Welcome to Thirsk Counselling

Online Counselling & Clinical Supervision Across the UK

Online therapy rooted in connection, compassion, and care

Welcome, and thank you for visiting Thirsk Counselling.

Hi, I’m Paul Cullen, a counsellor and clinical supervisor based in North Yorkshire.

I offer online counselling and clinical supervision to people across the UK, providing a supportive and confidential space to explore whatever may be bringing you to seek support.

I work with adult individuals through secure online sessions and am a registered member of the NCPS (National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society).

how i can help MY Qualifications

Paul professional counsellor UK online therapy session

My background

I’ve always had an interest in emotional wellbeing and human connection, though my path into counselling wasn’t a straightforward one.

Over the years I’ve worked across a wide range of support services, including children and family services, residential and community-based drug and alcohol services, education and pastoral care for young people, and delivering mental health and emotional wellbeing training in both professional and community settings.

My journey into counselling

Before entering the counselling profession, I worked with my hands as a cabinet-maker, window cleaner, and even on a production line packing selection boxes. Through both personal experience and professional encounters, I found myself increasingly drawn toward supporting people through life’s more complex and difficult moments.

I began volunteering in a soup kitchen, spending time with people facing homelessness, addiction, and mental health challenges. This eventually led me into residential addiction services, where I worked as both a support worker and therapist.

From there I trained formally as a counsellor and have continued to deepen my understanding through professional training and real-world experience.

Lived experience

Alongside my professional work, I also bring lived experience. I live with Attention and Hyperactivity Differences, and autism is part of my family.

These experiences have shaped how I understand difference, regulation, overwhelm, and the many ways people adapt to the world around them.

They inform my commitment to working in a neurodivergent-affirming, respectful, and curious way.

My approach

I understand what it can feel like to carry emotional weight, holding stories that have not yet had the space to be told.

I believe deeply in the value of having someone alongside you as you begin to unpack those experiences, not to fix or rush you, but to witness and support you as you begin to make sense of what you are carrying.

Outside of my work I find balance in nature, walking in the woods with my dog or sitting quietly by a pond with an old split cane fishing rod in hand. These slower moments help me reconnect with myself and with the value of stillness in a fast-moving world.

As Ferris Bueller once said,

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Online counselling

online & telephone counselling Certificate Badge UK

Life can feel uncertain, overwhelming, or painful at times, but you do not have to face it alone. I offer online counselling in a calm and supportive space where you can explore what you are carrying at your own pace, from the comfort of your home or any private, quiet place with a stable internet connection.

Online counselling removes the barrier of geography, allowing you to work with a therapist who meets you with compassion, acceptance, and understanding.

Trauma-informed therapy

My work is trauma-informed, neurodivergent-affirming, and LGBTQIA+ affirming.

I aim to create a space that respects your pace and responds to the ways trauma, identity, difference, or lived experience may shape how you experience the world. Being trauma-informed means recognising how past experiences can continue to affect the present, sometimes in subtle ways. Safety, choice, and trust, and collaboration remain central to the work we do together.

Neurodivergent-affirming & LGBTQIA+ affirming therapy

Being neurodivergent-affirming and LGBTQIA+ affirming means valuing different ways of thinking, feeling, processing, relating, and being. You will not be judged here.

Whether you are autistic, have ADHD (attention and hyperactivity differences), or are highly sensitive, exploring identity, or simply experience the world differently, you are welcome as you are.

Issues I can support with

People come to counselling for many different reasons. Some areas we may explore include:

Anxiety and stress

Trauma

ADHD

Autism

Emotional overwhelm

Depression

Grief and Loss

Identity and Self-Exploration

Life Transitions

Free introductory session

The therapeutic relationship is central to meaningful change. To support this, I offer a free 30-minute introductory session where we can meet, discuss what you’re looking for, and see whether working together feels right.

If it doesn’t, I’m happy to help you find someone who may be a better fit.

Book a Free Intro Session

Clinical supervision for counsellors

I work integratively, drawing on years of experience and a range of therapeutic approaches. My core training is Person-Centred, alongside Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Solution-Focused approaches where helpful. The supervisory relationship itself is central to meaningful reflection and growth. I have supported counsellors working with a wide range of client presentations and have a particular interest in grief and loss, neurodivergence, trauma, and identity.

Ethical supervision

Supervision sits quietly at the centre of safe and ethical therapeutic work.

Whether you are a qualified counsellor or a student in training, finding the right supervisor is an important part of sustaining both your practice and the clients you support.

Online supervision

I offer online clinical supervision via secure, GDPR-compliant video conferencing.

Working online allows counsellors across the UK to access supervision that fits their practice, wherever they are based.

Reflection & professional growth

Clinical supervision provides a reflective space where curiosity, support, and professional growth can take place. I sometimes think of supervision as an “armour around our profession”, protecting and guiding both counsellor and client in meaningful therapeutic work.

Supervision model

My supervision practice is informed by the Seven-Eyed Model (Hawkins & Shohet, 2006), which explores therapeutic work from multiple perspectives and supports ethical, reflective practice.

Supervisor feedback

“I would absolutely recommend Paul’s supervision. He is an experienced, knowledgeable, and a supportive counsellor and supervisor.”

Client

CONTACT ME

Qualifications & professional membership

I am committed to maintaining high professional and ethical standards in my work.

I am a member of the NCPS (National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society) and work in accordance with their ethical framework.

My training includes:

Diploma in Person-Centred and Integrative Counselling
Cognitive Behavioural Interventions
Solution-Focused Approaches
Certificate in Trauma-Informed Practice
Certificate in Autism-Informed Practice
Advanced Online & Telephone Counselling Practitioner
Certificate in Clinical Supervision

Rewind Therapy technique (For trauma)

Getting started

If you’re considering counselling or looking for clinical supervision, you’re welcome to get in touch to arrange an initial conversation. I offer online counselling and clinical supervision across the UK, working with clients from a wide range of locations. I am based in North Yorkshire, and online sessions allow you to access support wherever you are.

All sessions take place online via secure video, allowing you to access support from anywhere in the UK.

Book a Free Intro Session