Paula Moreau-Smith

Cultural Roots and Lived Experience

I was born in Trinidad — indigenous name Cariri/Iriri, land of the hummingbird — and grew up in London, England. In my early twenties, I returned to live and work in Trinidad, an experience that profoundly deepened my sense of self and belonging.

Caribbean culture, with its creativity, expressiveness, and vibrancy, and its inventiveness, innovation, strength and resiliency, is very alive in me. It informs my work, my worldview, and the way I hold space for others.

Living across cultures has given me an intimate understanding of identity, belonging, cultural attunement, and the particular experience of moving through a world that doesn't always make room for the totality and complexity of who we are. I hold a deep recognition of the impact of power, privilege, and inequality, alongside an equally deep faith in our shared humanity and capacity for connection.

A Compassionate Understanding

Many people I work with carry stress, trauma, grief, anxiety, depression, or a deep sense of disconnection, often shaped by personal history, cultural experience, and intergenerational wounds.

I don’t see these experiences as signs of something being wrong with you.

I see them as meaningful responses to life’s challenges that need to be met and held with care and compassion.

My role is to offer a caring, culturally attuned space where you can explore the deeper aspects of your life and the difficulties that you have endured, reconnect with your inner resources, and rediscover the creative, expressive, and vital parts of yourself.

What Brought Me to This Work?

In my former life, I worked in advertising, marketing, PR, and research across major brands, arts organisations, and non-profits.

While intellectually stimulating, it became increasingly disconnected from my creative self.

A period of professional change, unexplained physical pain, and a deep longing to live more authentically led me back to my creative roots and eventually to training in body psychotherapy.

This unconventional, creative path allowed me to bring all parts of myself together, to feel more grounded, more expressed, and more authentically connected. It was here that I could breathe freely and express myself fully.

I understand what it is like to feel stressed, unfulfilled, and stuck; unsure of how to move forward, and lacking the courage to reach for what you truly want. I know the courage it takes to believe in yourself. And I know that change is possible.

The People I Work With

Many people I work with carry stress, trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, or a sense of disconnection, often shaped by personal history, cultural experience, and intergenerational wounds.

I don't see these experiences as signs of failure or deficiency. I see them as meaningful responses to a life that deserves to be held with compassion.

My role is to offer a safe, warm, and welcoming space where you can explore the difficulties you have endured, reconnect with your inner resources, and rediscover the creative, expressive, and more powerful parts of yourself.

I have worked with women and men from diverse backgrounds and life situations, including people experiencing trauma and chronic stress, anxiety and depression, grief and loss, addiction and compulsive patterns, relationship difficulties, career challenges, lack of fulfilment and meaning, disconnection from self, body, and purpose.

No matter where you have been or what you are carrying, I aim to meet you with respect, care, and understanding, and to support you in reconnecting with your power, self-worth, dignity, and innate potential.

Experiences That Shaped My Work

At age sixteen, I volunteered in a large psychiatric hospital in London, supporting people in acute mental distress. It was a profound and challenging experience, one that called on depths of resilience and compassion I hadn't known I had.

Later, I volunteered in a hospice, sitting with people at the end of their lives. These experiences taught me about the preciousness of life, the impermanence of things, the importance of forgiveness, and what it means to truly witness another person's vulnerability and humanity.

I also supported homeless people dealing with addiction — work that taught me about compassion, equality of being, and what genuinely matters when everything else falls away.

I was among the first UK facilitators involved in the Roots of Empathy project, supporting children to develop empathy towards others. Working with children taught me to think creatively, be patient, gentle, and playful, and to embrace joy. It also gave me invaluable insight into the inner child, a presence that arises frequently in adult therapy.

These experiences deepened my understanding of vulnerability, resilience, and the many ways trauma, loss, and disconnection can live within the body and psyche.

They continue to inform the sensitivity and depth with which I hold therapeutic space.

Training and Professional Background

My experience spans over 25 years and continues to evolve:

- Certified Deep Bodywork and Postural Integration® practitioner, and a one-year apprenticeship in Group Process Work with Silke Ziehl at Entelia Institute, The Open Centre in London.

- Advanced Postural Integration® training with the late Jack Painter, and with Dirk Mariovoet, Bernhard Schlage, and Elisabeth Renner, in Germany.

- Diploma in Embodied Relational Therapy with Nick Totton.

- Graduate of the Timeless Wisdom Training and Collective Trauma Facilitator Training, with Thomas Hubl.

- Certified Ancestral Lineage Healing practitioner, trained by Daniel Foor at Ancestral Medicine.

- Currently in advanced training in NARM® — The NeuroAffective Relational Model, through the Trauma Training Institute UK

I continue ongoing studies in trauma healing, attachment theory, polyvagal theory, neuroscience, focusing, parts work, and intergenerational and collective trauma. I work from an intersectional, decolonial perspective that values difference.

Academic Background

My academic background includes an MBA and an undergraduate degree in International Relations, which inform my understanding of culture, complexity, identity, systemic structures, and the pressures often experienced in professional and high-performance environments.

This, along with the experience of living between London and Trinidad - both multicultural societies - has given me a deep appreciation for diverse perspectives and a global sensibility that runs through everything I do.