Paul Cleland , BACP

Paul Cleland is a UK-based counsellor with 10 years of professional experience supporting people through stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, relationship difficulties, grief, anger, and major life changes. He also offers focused support for compassion fatigue, forgiveness, guilt and shame, isolation and loneliness, and the development of self-love. Paul approaches therapy with the belief that each person is the expert on their own life and brings strengths that can be uncovered and used to navigate current challenges.

Working with both mind and body, he uses compassionate inquiry alongside a somatic approach to help identify and release emotional blocks that may be held in the body. This combined way of working aims to open up new pathways for regulation, resilience, and clearer self-understanding. He draws on Internal Family Systems principles to explore different parts of the self and how they relate to one another, helping clients build internal cooperation and healing.

Paul holds BACP accreditation - the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy - which is a professional body for counsellors and psychotherapists in the United Kingdom. He frames therapy as a collaborative process and aims to support and empower people as they take courageous steps toward a more fulfilling life.

Somatic and Internal Family Systems for Online Care

Paul uses somatic therapy to help clients tune into physical sensations and bodily responses that relate to emotional states. This approach supports people who are experiencing stress, anxiety, trauma responses, or persistent tension by teaching ways to notice and release patterns stored in the body.

He also draws on Internal Family Systems, a parts-based model that explores the different inner voices and roles a person carries. IFS helps with issues like self-esteem, shame, relationship dynamics, and unresolved emotional parts by encouraging curiosity and compassionate dialogue between those internal parts.

Finding the right therapeutic approach is a collaborative process. Paul works alongside each person to identify which methods best match their needs, goals, and preferences, and he adapts the work as progress unfolds so that therapy stays relevant and supportive.

Online therapy with Paul is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, which can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life or to access therapists from different locations. These formats provide flexibility in scheduling and ways of communicating, allowing people to choose how they feel most comfortable engaging with licensed professionals and therapists.