Paula Appleton, BACP, NCPS

Paula Appleton is a counsellor with 14 years of practice in the United Kingdom. She holds BACP and NCPS credentials and draws on several therapy approaches to tailor sessions to each person. Paula works with a wide range of concerns, including stress, anxiety, depression and trauma, and she can communicate in English and American Sign Language.

Her style is flexible and person-focused. She brings together methods from cognitive behavioural work, acceptance and commitment ideas, attachment perspectives and other approaches to suit the individual. Sessions are shaped around what a person needs rather than a fixed formula.

Paula often supports people dealing with relationship strains, grief, addiction and issues around self-esteem and parenting. She also works with neurodiverse presentations and long-term health or caregiving stress. Everyday habits and patterns of thinking are a frequent focus in her work, helping people spot and shift routines that hold them back.

She aims to create a calm space to talk through difficult events and overwhelming emotions. Conversations cover practical steps, ways to manage symptoms and strategies to help day-to-day functioning. Over time the work can include behavioural experiments, noticing thought patterns and building skills for coping with change.

Paula is experienced in working with Deaf and hard of hearing people and uses Signed Supported English or British Sign Language at an appropriate level. For anyone thinking about starting, she asks people to consider their goals and what they’d like to get from counselling before booking.

Therapeutic approaches and making them work online

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice their thoughts and choose actions that match their values rather than getting stuck in unhelpful thinking. It can be useful for anxiety, low mood and life changes. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) looks at links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours and uses practical exercises to shift patterns that cause distress. It often helps with anxiety, sleep and repetitive habits. Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationships shape expectations and responses in current relationships, which can be helpful for intimacy issues and grief.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Paula will collaborate with each person to decide which methods to use, based on goals, comfort and what seems to help in early sessions. The choice of techniques can change as therapy moves forward.

Session formats are not specified in the biography, so please confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit appointments around work, school and caregiving by removing travel time. It also allows for shorter check-ins when a brief conversation is enough, or video contact when visual cues help the work. Discussing practical needs at the start helps pick a format that suits daily life and keeps the focus on steady progress.