Sally Elsen

Please contact me via email or contact number to enquire about current availability. If I cannot offer sessions at this time, I will signpost other relevant support you may wish to explore. 

My name is Sally Elsen and I am a qualified Counsellor and Accredited member of the British association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). I have a BA Hons Degree in Humanistic Counselling from the University of Chichester.

I retrained as a Counsellor following a twenty- five year teaching career and I am  qualified to work therapeutically  with children and Young People and adults .I have also worked with parents who have been managing a Young person’s emotional difficulties and challenging behaviour at home and work as a counsellor in Primary schools. 

I am fully insured and have an up to date DBS check.

I have regular safeguarding training.

I have worked with numerous concerns including; Anxiety, Abuse, Trauma, Anger, Relationship issues, self-esteem, Attachment, Child related issues, self- harm, Childhood trauma, stress, loss and SEND (special educational needs and disabilities.) As well as my Private work, I have a number of years’ experience of working with children and young adults as a Counsellor  for a local charity and I have additional specialist training for working with children and young people. I have also worked with parents and carers of young people with SEND. I have recently undertaken further training as a Play Therapist with PTUK ( final award due April 2025).

Training and qualifications:

BA Hons Degree in Humanistic Counselling from the University of Chichester.

CPCAB Level 5 certificate in counselling young people (working within the BACP Children and Young People competency framework). 

Post Graduate certificate in Therapeutic Play  : PTUK 

Recently completed Post Graduate Diploma in Play Therapy ( final award due April 2025).

Level 4 Certificate in Counselling skills from the University of Chichester.

BA Hons Degree and Post Graduate Certificate in Education (Qualified Teacher status)

Twenty five years teaching experience in Primary school and Special Educational Needs Leader.

 I will work with you in a non- judgmental confidential space. The Humanistic therapist is not the expert. I will not tell you what to do but will help you to explore your thoughts and feelings by building a relationship of support and trust. I will not judge you and you will be accepted as you are. You know what is best for you. In our sessions we work together to better understand what has brought you to therapy and how you would like things to be different. I offer a talking therapy but am also open to working creatively using the Arts and/or play. This can also be helpful for working with younger clients.

The aim of counselling is to create a supportive and safe space where you can share any problems and worries that you have. Counselling can help you increase self-awareness and gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your life’s circumstances. This can then enable you to make choices about how you want to move forward in your life. As your counsellor I will facilitate and support your process. I will not give you advice or tell you what to do.

At the beginning of counselling you and I will decide the focus of the counselling work and how long we will work together. We will both take part in regular reviews so that we can both look at what you have achieved and what you are still working towards; what is helping and what is not helping.

The counselling sessions are 50 minutes in length ( this can be adapted for younger clients as needed ) and take place in my small purpose built garden counselling studio.  I work short term ( 6-12 sessions) and also longer term sessions that may be open ended. 

The counselling sessions are led by your needs and are usually held at the same time on the same day each week. 

I offer no charge for the first introductory session so that you can decide if you want to continue. In this session we can talk about what brings you and how counselling may help you. If you want to take some time to make your decision that is all fine. We will also discuss how many sessions may be right for you and we will review this regularly. 

Sessions are then charged at £50 per session and are paid a week in advance. 

Fees are payable by cash or a bank transfer. A receipt will be given. 

Cancellations require a minimum 24 hours’ notice otherwise a missed session will still be charged.