Paula Caffrey

Paula Caffrey is a BACP counsellor with twenty years of practice in the United Kingdom. She works with people dealing with stress, anxiety, addictions, trauma and abuse, grief and depression. Paula offers a calm, non-judgemental space where clients can talk about what feels hardest for them and begin to make small, manageable changes.

Her style is warm and person-centred. She listens first and adapts methods to fit each person’s needs rather than applying one fixed approach. Sessions focus on what matters to the client and move at a pace that feels comfortable.

Paula combines person-centred work with psychodynamic ideas and cognitive behavioural techniques. She also uses Internal Family Systems to help people understand different parts of themselves. These approaches are chosen to help with issues such as addiction, trauma, low self-esteem and difficult relationship patterns.

Her background includes voluntary and paid roles across substance misuse services, sexual violence support and NHS counselling. She has worked in private practice since 2010 and has experience supporting people through bereavement, life transitions, anger, and recovery from parental abuse.

Paula served in the Royal Navy before training as a counsellor, and she draws on that life experience when supporting clients who have faced structured or challenging environments. She encourages steps towards a more satisfying life and aims to empower people to build the changes they want.

How Paula’s approaches translate to online work

Client-Centred Therapy puts the client's priorities first and centres on being heard and understood. Online or in-person this approach helps people feel seen and guided at their own pace.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting unhelpful thinking and trying practical, small changes in behaviour. It can be useful for anxiety, low mood and patterns that feed stress or addiction.

Finding the right method is part of the work. Paula will discuss goals and preferences with each person and try approaches that suit their needs. That decision is collaborative and can change over time as progress is reviewed.

Practical benefits of online therapy include fitting sessions into busy lives and reducing travel time. If you prefer to check practical session options, please confirm the formats Paula currently offers before booking. Many people find that remote sessions make it easier to attend during a lunch break or after work, or that shorter check-ins between longer sessions help keep progress on track.