Paula Otley, BACP, NCPS

Paula Otley is a counsellor with 16 years of experience who helps people navigate major life changes and emotional strain. She meets each person where they are and aims to build a trusting working relationship. Paula’s approach is collaborative and straightforward, centred on understanding the person rather than fitting them into a label.

Paula began by supporting bereaved people as a volunteer, which shaped her wish to work with loss and grief. She later trained as an integrative counsellor with a strong person-centred and psychodynamic influence. Paula added cognitive behavioural techniques in 2020 to broaden the ways she can help clients tackle unhelpful thoughts and habits.

Her background includes roles in GP practices, the NHS, charity work, community counselling services, private practice and employee assistance programmes. This range of settings has exposed her to many different life stories and practical pressures. Paula says the work always happens together, with the client steering the pace and focus.

Common concerns she addresses include stress, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship and intimacy issues, self-esteem, addictions and coping with life changes. She also works with people facing long-term health challenges, caring responsibilities, neurodiverse traits and parenting strain. Paula accepts international clients and offers sessions in English.

Paula is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, BACP, and holds an NCPS credential. If someone wants to explore whether she is a good fit, they are encouraged to use the site’s Start Therapy process to match and schedule an initial session.

How Paula’s approaches can work in online therapy

Paula draws on person-centred and psychodynamic ideas alongside cognitive behavioural techniques. Person-centred work focuses on listening closely and following what matters most to the person, which helps when someone needs a steady, non-judgemental space. Psychodynamic ideas look at how past relationships shape current feelings and reactions, useful for recurring patterns and attachment issues. Cognitive behavioural techniques are practical and aim to spot unhelpful thinking and try alternative ways of responding, which can be helpful for anxiety, low mood and coping strategies.

Finding the right mix of approaches is something Paula does with each person. She discusses goals, preferences and what has or has not helped before, then shapes sessions around that. The process is collaborative so the approach can change as needs shift.

The profile does not list specific session formats, so please confirm the available options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, reduce travel time and allow check-ins from different locations. It can also make shorter or more frequent contact simpler to arrange when that suits someone’s work or caring schedule.