Paula Clifton , BACP

Paula Clifton is a counsellor based in the United Kingdom who helps people facing stress, anxiety and grief. She writes simply and listens carefully to understand what matters most to each person. Paula aims to make the first step feel manageable and respects the courage it takes to reach out.

Paula has three years of professional experience and is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). She uses straightforward talking therapy to help people cope with life changes, sleep difficulties and low mood. Sessions focus on practical ways to reduce day-to-day distress and regain a sense of control.

Her approach is person-centred, which means the conversation is led by the client's needs and priorities. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, is used where thinking patterns and habits are getting in the way of feeling better. Paula also offers hypnotherapy for people who are open to using guided relaxation and suggestion to support change.

People come for help with relationships, intimacy issues, body image and compassion fatigue, among other concerns. She also has experience with adoption and foster care matters, ageing and long-term illness. Paula adapts the pace and tools to each person's situation.

Sessions are offered in English and can be arranged online by following the site's matching process. The emphasis is on clear communication, steady progress and working together to set realistic goals.

How Paula’s approaches work online

Paula uses person-centred counselling to place the client's agenda first, listening closely and following what the person wants to work on. This approach helps people feel heard and makes it easier to set goals together.

She also uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, commonly called CBT, to identify unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns and replace them with practical strategies. CBT is often useful for anxiety, low mood and sleep problems. Hypnotherapy is offered as an optional tool that uses guided relaxation and focused attention to support habit change and reduce stress responses.

Choosing the right approach is a joint process. The therapist will discuss options early on and adjust methods as needs and preferences become clearer. Sessions are intended to be collaborative, with regular check-ins about progress and what is working.

Online therapy through video calls, phone, live chat or text-based messaging gives flexibility to fit sessions into busy lives. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat is useful for quick check-ins, and messaging supports shorter or more frequent contacts between meetings. These options make it simpler to keep momentum and adapt therapy to weekly routines.