Sophia Love
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Welcome! I'm Sophia, a BACP registered counsellor (and counselling psychologist in training) with a passion for supporting individuals to develop a deeper understanding of themselves.
Counselling/psychotherapy for adults:
- Face-to-face or remote (online and telephone).
- Appropriate for ages 18-years-old plus.
- Varied weekday appointments available.
- £45.00 per session currently, increases to £55.00 per session as of April 2025.
I am keen to tailor the process to you: your needs, expectations, and preferences by integrating many different ways of working. At my core, I am gentle, non-directive, and non-judgemental, offering you an autonomous and human-to-human counselling relationship. Together, we may explore many aspects of yourself, your patterns of relating, and childhood experiences to address any current psychological distress you may be experiencing. I am particularly drawn to working with the childhood self, and this is known as inner child work.
Inner child work:
Inner child work refers to a process of connecting with your childhood self to address any childhood experiences which impact you currently, particularly the impact it may have on your perception of the world and others in your life. Essentially, it is a process of exploring the parental/adult figure that was not available during childhood years so to adopt this position yourself, offering yourself the reassurance, validation, respect, and acceptance you deserve.
Play therapy for children:
- Face-to-face only.
- Appropriate for ages 4 - 12 years old.
- Appointments available at your child’s school (subject to travel fees) and/or at my Sittingbourne workspace after school.
- £45.00 per session currently, increases to £65.00 per session as of April 2025.
- Additional autism spectrum disorder training.
- Enquiries taken from parents/carers, schools, and local authority homes.
I understand, as a parent, it can be distressing watching your child experience big feelings whether this be sadness, worry, grief, anger, or something else. Although you foster a compassionate relationship with your child, it still may be unclear how exactly they are feeling and sometimes, nor the reason why.
It can be extremely difficult for children to navigate their feelings using adult language such as “I am feeling anxious because…” hence it is my role to look for unspoken clues presented during play to develop an understanding of what they might be trying to express. In other words, my priority is to develop an understanding of the world through your child’s eyes, meeting them at their level. Each session, your child has the autonomy to choose from a selection of hand-picked resources including LEGO, teddies, dolls, action figures, dress-up costumes, board and card games, fidget and sensory toys, drawing and painting supplies, and lots more depending on their individual interests. Your child may work at their own pace to begin exploring their feelings and experiences through playtime metaphors (e.g., "Barbie does not like..." or "Spiderman is sad") and after some time, develop a trusting relationship with myself. The goal being your child feels safe enough to express themselves freely in order to resolve any internal conflicts.
Integrated talking therapy for teens:
- Face-to-face or remote (online and telephone).
- Appropriate for ages 13 – 17 years old.
- Appointments available your teen’s school, college, or sixth form (subject to travel fees) and/or at my Sittingbourne workspace.
- £45.00 per session currently, increases to £65.00 per session as of April 2025.
- Additional autism spectrum disorder training.
- Enquiries taken from parents/carers, educational institutes (schools, colleges etc), and local authority homes.
I would describe how I work with teens as somewhere in-between how I work with children and adults; the process for a seventeen-year-old would usually look significantly more like adult counselling than for a thirteen-year-old because it is tailored specifically to your young person’s needs. Essentially, I offer the same principles of adult counselling with a splash of the creative interventions used in play therapy so promote a human-to-human relationship rather than an adult-to-child authoritarian one.
A factor which sets myself apart from other mental health professionals/services is I am not too much older than the teens I work with and this usually results in a greater sense of connection due to shared generational experiences. Consequently, I am keen to work with teens all the while I retain some youth!
I have significant experience working with teens under a social care order and/or presenting high risk to self or others.
Just some of the challenges I work with include/surround but are not limited to:
- Anxiety.
- Depression.
- Anger.
- Bereavement.
- Body image.
- Perfectionism.
- Youth offending behaviour.
- Although I am not a drug/addiction therapist, I will work with teens who use substances if this is not the primary focus of the work.
- Issues of identity (who am I?)
- Sexuality
- Attachment/relationships (friendships, romantic relationships, family)
Training, qualifications & experience
- Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills
- Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies
- Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
- BSc Psychology with Counselling
- Current PhD student, psychotherapist and counselling psychologist in training.
I also offer emotional support for key stage two students across three of our local primary schools. Historically, I worked closely with looked after teens within local authority care settings and for the mental charity Mind as a wellbeing coach.
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
Photos & videos
Fees
£45.00 per session
Additional information
Given rising expenses, please note my fees will be increasing to £55.00 per adult counselling session and to £65.00 per child/young person counselling session as of Tuesday 1st April 2025.
When I work
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Further information
I do not offer crisis support and advise calling the Samaritans (116 123) or NHS (111) if in need of urgent mental health services.
