Paula Borges

Paula’s approach

Paula’s approach is person-centred, collaborative and trauma informed. Paula’s work is informed primarily by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and modern cognitive behavioural therapies.

Paula brings an international perspective shaped by living and working in both South America and Australia, as well as her own experience of migration. She began practicing clinical psychology in Brazil in 2014 and has since gained more than ten years of experience across psychology, psychotherapy, counselling and education.

Therapies Paula uses

• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Focused acceptance and commitment therapy (FACT) – Short-term focused intervention 1-6 sessions
• Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)
• Narrative therapy
• Compassion focused therapy
• Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)-informed strategies
• Attachment-based
• Motivational interviewing
• Mindfulness-based interventions
• Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR)
• Exposure and response prevention (ERP)

Areas of practice

• Neurodivergence, late-diagnosed ADHD and ASD Level 1
• Masking, burnout and emotional overwhelm
• Trauma and relational and intergenerational trauma
• Anxiety, OCD, depression, shame and self-criticism
• Addiction and difficult-to-shift coping patterns
• Migration, identity and cultural adjustment
• The psychological impact of chronic, complex and progressive health conditions, including FND, POTS, MS and MPNs

Who Paula works with

Paula works with people across the lifespan, including adolescents from the age of 12, adults and elderly.

Qualifications and registration

• Provisional Psychologist, Psychology Board of Australia. Paula practises under supervision as part of her pathway to general registration in Australia.
• Registered Counsellor, Level 4, Australian Counselling Association (ACA)
• MAAPI – Member of Australian Association of Psychologists Inc
• MACBS – Member of Association for Contextual Behavioural Science

Paula’s availability

Paula sees clients on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, in person and by telehealth.

A little about Paula

Born and raised in Brazil, Paula studied and practiced psychology across human resources, psychiatric hospitals, schools, group settings before she found her passion in clinical practice. After making Australia home in 2016, Paula worked in early childhood education, parenting support and inclusion programs. During these years she also spent time in India participating in a multicultural inclusion program. All these experiences have shaped how Paula sees the world and deepened her appreciation for people, relationships, different cultures and the many ways we experience life.

Paula has always believed that we often suffer where we care the most. Our struggles are often connected to the people, experiences and things that matter deeply to us. Throughout her journey, Paula has kept coming back to clinical practice because, at the heart of it, there’s genuinely nothing she’d rather be doing than walking alongside her clients through the most difficult times of their lives, helping them feel seen and understood, and finding their own way towards a life that’s worth living.

Languages Paula speaks

Paula is fluent in English and Portuguese.