Shirley Paul

In my years of practice, I have helped clients of all ages with many different forms of trauma, such as sexual abuse, medical trauma, developmental trauma, complex PTSD, and the emotional challenges of anxiety and depression. My work with survivors of sexual abuse as a counsellor for a well-known charity has allowed me to support clients at every stage of their healing journey—from children and teenagers to adults—offering them a compassionate, non-judgmental space to reclaim their lives.

However, trauma can take many forms, and I’m committed to helping anyone who feels stuck, overwhelmed, self harming or unable to move past the pain of their experiences. No matter the source of your trauma, I am here to help you reconnect with your strength and resilience.

​My approach to counselling is creative, invitational and encouraging; designed to support you such that you: 

- Feel safe to explore issues in your life at your pace

- Feel heard and witnessed 

- Develop resources in your life 

- Build confidence in your ability to connect to yourself and others, while still maintaining clear boundaries that allow for growth 

- Separate your memories, feelings, emotions and thoughts, so you can bring awareness and reconnect to parts that may feel disconnected or in hiding 

- Develop practical skills and tools that you use in times of need

As we work through the counselling sessions together, you will experience a confidential, empathetic, safe, non-judgemental space, where you will have the opportunity to explore and understand experiences and emotions that have affected your life. My aim is that you feel heard and listened to, while working together with curiosity and compassion to explore the challenges and behaviours confronting you.

As a qualified, BACP-registered counsellor, I abide by their Ethical Framework for Good Practice. I have worked with a variety of issues in including anxiety, low mood, depression, loss of self-esteem, grief, disassociation, sexual abuse and trauma; supporting children, teenagers and adult clients from diverse backgrounds. I use my specialist training in Somatic Experiencing®, EEM, Neuro-Affective therapy and Internal Family Systems in particular to help people suffering from traumatic experiences such as abuse, self-harm, and grief. Our sessions will be led by your needs, aspirations and tailored to your unique circumstances. I adapt to you rather than expecting you to fit into any one way of working. Together we will periodically review our work to ensure that it meets your developing needs.

I work with clients weekly, on both a time-limited or open-ended basis. I also offer one off sessions when clients need tools to work with specific dysregulation or trauma

The counselling relationship is key to the therapeutic process and so it is important that you feel working together would be a good fit. Hence, I offer an initial free, without obligation introductory 20 min call, to allow us both to find out a little more about each other. I will then send you a contract which sets out how I work. Enabling you to make a fully informed decision before proceeding.

In our first session, I will invite you to explore what you would like to achieve through counselling so we have a common understanding of what is important to you. We will also start to build resources to help you begin to regulate your nervous system from day one, giving you the capacity to work within your window of tolerance and find compassion towards yourself.