About Paula
Paula Smyton is a UK counsellor with ten years of experience in counselling services, education, mental health settings and independent practice. She holds BACP accreditation, and she brings a calm, thoughtful presence to conversations about stress, anxiety and life changes. Paula aims to make it easier to speak about what feels heavy or confusing right now.
People often come to Paula after trying to cope on their own for a long time.
Background and approach
She sees clients who describe feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or stuck in repeating patterns with partners, family or at work. Paula listens for what matters to each person and helps them make sense of how past experiences shape present reactions. Her work is grounded in psychodynamic therapy, which looks at how early relationships and memories influence current feelings and behaviour.
She combines that with integrative methods, including person-centred and solution-focused ideas, so sessions can be adapted to what someone needs in the moment. In a session Paula offers a steady, non-judgemental space to talk things through. She helps people notice patterns, understand emotional responses, and consider practical steps forward.
There is no pressure to have everything figured out before starting. Paula also supports people with a wide range of concerns such as depression, grief, trauma, parenting pressures, intimacy and self-esteem. She works collaboratively, helping clients set priorities and try approaches that suit their life and goals.
Approaches that shape online sessions
Paula uses psychodynamic therapy to look at how past relationships and early experiences can influence current feelings and behaviour. This approach helps when someone wants to understand repeating patterns, deep emotional responses, or longstanding struggles with relationships.She also draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which focuses on noticing difficult thoughts and feelings while choosing actions that align with personal values. ACT can be helpful for anxiety, stress and coping with life changes. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is another approach she uses to identify unhelpful thinking and try practical changes that reduce distress and improve daily routines.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Paula treats therapy as a collaborative process and will help clients try different methods to see what fits best. Goals, preferences and day-to-day realities guide which techniques are used at any time.
Online therapy offers flexibility in how people connect. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat is useful for shorter check-ins, and text-based messaging lets someone reflect in writing between sessions. These options make it possible to arrange therapy around work, family and travel, while keeping continuity of care with a single therapist.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
- Sleeping disorders
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English
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