About Paula
Paula Appleton is a counsellor with 14 years of practical experience in the United Kingdom. She works in an integrative way, tailoring sessions to each person's needs while following the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) ethical framework. Paula uses a mix of approaches to help people manage a wide range of concerns, including phobias and anxiety.
She aims to make sessions straightforward and reachable. Conversations focus on what is happening now and on small, workable steps.
Background and approach
Paula is comfortable using British Sign Language and American Sign Language for clients who need them, and she notes experience supporting people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Paula has supported people through stress, trauma, addiction, depression, grief and relationship issues. She also works with concerns such as sleep and eating problems, parenting strain, ADHD and compassion fatigue.
Her background includes work with challenging losses, medical illness and long-term health conditions. Her approach draws on therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Attachment-Based work, adapted to each person. Sessions are centred on the client, with practical tools and chance to talk through painful memories or current struggles.
Paula offers online formats including video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging. International clients can be seen, and sessions are conducted in English or American Sign Language where appropriate.
How Paula’s therapeutic approaches work online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice painful thoughts and feelings without getting ruled by them. It focuses on values and small committed actions, which can help with anxiety, phobias and coping with life changes.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the link between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It offers practical exercises and strategies to reduce distress and change unhelpful patterns, useful for anxiety, depression and sleep or eating difficulties.
Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Paula will talk with each person to identify what feels most helpful and adjust techniques as goals evolve. That collaborative process means plans can change if something isn’t working.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet. Video calls let people use visual cues and longer sessions, phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited, and live chat or text-based messaging suit shorter check-ins or people who prefer writing. These options make it easier to fit therapy around work, family life and health needs while keeping the focus on practical progress.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hearing impaired
- HIV / AIDS
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Trichotillomania
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Gottman Method
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Systemic Therapy
- Experience
- 14 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English, American Sign Language
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