Paula Appleton, BACP, NCPS

Paula Appleton is a counsellor with 14 years' experience who works from an integrative perspective. She blends different therapeutic methods to suit each person's needs, guided by the BACP Ethical Framework and her registrations with BACP and NCPS. Paula supports people through a wide range of concerns including stress, anxiety, depression and intimacy-related issues.

She makes sessions practical and down to earth. Conversations focus on what is happening now and on small steps people can try between meetings. Paula draws on approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Attachment-Based ideas to shape the work.

Paula also works with addiction, bereavement, trauma and issues linked to self-esteem and parenting. She is experienced in supporting people with neurodiversity, chronic health concerns and caring responsibilities. Her practice includes work with LGBT clients and those coping with major life changes.

She can communicate using English and American Sign Language and is experienced in working with Deaf and hard of hearing clients, including use of Signed Supported English and British Sign Language at NVQ Level 6. Paula works with people across the United Kingdom and accepts international clients where appropriate.

To begin, people complete a short matching questionnaire and then schedule sessions according to the therapist's availability. Sessions are arranged via a subscription model that can be cancelled at any time.

Therapeutic approaches you can use online

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then choose actions that match their values. It can help with anxiety, stress and making life changes. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on how thoughts, feelings and behaviours interact and works by trying small, structured changes to ease symptoms such as low mood, worry or problems with sleep. Attachment-Based Therapy pays attention to how early relationships shape current patterns and can help people understand and change painful ways of relating or coping.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will help you and her decide together which methods fit your goals, needs and preferences. That choice can change over time as the work develops and new priorities emerge.

The original profile does not list session formats, so please confirm current online options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into everyday life by removing travel, allowing shorter check-ins during the day, or reducing the need to be on camera when that helps. Many people find that remote sessions make it simpler to keep continuity while juggling work, caregiving and other commitments, and therapists who work with registered or accredited professionals will adapt tools from ACT, CBT and attachment work for the online setting.