Name: Sue O'Brien
Address: Sam's Rooms, 174 Whitchurch Road, Cardiff, CF14 3NB, GB
Telephone: +447306853912
Price range: £60.00 - £120.00

About me

Introduction - Please scroll down for individual therapy, and keep scrolling for relationship therapy (intimate relationships, parent and child over 18, and siblings)

If you ever notice yourself saying 'there's a part of me that.....' then my approach could be helpful to you. I incorporate Systemic and Internal Family Systems (IFS) thinking - simply put, I help you explore how the external 'systems' in your life (relationships, environment, cultural, religious etc) affect your internal family system - your 'parts', or another way of looking at it is aspects of your personality, eg - emotions, beliefs, behaviours, impulses.

We often become aware of our parts when their presence is extreme, or they take over and feel like it's who we are - for example, 'I'm an anxious person', 'I am depressed,' or through behaviours such as substance use or self-harm. When these parts of take over, it can be common to treat them as you would a troublesome family member by either giving in to them or by getting angry and trying to push them away, sometimes into dark corners hoping they'll just go away. This can work for a while, but inevitably, they can up their game and come back to kick your arse. When this happens it can be overwhelming, frightening and can affect your relationships and quality of life.

Instead, with my help, we approach your parts that are causing problems with curiosity and respect, which changes your relationship with them from one of frustration or hopelessness to one of understanding and compassion - approaching them this way changes their behaviours. and your relationship with yourself and others improves.

For an intro into Internal Family Systems (IFS), copy and past this link for a 13 minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LuXM6uWUHs

I completely get that talking to a stranger about your inner most and sometimes darkest thoughts and behaviours is not easy, it takes courage, so if you've read this far and find you're noticing any curiosity towards my way of working, then feel free to contact me.

Working with Individuals (£80 or £60 for students) - keep scrolling to see working with relationships

'There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you' - Maya Angelou

I get that life, past and present - and knowing what’s coming - can be a bitch! It can slap us in the face so hard it can be a struggle to get through the day. At times we can feel overwhelmed by life, consumed by the pain of our experiences with confusing and sometimes bloody scary thoughts and behaviours.

If you're familiar with the film Inside Out where we meet Riley's five core emotions, Fear, Anger, Joy, Disgust and Sadness, and Inside Out 2 when Riley enters puberty and Anxiety, Boredom, Envy and Embarrassment show up, you will have seen how these 'parts' (aspects of her personality) of her struggle with the changes in her life and their battle to help her fit in. We all have parts, you may be familiar with your core parts, but when we've had experiences in our lives that cause distress, trauma and pain, our parts can become more extreme leading to behaviours and impulses that cause us problems - for example, anger, anxiety, addiction.

My role is to help you connect to your parts with compassion, to explore how they're influenced by your experiences and your external systems. Instead of pushing them away, sometimes into dark shadows where we try to ignore them, we discover their purpose and beliefs. My aim is to help you create trust between you so you can listen to them, validate them and help them let go of burdens and the beliefs they no longer need leading to a more harmonious internal family, improved relationships and quality of life. This is done with curiosity, respect and no judgement.

Working with couples - intimate relationships, parent and child (over 18) and siblings (£120 per session)

'Changing how you communicate, changes your relationship.' Toni Herbine-Blank & Martha Sweezy

Relationship counselling is a healthy, positive and supportive exploration into the issues and challenges experienced by many different types of couple. Every couple is unique, whether it's an intimate relationship, parent and child, or siblings, yet the problems often have a commonality – one or both partners having a sense of not feeling validated, heard or understood. If misunderstood, or ignored, emotions and tensions can escalate leading to feelings of blame, shame, hurt, confusion, frustration and anger. These issues are often less of a lack of love, but stem more from past experiences leading to unhelpful communication patterns and behaviours.

My role is to help you identify these patterns in your communication. I will help you find a new way to relate to each other by creating a space for you to each speak for those difficult and triggering feelings and behaviours. I will be an impartial, non-judgemental facilitator to you both, to help you make sense of past and present experiences and behaviours that affect and influence how you communicate and ultimately, your relationship.

