Online sessions across the UK

Specialist help with drugs, alcohol and the things underneath them.

I'm Paul Burrows, an addiction counsellor with lived experience of trauma and recovery. We work at a pace that suits you, and nothing has to be settled in the first session.

MSc Psychology · FDAC specialist · Online sessions available UK-wide

How I can help

Support for you, or for someone you're worried about

Most people come to counselling when something has already got heavier than they can carry alone. You don't need a diagnosis or a clear plan to start.

Addiction

Support around drink, drugs, cannabis and other patterns that have stopped feeling like choices.

Find out more →

Trauma and anxiety

Working with the experiences and fears that keep the body on alert, at a pace you can manage.

Find out more →

Internal Family Systems

A way of understanding the different "parts" of you that want different things, and getting them to work together.

Find out more →

Motivation and ambivalence

For when part of you wants to change and part of you doesn't. Motivational Interviewing takes both seriously.

Find out more →

Relationships and abuse

Help with relationship difficulties, communication and the impact of domestic abuse.

Find out more →

All approaches

Narrative, CBT, DBT, behavioural and more. We'll choose together what fits.

See all →

My approach

Less telling you what to do. More working out what's going on.

  • 01We start with what's happening now, not with a list of your failures.
  • 02Change is treated as something you decide, at a pace you choose.
  • 03I bring tools from several evidence-based approaches and use what helps you.
  • 04Sessions are online, so recovery can happen from your own home.
"Part of you wants to change, and part of you doesn't. Both are telling you something useful." Working with ambivalence, one of my core ideas

From the blog

Writing about what therapy is actually like

Plain-English articles on the brain, recovery, families and the parts of us that keep us safe.

Brain & body

Finding the Eye of the Storm

What your brain's alarm system is trying to tell you, and why fight, flight, freeze and fawn aren't choices.

Read article →

Motivational Interviewing

Two Voices in One Room

Working with ambivalence, when part of you wants to change and part of you doesn't.

Read article →

Client story

Finding the Courage to Change

A journey through alcohol dependency using Motivational Interviewing.

Read article →

Parenting

Love That's Scared

Why some parents who have lost a child find it hard to feel close to the next one, and how therapy helps.

Read article →

Free tools

Start small, no account needed

Practical things you can use today, whether or not we ever work together.

Free Recovery Journal

A simple daily journal to notice patterns and track progress.

Open →

Cannabis Diary

Log use and mood to see what's really happening.

Open →

Recommended Reading

Books I'd suggest to clients and anyone curious.

Browse →

You don't have to work this out on your own.

Online sessions are available across the UK. Reaching out is the first step, and it's a good one.

Contact me

The Fear State

In a fear state (dysregulated), there is a “shutdown” of some of the systems in higher areas of the brain (e.g., cortical). This makes retrieval of previous linear narrative memory inefficient; a common example of this is test anxiety. The content has been stored, but in the moment (e.g., during the test), retrieval is not possible. When the person is regulated, and feeling connected and safe, the stored content is accessible and easier to retrieve.

(Extract from: What Happened To You, Bruce D Perry, MD, PHD)