About me
I am an experienced and fully accredited Psychotherapist and Supervisor with a warm, thoughtful and approachable manner. I offer long term depth psychotherapy in my consulting room in Twickenham, and short term ecotherapy outdoors in nature.
I have 16 years experience as a psychotherapist and work with a wide range of different life challenges. My long term work with clients gives us time to explore the roots of problems, often originating in childhood, that can show up in the present day without us always realising it. So many patterns of behaviour are formed as strategies in our early years to help us navigate the world around us, which sometimes might have been difficult. Whilst supporting us as children, these patterns can become strangleholds as adults and can prevent us from truly thriving in our lives. I can help you gently uncover these patterns in order to heal from them. We would also explore the context of your current life to understand what other pressures you might be facing in the present day.
This can be very rewarding work, bringing rich understandings about your feelings, your behaviours and your life in general. It often results in profound transformations, revealing more of who you really are.
I have worked extensively with issues such as identity, stress, grief, depression, anxiety, loss of meaning or purpose, spiritual confusion, loneliness, shame, overwhelm, ill health, existential challenges (such as climate anxiety and the geopolitical situation), relationship challenges and life transitions. I am strongly influenced by the work of Carl Jung and work with the unconscious through dreams, visualisations, creativity and body work. As Carl Jung famously said: "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate".
I also offer short term ecotherapy over 7 sessions (1 session indoors and 6 sessions outdoors), in a park in the Borough of Richmond. This is where we can work with a single issue you may be having that would benefit from deeper enquiry - for example, a recurring relationship challenge, workplace stress, a life transition or challenging caring responsibilities. These can be powerful sessions during which I use a wide range of different approaches that bring insight, offering specific tools to support you. These outdoors sessions are 90 minutes long as opposed to the normal 50 minute sessions for indoor therapy.
The natural world can be a beautiful "co-therapist", cutting through the noise of our daily, fast-paced life. It can foster a sense of connection, an opportunity for creativity and for possibility. Throughout all my work, I offer an entirely non-judgemental space. The natural world also lacks any judgements or expectations and this can enhance your feelings of safety and belonging. Please see my website for more information about these sessions.
Coming to therapy for the first time, whether for a long term or short term commitment, can feel daunting but I have a warm and approachable manner and can help you feel at ease. It is important that you feel safe to talk about the challenges you are facing in your life. I can offer you a compassionate space to explore those aspects of you that are holding you back from living as fully as possible. I work in a very relational way since the quality of the therapist-client relationship is the key to success. All our work together is confidential.
How often should I come?
Whether you decide to come and see me to work together for a longer period of time, or for short term ecotherapy, I believe that seeing me on a weekly basis, at the same time every week, is the best way to support our work together.
How can Counselling or Therapy help me?
Whatever the time frame, the therapeutic journey will help you understand how and why you might have adopted belief systems about yourself and the world which might now be holding you back. Difficulties can be transformed into healing tools. The process can enable you to uncover the depths of your potential and to make the necessary changes required to create a life full of meaning.
What should I do now?
If you feel I might be able to help, please call or text me and we can arrange a time to have an initial discussion on the phone. If you feel comfortable, we can then arrange an initial assessment session to meet and explore if I am the most suitable therapist for you. Finding the right therapist is vital to the success of your therapeutic journey.
I wish you luck in your search for deeper meaning and healing in your life.
Sarah
Training, qualifications & experience
I am trained as a Transpersonal Integrative Psychotherapist. Being an Integrative Psychotherapist simply means that I draw on many different schools of psychotherapy theory into my work and can adapt my approach to meet my client’s needs.
The Transpersonal element of this means that I hold as precious the notion that we are more than simply our bodies, whatever that may mean for us. We are all, in some way, seeking our own personal meaning in life, whether overtly spiritual or otherwise, and this can be the richest, most rewarding journey we may ever take.
My qualifications and accreditations include:
- BA (Hons) - Leeds University
- Post Graduate Diploma in Psychotherapy and Counselling - CCPE
- Certificate in Dream work - CCPE
- Certificate in Advanced Dream work - CCPE
- Diploma in Advanced Transpersonal Psychotherapy - CCPE
- Diploma in Supervision - CCPE
- Threshold certificate in Ecopsychology and Nature based practices - Natural Academy
- UKCP accredited
- Member BACP
- MBCBT practitioner (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
I have been working as a psychotherapist for 16 years and have experience in the following environments:
Low cost counselling clinics; NHS therapeutic community; NHS GP surgery; Clinical supervisor in low cost counselling clinic; Facilitator and Supervisor in psychotherapy training college; my own Private practice.
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
£90.00 per session
Additional information
I charge £90 for a 50 minute session for long term therapy.
I charge £165 for each 90 minute session of short term ecotherapy.
Further information
Where do you work?
For longer term work I see clients in my office in central Twickenham where there is plenty of parking in a nearby car park. It is also close to a mainline railway station and bus routes.
I also have some slots from time to time on-line, using Zoom.
For shorter ecotherapy work i work in a park in the Borough of Richmond, where the is also plenty of parking.
What sort of difficulties do you work with?
I have experience working with the following issues:
Depression; stress and anxiety; bereavement; relationship problems; emotional, physical and sexual abuse; lack of meaning; divorce; eating disorders; shame; overwhelm; work-place stress, loneliness, health challenges, retirement or other life transitions; spiritual crises; ageing; identity problems; LGBTQ+; disability; problems rooted in childhood trauma, existential challenges (such as climate anxiety or the geopolitical situation).
