Hi, I am Sarah, My counselling experience spans over 30 years and I have worked with a wide range of personal issues.
My journey started as a volunteer counsellor working in Scotland with clients who were experiencing difficulties with alcohol. This led me to full time work as a counsellor with an Employee Assistance Program in Glasgow. During this I gained experience in working with more issues and became trained in conducting debriefings after major incidents. This is where my interest in trauma began and it has led me on a path to become a trauma informed therapist.
I moved to Swindon in 1997 and worked with a charity-based alcohol and drug counselling service. After obtaining my BSc (Hons) Psychology degree I went on and completed my Diploma in Counselling and set up in private practice in 2003. At this time, I also co-founded in Bristol an alcohol project called The Swan Project which became a registered charity in 2007 and is still going to this day. I then chose to concentrate on my growing private practice and trained as a clinical Supervisor to supervise trainee/qualified counsellors and to provide individual/group supervision for different organisations.
I have a passion for learning and keeping up to date with new developments in the profession and continue to expand my knowledge. I am interested in the contributions that neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology have made to the field of trauma and therapy and I have attended numerous courses, conferences, and personal development workshops over the years.
In 2012 my continued interest in trauma led me to train in ‘Eye movement desensitizing processing’ (EMDR) and by 2017 I became an Accredited EMDR practitioner. I have also completed training in Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE) and my most recent training is in ‘Internal Family Systems’ (IFS) of which I have completed Level 1, 2 and 3. IFS is an evidence-based approach of psychotherapy which has shown to be highly effective in improving well-being by treating a variety of conditions and symptoms.
The main theoretical approaches that I work with are EMDR and IFS
Throughout this time I have been on my own personal journey, fully committing to my own happiness, fulfilment and well being as well as that of my clients and therefore have regular supervision and continued personal therapy.
