Paula Caffrey, BACP

Paula Caffrey is a BACP counsellor with twenty years of experience supporting people through stress, anxiety, addictions, trauma, grief and depression. She aims to create a calm, compassionate space where people can talk about what is worrying them and start to make manageable changes. Paula draws on several ways of working and adapts them to the person in front of her. She places the person's concerns at the centre of each session and follows their agenda rather than imposing a fixed method. This makes sessions straightforward and focused on what matters to the individual. Her practice includes elements of Client-Centred Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Psychodynamic ideas. Paula also uses Internal Family Systems in her work and finds it helpful when people are dealing with addiction, trauma or repeated self-sabotaging patterns. She explains techniques simply and helps people try practical steps between sessions. Her background includes voluntary and paid roles in substance-misuse services, sexual-abuse support, addiction charities and NHS staff counselling. She has been in private practice since 2010 and has worked with a wide range of difficulties, from low mood and bereavement to more severe mental health problems. Paula is an Armed Forces veteran who served in the Royal Navy before retraining as a counsellor. She works with people of all belief systems and supports those navigating spiritual awakening or highly sensitive traits. She encourages small, steady steps and offers flexible session lengths to match each person's needs.

How Paula's approaches translate to online work

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on listening and creating a warm space where people can speak freely; online sessions can reproduce that by keeping the conversation person-led and paced to suit the individual. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and actions and often uses simple exercises and homework that work well in remote sessions. Internal Family Systems views different parts of the self and helps people relate to those parts with curiosity and care; this approach can be used over distance with guided self-reflection and step-by-step exploration.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Paula will discuss goals, preferences and what feels helpful in early sessions and then adapt methods as needed. This collaborative process helps settle on techniques that fit the person's situation and aims.

Session formats are not listed here, so please confirm available options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, reduce travel time and allow shorter focused check-ins when needed. It also lets people do therapeutic homework between meetings and keeps work consistent across life changes, while the therapist and client evaluate what works best as they go.