About me
I am an Accredited Psychotherapist with over 20 years’ experience supporting adults with anxiety, panic, stress, intrusive thoughts and relationship difficulties. I work from my private practice in Bothwell, South Lanarkshire, and offer Face to Face or online therapy across the UK.
I specialise in: High -functioning anxiety, Panic disorders and health anxiety.
My background includes working as a senior therapist within the NHS and Primary Care.
Alongside private practice, I have extensive experience working with clients from large organisations and high-pressure professional environments, including those within the energy, utilities, engineering, and corporate sectors. This includes work connected to organisations such as Centrica, British Gas, Scottish Gas, and electricity and oil-related industries.
Many of the professionals I support are managing significant responsibility externally while privately struggling with anxiety, chronic stress, burnout, emotional exhaustion, panic symptoms, or difficulty switching off from persistent pressure and high levels of accountability.
Prior to private practice, I worked in senior therapeutic roles within GP medical practices and specialist drug and alcohol services, supporting clients experiencing complex emotional, psychological, and stress-related difficulties. This experience deepened my understanding of anxiety, trauma, emotional dysregulation, addiction, relational difficulties, and the impact of chronic stress on both psychological and physical wellbeing.
Many people I work with appear to cope well on the surface. They manage work, relationships and responsibility — yet internally feel overwhelmed, mentally exhausted, or unable to switch off. Anxiety can show up as constant overthinking, racing thoughts, physical tension, poor sleep, irritability, or feeling disconnected from yourself and others.
Over time, this takes its toll — impacting confidence, clarity, and your ability to feel settled.
I provide structured, focused therapy and effective anxiety management strategies to help you understand what’s driving these patterns and, importantly, how to change them. We work on reducing the intensity of anxiety, quietening intrusive thoughts, and helping you feel more in control of your reactions and emotions.
My approach integrates evidence-based psychotherapy, CBT, relational therapy, and nervous-system-informed work to support meaningful and lasting psychological change. I work with clients experiencing panic disorder, health anxiety, relationship anxiety, emotional suppression, neurodivergent overwhelm, and stress-related physical symptoms linked to anxiety. I
offer face-to-face counselling in Bothwell, South Lanarkshire, and online therapy across Glasgow and the UK.
Clients often describe me as warm, direct, insightful, and grounding. My aim is to provide a thoughtful, supportive therapeutic space where meaningful and lasting psychological change can occur.
Many clients seek therapy because they feel constantly “on edge,” unable to relax, emotionally overwhelmed, or exhausted by chronic overthinking and anxiety.
Lesley Shearer
MBACP (Accred)
Accredited Psychotherapist & Clinical Supervisor
Lesley Shearer Counselling & Therapy
Training, qualifications & experience
ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Postgraduate Level Diplomas in Counselling and Psychotherapy
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Advanced Clinical Training in Anxiety and Panic Disorders
Integrative and Relational Psychotherapy
Trauma-Informed Practice
Nervous System Regulation and Somatic Approaches
SPECIALIST AREAS OF PRACTICE
High-Functioning Anxiety
Performance Pressure and Burnout
Emotional Regulation
Attachment and Developmental Trauma
Leadership Stress and Decision Fatigue
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
I undertake regular clinical supervision and ongoing professional development to maintain high standards of ethical, evidence-based practice.
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society This Not For Profit association of counsellors and psychotherapists aim to support the counselling profession, members and training organisations. In 2013 the NCS register was accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under the Accredited Voluntary Register Scheme. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
.OTHER AREAS OF THERAPY
I have developed a structured programme supporting individuals experiencing panic symptoms, which also informs psychoeducational resources for therapists and parents.
Fix Tips For Panic Attacks. [ Online and 1-1 with free visual resources ]
Lesley shearer.com
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£75.00 - £95.00
Concessions offered for
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING FEES
Sessions are 50 minutes.
I offer private therapy for adults seeking structured, consistent psychological support. Please contact me to arrange an initial consultation.
When I work
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early morning | |||||||
| Morning | |||||||
| Early afternoon | |||||||
| Late afternoon | |||||||
| Evening |
Further information
I am an Accredited Member of the BACP and adhere to their ethical framework for good practice. I engage in regular clinical supervision and ongoing professional development to ensure my work remains thoughtful, current and ethically grounded.
In addition to private therapy work, I provide clinical supervision for counsellors and psychotherapists. I value thoughtful, contained supervision that supports both professional development and clinical depth. Over the course of my career, I have also developed structured therapeutic resources focused on anxiety and panic, informed by extensive clinical experience working with adults in both private and organisational settings.
Face-to-face sessions take place in a private, high-spec lounge setting in Bothwell. The space has been intentionally designed to offer discretion, comfort and psychological safety — providing a calm environment removed from corporate or clinical formality.
