About Sally
My therapy room is somewhere you can become curious about yourself rather than constantly criticising yourself.
I have always been fascinated, by why we feel the way we do, why some experiences stay with us for years, and how we can understand something cognitively, yet still seem unable to change how it makes us feel.
For more than 20 years I've worked with children, young people, adults and families.
While working in education, I saw children who were anxious, angry, quiet, perfectionistic, desperate to please or struggling to fit in. Often, the behaviour everyone could see was only a tiny part of what was happening underneath. Yet there's an expectation to 'behave', follow the rules, concentrate and academically achieve. Life is difficult to navigate and understand when you're young, so young people often find meaning for themselves, without questioning it.
Those experiences and beliefs don’t necessarily disappear when we become adults. You might find yourself trying to keep everyone happy and struggling to say no. You may achieve a great deal and still feel that you’re falling short.You might put your own needs aside or find it difficult to ask for what you need.
I'm just not good enough.
My genuinely curious and non judgement approach, provides a space for you to be you, however that looks. From there, we can begin to explore what feels comfortable for you, when you are ready.
You are the expert on you, I am here to support you, accompany you and help you make sense of your experiences, as we discover together, how it feels to be you.
Sometimes that might involve me asking questions, sometimes listening, sometimes some psychoeducation (me helping you understand some of what’s actually happening within your body) but always with warmth, compassion and with you at the centre of everything we do.
My individual approach, draws on and combines various therapeutic modalities; integrative, person-centred, relational, psychodynamic, attachment-informed, systemic, creative, CBT, inner child work or perhaps something different, depending on what feels the most helpful in the moment.
With children and young people, I may use play-based and creative approaches, such as drawing, games or sand tray, to help them express experiences they may not yet have the words for.
My professional training matters enormously to me.
As an adult, I put myself through university, then went on to complete a Msc in Counselling Children and Young People.
I now continue to research and take on additional training at every opportunity or when I come up against something I'm unfamiliar with, but it isn't the only thing I bring into the therapy room.
My own lived experiences allow me to truly understand the impact of adverse childhood experiences. And they don't just disappear when we become adults. They can influence:
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How we see ourselves
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Our confidence
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Whether we feel good enough
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Whether we feel loveable
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What we tolerate from other people
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How easily we trust
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Whether we feel able to speak up
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Whether we believe our own needs matter
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Our relationships
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Our physical health
I'm too much
This combination has shaped the therapist I am today. It's one of the reasons I care so much about looking beyond what's happening on the surface, and understanding what's happening underneath.