Paula Caffrey, BACP

Paula Caffrey is a counsellor with the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, MBACP (Accred). She has around 20 years of clinical experience and an approachable, down-to-earth manner. People come to her for help with stress, anxiety, addiction, trauma, grief and depression. She aims to create a warm, non-judgemental space where people can talk about what matters to them.

Paula adapts her way of working to each person. She blends Client-Centred methods with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Psychodynamic ideas, and has integrated Internal Family Systems into her practice. That means sessions can include talking things through, spotting unhelpful patterns, and gently examining parts of yourself that cause pain or confusion.

Her background includes frontline roles with alcohol and addiction services, volunteer counselling, and work within an NHS trust. She has also practiced in private therapy since 2010 and brings experience across trauma, loss, low self-esteem, relationship strain and addictive behaviours.

Paula describes her style as compassionate and authentic. She works at the client’s pace and follows the client’s agenda. Whether someone needs practical coping strategies, a reflective space to process grief, or longer work into attachment and abandonment wounds, she adjusts the focus to what is useful.

Having served in the Royal Navy before training as a counsellor, Paula is familiar with transition and change in life roles. She supports carers and others who are trying to balance care responsibilities with their own wellbeing.

How Paula uses approaches in online therapy

Client-Centred Therapy puts the person’s experience first and focuses on empathic listening and acceptance. It helps when someone needs a calm space to make sense of feelings, rebuild confidence, or work through loss. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) looks at thinking and behaviour patterns and offers practical techniques to reduce anxiety, manage low mood, or change addictive routines. Psychodynamic work pays attention to past experience and unconscious patterns that influence relationships and self-image.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Paula will discuss options with each person and try methods that fit their needs and goals. That means they decide together whether to focus on practical skills, deeper exploration, or a mixture of both, and adjust the plan as therapy progresses.

If you are considering online sessions, please confirm the exact formats available before booking as the profile does not list specific session types. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions around caring duties, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It also supports working through addictions, grief and attachment issues with the same therapeutic tools used in face-to-face work, while allowing flexibility to shape sessions to everyday life.