Sarah Hopton
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This professional is accepting new clients but may have a waitlist. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
This professional is accepting new clients but may have a waitlist. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
About me
I’m Sarah Hopton, an integrative, trauma-informed psychotherapist working with adults who find themselves at a crossroads, outwardly functioning but inwardly fraying at the edges. If you’re someone who’s always been the one to hold it all together, support others, or push through and you’re finally asking “But what about me?” — you’re in the right place.
I work with people who may not look like they’re struggling. Often high-achieving, capable, thoughtful, the kind of person others lean on. But behind the competence is exhaustion. Anxiety that won't quiet down. A deep sense of disconnection from self. Maybe you’ve been running on autopilot for years. Maybe something, burnout, loss, a diagnosis, a midlife shake-up has finally interrupted the pattern. Whatever brings you here, therapy can be the place where you stop pretending and start listening to yourself again.
I know how disorientating it can be to realise you’ve built a life that no longer fits, or to reach a point where old strategies for coping, people-pleasing, perfectionism, numbing out, overthinking, just aren’t working anymore. These moments can feel like breaking down, but they can also be an opening. A chance to do things differently.
Who I work with
I work with adults across a wide range of experiences, including:
- Burnout and emotional overwhelm, especially among professionals and carers
- Trauma and childhood wounds, including relational trauma, attachment difficulties, and emotional neglect
- Addiction and compulsive behaviours, with a focus on underlying patterns, not just symptoms
- Anxiety and dysregulation, often linked to people-pleasing, hyper-independence, or unresolved fear
- ADHD and neurodivergence, particularly in women navigating late diagnosis or masking
- Grief, loss, and life transitions, including midlife changes, separation, and identity shifts
- Therapists and helping professionals, who need a confidential, no-performance zone of their own
Many of my clients arrive unsure of what they need. They just know they can’t keep going as they are. You don’t need a perfect narrative. Just curiosity, honesty, and a willingness to begin.
How I work
My approach is integrative, meaning I draw on different therapeutic models depending on your needs. I am trained in and influenced by:
- Schema Therapy, to understand the deep-rooted beliefs and emotional patterns that shape your experience
- Attachment Theory, to explore how early relationships may still be playing out in adult life
- Polyvagal Theory and nervous system work, helping us understand regulation, shutdown, and survival strategies
- Psychodynamic and relational thinking, to gently explore how your past may be affecting your present
- Parts work and trauma-informed practices, to welcome all parts of you, without judgment or shame
But above all, therapy with me is grounded in relationship. I don’t believe in being a blank screen or hiding behind jargon. I show up as a real human being, compassionate, engaged, and alongside you as we make sense of your experience together.
This isn’t about ‘fixing’ you. It’s about building awareness, choice, and the capacity to meet yourself with more understanding and less fear. Over time, clients often notice they become less reactive, more grounded, and more able to make decisions that honour their needs and values.
What working together looks like
I offer weekly or fortnightly therapy sessions (60 minutes), which can take place:
- Online via secure video platform
- In-person at my offices in Nottinghamshire (Bingham) and Staffordshire (Barton)
- Outdoors, via walk-and-talk sessions in nature, for those who feel more at ease outside traditional rooms
We’ll start with a discovery call, a free 20-minute conversation where you can ask questions and get a feel for how I work. From there, we’ll agree on a start date and a regular time to meet.
A little more about me
I’ve been working in the field of psychotherapy, addiction, and trauma since 2013, across treatment centres, private practice, and training institutions. Alongside my clinical work, I’ve delivered training to therapists, developed accredited diploma courses, and supported professionals through supervision and mentoring. But underneath it all, I’m just someone who believes in sitting with people as they find their way home to themselves.
My own therapy journey came after a breakdown that forced me to re-evaluate everything. I’ve been in the chair myself many times. I know how vulnerable, messy, and liberating this process can be. I don’t take your courage lightly.
I hold Senior Accreditation with NCPS and BACP, aligned to Column C of SCOPeD. I undertake regular supervision and ongoing training to ensure my work stays ethical, responsive, and trauma-informed.
Final thoughts
This work is for people who want to live more honestly, not perfectly, not pain-free, but with more clarity, agency, and depth. It’s for those who are tired of the noise, the coping, the pretending. People who long to breathe out, let go, and start again, on their own terms.
If that sounds like you, I’d love to hear from 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:
Senior Accredited Registrant of National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (SNCPS Acc.) (Coumn C)
Senior Accredited Member of British Association for Counsellors & Psychotherapists (MBACP Snr Accrd)
Advanced Addiction Professional with FDAP
Enhanced DBS Certificate
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
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
£75.00 - £100.00
Concessions offered for
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
I offer a complimentary 20-minute discovery phone call, allowing us to get a feel for each other and discuss what’s bringing you to therapy. It’s a chance to see whether working together feels like a good fit.
You’ll find full details of my fees at:
www.sarahhopton.com
To check current availability or book an appointment, head to my client portal:
https://clientportal.uk.zandahealth.com/clientportal/lod
When I work
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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.
