Paula Appleton, BACP, NCPS

Paula Appleton is a counsellor with 14 years' experience who works from an integrative stance. She brings together different counselling approaches to shape sessions around each person's needs. Paula is registered with BACP and NCPS and works within the BACP Ethical Framework. She supports people across a wide range of difficulties, including stress, anxiety, depression and relationship concerns.

Paula tailors her work to the person in front of her. She blends approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and draws on attachment ideas and client-centred principles when these fit. Sessions focus on practical steps and clearer thinking, along with emotional processing when that is helpful.

She has experience with trauma and abuse, addictions, grief, intimacy-related issues and parenting matters. Paula also lists work with ADHD, eating and sleeping problems, chronic health challenges and carer stress among her areas of practice. This means she can help people who are juggling multiple pressures or complex life changes.

Paula is experienced in supporting Deaf and hard-of-hearing clients and uses Signed Supported English and British Sign Language at an advanced level. She offers therapy in English and American Sign Language and accepts international clients. Her approach aims to make sessions approachable and focused on what the person wants to change.

Counselling with Paula is presented as a space to step away from daily demands and talk through what feels difficult. She invites practical problem-solving alongside emotional understanding, and helps people set manageable goals for moving forward.

How Paula’s approaches shape online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, and then take actions that match their values. It can be useful for anxiety, stress and life transitions. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on the links between thoughts, feelings and actions, and teaches practical strategies to change unhelpful patterns; it is often used for anxiety, low mood and sleep problems. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationships affect current ways of relating and feeling, and can help with intimacy issues and attachment difficulties.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Paula will collaborate with the person to find what fits their needs and goals, and mix methods when that makes sense. The focus is on trials of new ways of coping, checking what helps, and adjusting the plan together.

Practical benefits of online therapy include fitting sessions around work or caring responsibilities and avoiding travel time. When session formats are not listed here, confirm the current options before booking so you know what is offered. Many people find online sessions make it easier to keep regular contact and to use brief check-ins or fuller work sessions depending on what suits their week.