Sarah Hopton
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I’m a BACP and NCPS accredited psychotherapist, an Advanced Practitioner with Addiction Professionals, and I hold an MSc (Distinction) in Integrative Counselling & Psychotherapy. My background includes work in addiction services, mental health care, and over a decade in private practice. Before retraining, I spent many years in corporate leadership roles—an experience that now helps me support clients navigating high-stress environments, burnout, career transitions, and the emotional weight of responsibility.
I offer a calm, confidential space for people who are ready to reconnect with themselves and explore what’s holding them back. Many of my clients are in midlife, navigating changes in identity, relationships, health, or purpose. Others come with a history of trauma, addiction, or emotional overwhelm that they’ve carried alone for too long. I also work with women exploring ADHD and neurodiversity, often shaped by years of masking, shame, or feeling ‘too much’ in the wrong spaces.
My approach is relational, integrative, and trauma-informed. We’ll work together to explore what’s going on beneath the surface—making sense of your past, recognising old patterns, and creating space for something new. Whether you’re dealing with anxiety, low self-esteem, grief, burnout, or simply feeling stuck, therapy can help you come home to yourself with more clarity, compassion, and choice.
I’ve been in ongoing personal therapy since 2008—not just for training, but as a commitment to doing the work myself. I believe therapy doesn’t fix you; it supports you to soften, strengthen, and grow into the person you already are beneath the layers. It’s challenging, hopeful work—and it’s a privilege to walk alongside people as they do it.
In our first session, we’ll explore what’s brought you here, what feels heavy, and how I might support you. You don’t need to have the words yet. Just a sense that something matters enough to begin. If that’s where you are, I’d be honoured to walk with you.
Training, qualifications & experience
Qualifications:
PG Certificate: Clinical Supervision
MSc: Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy with Distinction (Level 7) (BACP Accr)
PG Diploma: Integrative Counselling & Psychotherapy
PG Certificate: Integrative Counselling & Psychotherapy
Masters in Business Administration (MBA)
BSc (Hons) in Combined Sciences
LEAP (Leading Equine Assisted Psychotherapy) Practitioner Training
Horsejoy Practitioner Training (Equine Facilitated Learning)
Professional Bodies:
Accredited Member of British Association for Counsellors & Psychotherapists (MBACP Accrd)
Accredited Professional Registrant of National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (MNCPS Prof Reg)
Advanced Addiction Professional with FDAP
Enhanced DBS Certificate
Training Courses & Workshops:
- Compassionate Inquiry Masterclass with Gabor Mate
- LGBTQ+ Affirming Therapy
- Working with Shame with Carolyn Spring
- Working with Suicidal Ideation with Carolyn Spring
- Working with Complex Trauma & First Stage of Trauma Recovery
- Exploring Attachment & Loss with R. Bowlby
- Certificate of Proficiency BACP
- Substance Misuse
- Safeguarding Adults
- Safeguarding Children
- Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
- Mental Capacity Act
- Equality & Diversity
- Administration of Medication
- EAP: Inside a Session
- Setting up Ethical Private Practise
- Anxiety Masterclass with Dr. C Padesky
Member organisations
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Other areas of counselling I deal with
I work with people navigating anxiety, trauma, addiction, burnout, grief, and the quieter struggles that often go unseen—like masking in neurodivergence, chronic self-reliance, or feeling lost in midlife. Clients come to me with relationship challenges, low self-worth, emotional overwhelm, or a sense that something in them no longer fits. Together, we explore what’s underneath and begin the work of untangling, understanding, and gently shifting what no longer serves.
Photos & videos
Fees
Concessions offered for
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
I offer a free 20-minute exploratory phone call so we can talk about what’s bringing you to therapy and whether we feel like a good fit.
You’ll find full details of my fees on my website: www.lifeondreams.com
To view current availability or book an appointment, visit the client portal:
https://clientportal.uk.zandahealth.com/clientportal/lod
When I work
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I split my time between Burton on Trent and Bingham, typically I am in Bingham on a Monday afternoon and evening. I am in Burton on Trent on Tuesday & Wednesday all day.
Further information
I’ve been actively practising Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) since 2008 and have worked extensively in this field as both a therapist and educator. I’m a Senior EFP Practitioner and Programme Director at LEAP Equine, where I deliver workshops, CPD days, and lead on the Crossfields Institute Level 5 Diploma in Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy: LEAP Method. I also wrote and teach the Level 4 Diploma in Equine Facilitated Learning, launched in 2020.
While I’m not currently offering new EFP/EFL sessions myself, I remain passionate about the power of this work and continue to train and support other professionals in the field. If you're curious about Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy or Learning, I encourage you to visit www.leapequine.com for more information, resources, and practitioner listings.
