Sonia St John-James


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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Feeling for a change? Despite all your best efforts of ignoring or pretending all is well do you still ask yourself 'Why can’t I shake this?’ Ready to rid yourself anxiety (worry, guilt, shame) triggered by memories that are so overwhelming that you’re having to twist yourself to reduce associated anxieties only to realise this too creates new problems? I can help you learn to regulate and reduce anxiety caused by the awareness of feelings, thoughts and behaviours, bringing about greater felt harmony. Then you’ll be able to feel and experience the full array of healthy feelings without fear so you can move towards mental and emotional equilibrium.
I am an EMDR Europe Accredited Practitioner (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) to work with adults. EMDR accelerates the brain's ability to process traumatic, life-threatening events and ongoing stressful situations.
I also have an EMDR child specialist certificate, this training has equipped me to EMDR to both children and adolescents, to support them through traumatic experiences towards feeling healthier and safer in themselves and in the world.
EMDR is evidence based and has at least ten inter/national guideline recommendations for the treatment of traumas and PTSD including from WHO (World Health Organisation).
I have completed IAPT Couples Therapy for Depression Training at the Tavistock Centre, supporting couples to understand and navigate their challenges and work towards repair and greater fulfillment.
Whether the difficulty is self-confidence, relationships, the haunting of an event you had first or second-hand experience from yesteryear - if you hear yourself saying ‘I need to move on from this, but can’t do it alone,’ then some specialist support to guide your processing could be the essential requirement to get you to a place of ‘Feeling a change?’
All the best to you.
Training, qualifications & experience
- 2022 EMDR Child specialist intensive certificate (Trained by Ana Gomez)
- 2020 Couple Therapy for Depression - Tavistock Relationships
- 2020 EMDR Europe Accredited Practitioner
- 2012 EMDR complete 4 part training - Accredited course with EMDR Works
- 2010 MSc in Therapeutic Counselling
- 2007 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
- 2006 Introduction to Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy
- 1994 BSc Hons in Psychology - London University
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.

EMDR UK

EMDR Europe
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
Fully trained EMDR therapist.
Therapies offered
Fees
£80.00 - £120.00
Free initial telephone session
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
60 min. assessment (phone/in person) - £80
50 min. individual therapy session - £70 weekdays (£80 Saturdays)
50 min. couples session - £80
50 min. EMDR sessions - £90
All payments to be made a week in advance of the session
When I work
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Exceptionally and for only short periods I offer sessions some early weekday evenings/Saturday mornings.
Further information
I am a registered and accredited member of:
the BACP
EMDR UK and Europe
I am a registered therapist with the following health insurers:
Aetna,
Aviva,
AXA,
BUPA,
Vitality Health,
Healix.