Sarah Bunce

I only offer appointments on a Thursday daytime - either in person or online

As a counsellor my goal is to help you cope better with the issues that you face.  Counselling may not always be able to change your circumstances, but I can help you cope with them in a different way.  My specialist areas are working with illness, loss and bereavement and extreme stress and anxiety.  I also help you become more confident, with better self esteem and self worth and also help you to challenge your negative thinking.  

As an Integrative Therapist I am able to use different counselling techniques, depending on your need and preferences. My approach is always client centred.  Some of the styles I may use with you include person-centred counselling, solution focused therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, transactional analysis and positive psychology.  

I provide and safe, non-judgemental and confidential space where you can explore the issues that brought you into counselling. I am able to offer long term or short term counselling, depending on your need and situation.  I start with an initial session where we explore what has brought you into counselling and how I can help.  Further sessions are then arranged on a weekly basis.

I have worked for over nine years with people who have been affected by life changing or life limiting illness. I have also worked for a mental health charity, so I have a wealth of experience to draw upon and I aim to make counselling a positive experience for you.

Please feel free to contact me to book an initial assessment.

The clinic in Brentwood has a reception area where you can sit and wait for your appointment.

My room is located upstairs, so please ensure that you are able to climb the stairs to see me here.

If you are unable to see me in person I can offer you an online counselling session instead.

Your initial session with myself is a chance for us to get to know each other.   I have a simple assessment form which I ask you to fill in.

We then use the rest of the time to explore what has brought you to counselling and how I may be able to help.

At the end you can decide if you wish to book further sessions.

I may have some availability on a Thursday daytime for face to face or online supervision and Wednesday or Thursday evening for online supervision.

As a counsellor I work integratively.  I currently work in private practice as well as being the Adult Counselling Service Lead for a hospice.  I have worked for mental health organisations previously so I have a lot of differnt client experience to draw upon.

My integrative style is reflected in my supervision practice.  I base my supervision on the Inskipp and Proctor Model.  This has three main functions - a normative (ethical dilemma, working within your competency etc), a formative (educational, looking at how to work with your clients) and a restorative function (which recognises the impact our work can have on us).  I may dip into other models of sueprvision depending on your needs, which again reflects my integrative practice as a counsellor.  I am an experienced counsellor who has studied a number of different models over the years, and I am always happy to share my learning with my supervisees to support your own development.  My aim as your supervisor is to help you grow and develop as a counsellor.

I believe that this flows as a model and allows me to work with many different counsellors, who are all at different developmental levels.

I have chosen to keep my supervision fees at a low cost level.  My reasoning behind this is that I want to support counsellors who are students or those who are newly qualified.  We all know how expensive training is and once you are qualified it can take time to find a job or set up in private practice.    Of course I am more than happy to also work with more experienced counsellors as well, because no matter how experienced you are the financial costs of being a counsellor can add up.

I am a very supportive supervisor and you would be able to contact me in between sessions if you have a concern that you needed to discuss.

The actual cost of the supervison is currently £45 for 90 minutes.  This is low cost, but this is my way of supporting others within the field of counselling.

I would expect you to come to supervision prepared to discusss your client work and we would also have time for a check in and to consider how your work might be impacting you personally (the restorative function within my chosen model).

I am happy to write reports for student counsellors if their course requires it.  I would see this as being part of my duties as your supervisor and so there would not be an additional charge for report writing.

I currently have a BPS Approved Certificate in Supervision Skills and I have completed my CPCAB Level 6 Supervision Qualification with Place2Be.  This course is accredited by the BACP.

Before our first supervision session we will have had a brief chat (no more than 20 minutes) on the telephone to ensure that we might be a good match.  I would send you a form to complete to give me some background about your experience and training.

Our first supervision session would be the real chance for us to work together and to then decide if you wanted to book further sessions.  Personally, I think that it is only by having a supervision session together that we can decide about future sessions.  I don't believe that can be decided in a short phone call.

If we chose to continue I would ask you to sign a contract for my Supervision Services.

Payment for all supervision sessions is to be made in advance of the session.  The link for online sessions would only be sent to you once payment has been recieved.