Rebeca Paiva

I am fully insured at my private practice and I'm an accredited member of the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP), you can find me on their register of counsellors. https://www.bacp.co.uk/search/Register.

I am also a member of The British Psychological Association (BPS)

I am originally trained as a Humanistic Person-Centred Counsellor. Additionally, I hold a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master's degree in Health Psychology.  It is part of my core practice to always approach every client with empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence. I believe that whether unconsciously or consciously, each one of us knows best what we need, and how we can achieve it. I have successfully used my skills and knowledge to help others to find this and become self-empowered. I believe that each and every one of us has innate capabilities of achieving the best version of ourselves and in my practice, I always strive for my clients to achieve the best of themselves to overcome mental and emotional issues, to gain an improved self-steam and self-worth and to learn effective coping mechanism that will lead you to realise that you indeed can be in control of your wellbeing.

What types of concerns or issues can I help you with?

I work with individuals facing a wide variety of challenges, and my approach is always tailored to your unique needs. Whether you’re dealing with a specific issue or just feeling like you’re “stuck” and want to make a change, I’m here to help. Here are some of the concerns I commonly support clients with:

Anxiety & Stress
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or constantly stressed, I can help you identify the root causes and develop practical tools to manage and reduce your symptoms.
Depression & Low Mood
Struggling with feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or low energy? We’ll work together to explore these feelings and find ways to lift your mood, regain motivation, and improve your overall mental well-being.
Relationship Issues
Whether it’s challenges with your partner, family members, or friends, I can help you navigate communication issues, conflicts, and improve your relationships with others.
Life Transitions & Change
Major life changes—like career shifts, moving, becoming a parent, or experiencing loss—can be incredibly challenging. I offer support to help you adjust and find stability during these transitions.
Self-Esteem & Confidence
Struggling with self-doubt, negative self-talk, or low self-esteem? Together, we’ll explore your strengths and work toward building a stronger sense of self-worth and confidence.
Trauma & Past Experiences
If you’re carrying the weight of past trauma, I offer a trauma-informed approach to help you process those experiences in a safe, supportive space.
Personal Growth & Goal Setting
If you’re looking to explore your personal goals, create a more balanced life, or improve your overall well-being, I can help you identify what’s most important to you and support you in making positive changes.
Workplace Stress & Burnout
If work is stressing you out, whether due to workload, boundaries, or difficult colleagues, I can help you manage stress and find ways to restore balance and well-being in your professional life.
Grief & Loss
Coping with the loss of a loved one is one of life’s toughest experiences. I’m here to help you navigate your grief and support you through the healing process.

During my career, I have extensively expanded my counselling approaches, skills and knowledge and am now also highly experienced in CBT, Transactional analysis, Compassion Focused Therapy, Brief Solution Focused Therapy, and Trauma Focused Therapy.

Person-Centred Therapy
Where you’ll always feel heard, understood, and accepted, just as you are.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Helping you reframe negative thinking patterns and shift behaviours that may be holding you back.
Transactional Analysis
A framework to help you better understand your relationships and how you communicate with others.
Compassion-Focused Therapy
Helping you treat yourself with the same kindness and understanding that you would a close friend.
Solution-Focused Therapy
Focusing on actionable steps that move you toward the life you want to create.
Trauma-Focused Therapy
Offering a sensitive and supportive approach to healing from past trauma, using evidence-based techniques to help you process and heal from difficult experiences.

But, honestly, therapy is not just about techniques—it’s about the connection we build together. I’m not here to lecture you or give you a one-size-fits-all solution. I’m here to listen to your unique story, support you where you are, and guide you as you move forward. My goal is to help you gain clarity, build confidence, and achieve the personal growth that feels right for you.

If you’re ready to take the next step, I’d love to connect and see how we can work together. Therapy is a journey, and I’m here to walk beside you every step of the way.

In my practice, I will always strive for my clients to achieve the best of themselves. To overcome mental and emotional issues, and when is the case, accepting and managing the issues that can’t be overcome by therapeutic or any treatment, like chronic conditions, e.g. diabetes itself can’t be helped therapeutically, you will need to carry on with the medical treatment but complementary to it is possible to look at how your diagnosis made you feel, how the condition itself impacted on your capabilities to conduct a normal life, what are your fears and how it is hindering your emotional wellbeing, how has it impacted on your self-steam, self-believe and self-worth? Addressing such aspects will have a great impact on your mental and emotional wellbeing.

I work with adults who have issues brought on by broke-down relationships, loss, grief, mental health issues, personality disorders, learning difficulties and disabilities, depression, anxiety, anger, lack of motivation, substance misuse, peer pressure, bullying, academic pressure, parent’s divorce or separation amongst others.

Together we will explore each feeling and emotion event and behaviour, we find the core issue, the core challenge, and the hopes. We identify strengths already available and areas that the client believes that they could benefit from enhancing.

The aim is for the clients to feel self-empowered and in control. That is achieved by understanding and self-acceptance. Understanding our personal needs and limitations, discerning between limitations and self-limiting beliefs, understanding pain and development and believing and accepting that we are perfect as we are with no need for comparison is a good place to start. Once this is achieved change will start to take place and we will naturally drift towards a more positive and proactive future.

In an educational setting, I worked with children covering all aspects of their therapeutic needs. I also with teachers who needed support in all the mental and emotional issues of life plus the ones related to their pupils and the impact they have on their overall mental wellbeing.

I have also worked with parents who were supported by children's services. I was able to help parents to understand their primal needs as human beings, spouses, parents and professionals. Often they felt conflicted and unsure of how to fulfil each role. We explored how to find understanding and acceptance of these roles and take positive and assertive steps to ensure a balance that will promote a healthy emotional and mental state by addressing all and any condition bred by this conflicting and challenging time.

In the prison service, I worked in substance misuse recovery where I had the opportunity to gain insight into what it is like to feel that you need change but feel unable and incapable of promoting this. I was able to work with aspects of motivation, learned behaviours, chemical dependency, use of substances as a coping mechanism and anger management, belief in powerlessness over addiction, shame, guilt, trauma, and consequences. I am very experienced in working with addictive behaviour and have extensive knowledge and therapeutic skills and approaches that can help most people to stabilise and adopt a way of living free of substances.

I aim to provide a treatment that, in the end, the client will be able to accept the consequences of the past, while learning to cope with feelings that were often suppressed by substance misuse. Clients will have the opportunity to learn how to identify triggers and behaviours. Identifying which needs need to be fulfilled. We achieve this by looking into underlying issues, by addressing the trauma that led to addiction or caused by it, by challenging maladapted thought processes, etc. I have also extensive knowledge of relapse prevention that can be incorporated into our sessions.

£60.00 per session