Here are some of the ways I can support you through our work together:
- Help you build self-awareness, challenge negative self-beliefs, and develop a healthier relationship with yourself, strengthening confidence and self-worth.
- Work on setting boundaries, and practice asserting your needs while maintaining meaningful relationships.
- Shift from self-criticism to self-compassion and rethink success in a way that feels more balanced and fulfilling.
- Develop coping strategies to improve your overall wellbeing while honouring your limits.
- Help you process grief, loss, and the emotions that come with adjusting to life with a chronic illness. By providing a safe space to explore feelings of frustration, anger, or sadness, I can help you develop greater acceptance and find ways to make peace with your situation with self-compassion.
- Strategies to cope with uncertainty and reframe unhelpful thought patterns and reduce anxiety about potential future health challenges.
- Balance your health needs with your personal life and explore practical strategies for managing daily demands while caring for your mental health.
No matter what you’re facing, I’m here to listen and support you through every step of your journey. Taking that first step can feel a little scary, but it’s also a brave way to show yourself the care and kindness you deserve. If you’re ready, I’d love to work with you and help you find the clarity and balance you’re looking for.
Email me today, and let’s take that first step together.
My First session:
During our first session, I will take the time to understand your current challenges and explore the difficulties you are facing. We will also go through the counselling agreement, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask any questions about the agreement, how I work, or my practice. As part of our discussion, we may explore any potential risks to your wellbeing and establish whether you have a support network in place. Together, we will begin to identify what you are looking for from therapy/ therapy goals and work collaboratively towards fostering positive change and personal growth.
Types of sessions:
I offer in-person sessions in Bristol and online sessions.
Training, qualifications & experience
I've been working in mental health for about 5 years.
My qualifications are listed below:
- University of South Wales - Masters in Integrative counselling and psychotherapy (2024).
- University of South Wales - Postgraduate diploma in Integrative counselling and psychotherapy (2021-2022).
- University of South Wales - L6 Certificate in Integrative Counselling skills (2020)
- L3 Certificate in Counselling (2019).
- City of Bristol College - L2 certificate in counselling skills (2018)
Training and Professional Experience:
Trainee Counsellor and Psychotherapist:
University of South Wales Therapy & Therapeutic Counselling Services (TCS)
I worked in a shorter-term framework, typically working with clients for 6-8 sessions, providing support through online and telephone appointments for flexibility and accessibility.
During my training, I worked with clients facing a wide range of challenges, including long-term health conditions, depression, social and health anxiety, anticipatory anxiety, self-esteem difficulties and body-image.
I worked with university students, helping them manage the pressures of academic life while maintaining a balance between their studies, home life, and social wellbeing.
A key part of my work was creating a collaborative and supportive space where clients felt heard and empowered. Together, we established therapy goals, regularly checking in to reflect on progress, explore the therapeutic relationship, and adjust our focus as needed. I also carried out risk assessments at the start of therapy and throughout our sessions, ensuring that support remained safe, effective, and aligned with each client’s needs.
Professional Experience:
Specialist Mental Health Mentor - Cosmic People:
My experience as a Mental Health Mentor allowed me to provide individual, one-on-one support to students navigating challenges that impacted their academic progress and overall wellbeing. Through this role, I developed a deep understanding of the unique mental health struggles students face, including anxiety, stress, loneliness, and self-doubt.
Working with university students gave me first hand experience in supporting individuals through some of life’s most transformative and challenging years. University can be an exciting yet overwhelming time, filled with academic pressures, identity exploration, and significant life transitions. Through mentoring, I helped students develop effective coping mechanisms, manage stress and anxiety, and build confidence in their abilities.
Now, as a psychotherapist, this experience enhances my ability to connect with clients managing major life transitions and uncertainty. My background in mentoring has provided me with hands on experience in stress and anxiety management techniques, allowing me to offer practical interventions that support emotional resilience and personal growth.
Psychotherapist and Counsellor:
As an integrative counsellor, I draw on a variety of theories and tools to support clients in exploring their experiences in ways that suit their unique needs. This includes Relational Psychotherapy, which emphasises the vital role relationships play in our overall sense of wellbeing. Within this approach, I incorporate Psychodynamic Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy, as I believe our current ways of being are deeply connected to both our past experiences and our emotions in the present moment.
I draw on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which focuses on the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. CBT is particularly beneficial for clients who may be struggling with unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours. By challenging these patterns, CBT can help clients manage issues such as anxiety, depression, phobias, and OCD. This approach empowers clients to develop healthier coping mechanisms and long-lasting tools for self-management.
I incorporate aspects of Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) to support clients who may be struggling with difficult emotions, especially those linked to shame and self-criticism. CFT fosters self-compassion and understanding by balancing three emotional regulation systems. Through mindfulness, imagery, and compassionate self-talk, CFT can help clients develop a kinder inner voice and a sense of safety, leading to improved emotional regulation and reduced self-criticism.
Additionally, I utilise inner child work, which focuses on connecting with and healing the "inner child"—the part of ourselves shaped by early life experiences. The inner child holds our earliest emotions, needs, and memories, including times of unmet needs, trauma, or emotional wounds. It is also where many unhelpful beliefs about oneself and others are rooted. This approach can help clients break patterns of self-criticism and overcome difficulties in relationships.
I also draw on aspects of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFT), a goal-oriented, future-focused approach that concentrates on building solutions rather than dwelling on difficulties. SFT is based on the belief that clients possess the resources and strengths needed to create meaningful change.
By integrating these different techniques, I aim to meet clients where they are and adapt therapy to support their individual needs.
Personal experience:
Living with chronic health challenges has given me a deep, personal understanding of what it means to move through life with both resilience and self-compassion. I know first hand the challenges of balancing my wellbeing with daily responsibilities and managing the uncertainty that comes with living with a physical health condition. This lived experience allows me to support my clients with genuine empathy, particularly those facing their own struggles with chronic illness and mental health. In our work together, I aim to create a space where you feel understood, empowered, and supported in finding ways to care for yourself with kindness and adaptability.
Ready to start your journey of growth? Let's work together to strengthen your resilience and create lasting positive change and a more fulfilling life. Reach out today to schedule a free consultation call and take the first step toward meaningful change.
Member organisations
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£55.00 per session
Free initial telephone or online session
Additional information
I offer an initial free of charge 15-minute telephone/online consultation for you to introduce yourself and talk about the reasons you’ve come to therapy. If you then decide that you’d like to work with me, I can offer flexibility with short-term or longer-term work.
When I work
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I offer in-person and online sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Please feel free to contact me to chat about your availability.
