Paula Smyton, BACP

Paula Smyton is a UK counsellor with around 10 years of experience across counselling services, education, mental health settings and independent practice. She is a BACP member and trained in psychodynamic and integrative approaches. Paula aims to offer a calm, compassionate space where people can start to untangle difficult feelings and make sense of their situation.

Many clients come after long periods of coping alone. Paula meets people who feel anxious, low in mood, overwhelmed by responsibilities, or worn down by relationship and family strains. She provides a place to pause and reflect without pressure to have all the answers.

Her practice draws on psychodynamic ideas to look at how past experiences and relationship patterns affect current feelings and reactions. She combines this with client-centred listening and solution-focused techniques so sessions can be tailored to what each person needs.

Sessions typically focus on understanding recurring patterns, clarifying emotional responses, and finding manageable ways forward. Paula aims to help people feel less alone with what they are carrying and to build clearer steps for change.

She describes her manner as warm, thoughtful and supportive. People do not need to arrive with specific goals or the right words - starting often begins with being listened to and given space to think.

Paula is based in the United Kingdom and works in English. She is available to international clients; please follow the site's booking process to match and schedule an appointment.

How Paula’s approaches work online

Paula uses psychodynamic work to help people notice how past relationships shape current feelings and reactions. This approach encourages reflection on recurring patterns and can help with issues like relationship difficulties, low mood and feeling stuck.

She also draws on client-centred practice, which focuses on listening closely and responding to what each person brings in the moment. This helps people feel heard and to find their own direction. Cognitive behavioural ideas may be used too to identify unhelpful thinking and try practical steps that can ease anxiety or low mood.

Choosing the right approach is something to do together. Paula will discuss goals, preferences and what feels most helpful, and then tailor the work accordingly. That means the approach can shift as needs change rather than being fixed from the start.

Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, for example by removing travel time and helping a session slot fit around work or childcare. It can also allow shorter check-ins when needed or sessions without being on camera if that helps concentration or comfort. The biography does not specify which online formats are offered, so please confirm available session options before booking.