Disagreements happen in every relationship, it's normal, but the strengths, resources and love within your relationship can often be overshadowed by your conflicting parts and their behaviours. By approaching our partner from a place of calm, curiosity and compassion, you can gain clarity and insight of the impact of your parts on your relationship, allowing more courageous conversations and healing.

For intimate relationships, I often see couples who are stuck between a part of them that wants to save the relationship and a part of them that has given up with feelings of hopelessness, anguish, frustration and infidelity added to the mix. Using the approach of Internal Family Systems (IFS) Intimacy From the Inside Out, we focus on what happens to you when you're triggered by your partner and how your reactions can go on to trigger them often leading to escalation. If there's uncertainty in the future of an intimate relationship, this process will help you decide whether you want to stay together, or separate, with the confidence of your decision making.

By working together with open and curious minds, we can explore your inner and outer worlds to bring healing and change to your lives

Training, qualifications & experience

Qualifications

BSc (First Class Hons) Systemic Counselling (2020)
Working with Couples (2022)
Internal Family Systems Level 1 (2023)
Internal Family Systems Level 2 (2025) - Working with Couples through Intimacy From the Inside Out (IFIO)

Training, Online Learning & Workshops

Using Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy With Autistic Clients
Using Sensorimotor Psychotherapy To Treat Complex Trauma: Practice Proven Body-Based Techniques
The multiplicity of grief - exploring the five gates of grief through the lens of IFS
Working With Suicide and Self-Harm: From an Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy Perspective
Exiles and the Healing Process with Einat Bronstein
The Myth of the Unitary Self
Mastering Internal Family Systems (IFS) for Clinical Challenges: Resolving Trauma, Anxiety, Attachment Injuries, Addiction & More
Embracing Suicidal Parts: Using Internal Family Systems (IFS) to Heal Traumatic Wounds
Grief Summit 2022: Counseling & Treatment Tools for the Changing Face of Grief & Loss
Trauma-informed Practice when Working with Complex PTSD
Suicide in Historically Marginalized Communities: Perception Versus Reality
Emotionally focused therapy for individuals (EFIT): Attachment based interventions to treat trauma, anxiety and depression
Mental Health Awareness Summit: Individual and community recovery - healing trauma, grief and loss as a result of the pandemic
When comfort eating stops being comforting and becomes distress eating
The function of binge eating
Bessel van der Kolk trauma interview series: Internal Family Systems
A Matter of Death and Life - Irvin Yalom
Using compassion and body awareness to help people make peace with food
Advanced Training for Trauma Treatment of Complex PTSD
Supporting male victims of sexual abuse
Stabilisation work in complex trauma counselling
Working creatively with post trauma states, dissociation and addictions
Co-dependency
Practical counselling strategies & interventions in addiction work
Working with survivors of domestic abuse and violence: addressing the needs of male and female counselling clients in the UK
The dilemmas of working with risky adolescents
Supporting children who have experienced early years’ trauma and broken attachments on childhood development
Difficult behaviour is the language of distress. It’s loud and clear – Who is listening?
Safeguarding: navigating dilemmas, decisions and conflicts inside and outside the therapy room
How to reduce anxiety in students and young people
How to Break the Cycle of Depression
From Stress to Psychosis: how to prevent mental illness
Effective brief psychotherapy
Understanding Anxiety – and managing it without drugs
Substance Misuse Awareness
Introduction to the Sesame Approach Workshop
ASSIST Brief Suicide Intervention
Treating Generalised Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Introduction to Safeguarding Children and Young People
First Aid at Work and AED Training

Member organisations

Registered / Accredited

Accredited register membership

Areas of counselling I deal with

Therapies offered

Fees

£60.00 - £120.00

Concessions offered for

Students
Trainee counsellors

Additional information

Individuals £80 - 60 minute in person or online sessions (I offer a 30 minute initial online consultation free of charge)
Couples £120 (sessions in person only)
Students £60 - 60 minute in person or online sessions (I offer a 30 minute initial online consultation free of charge)

When I work

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
Early morning
Morning
Early afternoon
Late afternoon
Evening

Contact me for current availability

Sue O'Brien