About me
Hello, my name is Sarah and I am a fully qualified child and adolescent counsellor with a special interest in working with neurodivergence and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). I see clients (up to the age of 18) for regular weekly sessions in my practice room, specifically equipped for working with children and young people. I also have a wide range of experience of working therapeutically with children in primary and secondary school settings and I currently work on a regular basis as a school counsellor.
Prior to counselling, I worked in both mainstream and specialist education. I was a primary school teacher before a career as a specialist teacher for a local education authority. I strongly believe that collaborative working between young people, their parents and school staff can bring about positive outcomes when there is shared understanding of a young person’s needs. I have extensive experience working with children and young people with autism and ADHD and am deeply committed to ensuring that every individual is given an equal opportunity to thrive.
My approach
My approach is gentle, relational, and child-led, with a focus on building trust and empowering each young person to explore their emotions, thoughts and feelings at their own pace. Children often don’t have the words to express their feelings so with younger children my approach is very much play based enabling a vital means of communication for them. Older children and adolescents may prefer to talk but there are always creative materials (sand, play dough, Lego, drawing etc.) on offer. I also work with non-verbal children.
I believe that working in partnership with parents is essential for exploring family dynamics, gaining a shared understanding of concerns and strengthening parent-child connections. My initial assessment includes meeting with parents in person; this might be a one-off consultation or I may recommend more sessions. I offer regular reviews as the therapy progresses. While a psychodynamic approach to counselling often takes time, the benefits to your child and family are likely to be long term.
Following an initial telephone discussion (free of charge) I invite you and your child in for an assessment meeting. This is charged at the standard session rate. It is here that we will talk about what brought you to me, what you and your child hope to get out of counselling and what to expect from counselling. It is also a chance for you to see if you are comfortable that we can work together and to ask any questions you may have.
Training, qualifications & experience
- MA Psychodynamic Counselling Children and Adolescents
- MEd Special Education
- Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
I am a registered member of the BACP.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
£65.00 per session
When I work
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