Sara Vali

I'm available on weekdays for morning, afternoon and some evening sessions.

Perhaps you're finding things difficult at the moment and wondering if you should talk to someone about it. Perhaps you feel stuck and unable to move forward and don't know why. Maybe you're feeling depressed or anxious with thoughts going round in your head that you're finding it difficult to break free from. Or perhaps you feel overwhelmed by life and unable to cope right now. People come to counselling for many different reasons, and there's nothing too big or too small to address with a counsellor. 

I offer a welcoming, confidential, non-judgemental space for you to talk about whatever is on your mind. I see counselling as a space to explore who you are, come to greater acceptance, and identify any changes you want to make to help you live a more authentic life. 

I've worked with a diverse range of clients on issues including anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, trauma, low self-esteem, bereavement, abuse, burn-out and adjusting to life with a disability. I have completed training with MS-UK on counselling people with Multiple Sclerosis.

I offer sessions both online and in-person from my home in West Norwood.

As an integrative counsellor, I bring together different elements of counselling theories. It means I can adapt my approach to meet your needs. Key theories include:

• person centred counselling -  which helps develop a trusting relationship through empathy, honesty and non-judgemental listening. It means I believe you’re the expert in yourself, not me, and that my role is to help you get back in touch with your authentic self
• psychodynamic counselling - which looks at links between the past and present to discover unhelpful rules and patterns in your life
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) - which explores the negative thoughts we have about ourselves and uses practical ways to help change them.

I’m also influenced by:

• polyvagal theory – thinking about the three states of your autonomic nervous system: safe and social, fight/flight and or shutdown. Understanding what shifts you into different states can help you connect with your body and recognise your triggers and responses
• Internal Family Systems, or IFS – which acknowledges we have different ‘parts’ or sub-personalities within us and a core ‘Self’ that is calm and compassionate. It aims to disentangle you from the parts that are behaving in unhelpful ways.

I hold a diploma in trauma therapy and can work safely and carefully with any trauma you're holding. I aim to help you understand how it's affected you, recognise your coping skills and support you in developing healthy new ones. I work somatically – with the feelings that come up in your body – so you don’t have to retell your trauma at length in our sessions if you don’t want to.

I offer weekly sessions of 50 minutes via Zoom or in person. I work on an open-ended basis, meaning sessions can continue for as long as you find them helpful. I have regular reviews so we can discuss how the sessions are going and what you want to get from them. 

We’ll usually start with a short phone call so I can find out why you’re considering counselling, let you know how I work, and answer any questions. This can help us both decide if we’d be a good match to work together. If phone calls aren’t accessible for you – because of a disability and/or anxiety, for instance – we could meet briefly on Zoom, or you could simply start with an initial session.

Your first session will be a chance to get a feel for how I work and consider whether it’s right for you. We will explore what brings you to counselling and what you’d like to achieve from sessions – which could be a specific goal or something less tangible. You may not be sure exactly why you want counselling but simply feel compelled to give it a go.

It’s really normal to be nervous before a first session. Coming into a stranger’s home / Zoom space when you’re unsure of what to expect is daunting! I’ll do my best to put you at ease and make you feel comfortable. We’ll go at your pace and you’re welcome to share as much or as little as feels right. You can ask me about how I work, or about counselling in general – there’s no question too big, too small or too obvious.