Sarah Barnsbury

I currently have availability on Monday daytime or Tuesday evening. 

About me

Hello, I’m Sarah. Perhaps you’ve been through a challenging time recently, and you’re feeling anxious or low. Perhaps you have a feeling of stuckness or that things aren’t quite right. Or maybe you’ve been through something traumatic in your past that seems to affect you in your relationships with others, or with yourself.

Within the safe and confidential boundaries of our therapy sessions, I offer the opportunity to discuss and explore your feelings and to help raise awareness of what it means to be 'you', both within relationships and on your own.

I am an integrative counsellor which means I use different approaches depending on what you find useful. I work primarily as a talking therapist, helping you make connections between the past and the present, and to reveal more choices for how to live your life in the future. We may use images, meditation, journalling, attention to the body, and explore your unique life experiences. We always go at your pace. 

Training, qualifications & experience

I became a counsellor because I am curious about people and I want to help people have better relationships with others and themselves. I am a highly experienced people manager and mental health advocate who trained in Counselling at The Psychosynthesis Trust. I currently work as a Counsellor at a GP Practice in Wandsworth, offering members of the local community up to 6 sessions of counselling for a variety of issues. 

Initial Contact

After initial contact by email, we arrange a complimentary 15-minute phone call or video call to help us confirm if working together feels right. During this session, I will ask what brings you to therapy, why now, and what your intentions for therapy will be. I can also answer any of your questions the time allows.

Working together

Once we decide to work together, we create an agreement for our work. This could be open-ended or with a limited timeframe of 6-12 sessions. This agreement will include T&Cs around confidentiality, data protection, attendance and payment. Periodically this will be reviewed, such as if moving from time-limited to open-ended work. We then meet once per week at a set time of 50 minutes.

Ending

You are under no obligation to continue to work with me if you feel it’s time to end, however, endings are important, and I suggest we take between 1 – 4 sessions to explore endings for you and to integrate our sessions together.

Ethics

I am registered with the BACP and practice under the BACP's Code of Ethics. I hold professional insurance, and also engage in regular supervision and continued professional learning. Our work is confidential, and I manage your data in line with GDPR. I work with people from a wide range of backgrounds and stand for inclusion across gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, culture, class, religion, and opinion. I will always do my best to understand each client’s life from their own perspective, and I have worked successfully with people with experiences very different to my own.

Following initial email contact, we arrange a complimentary 15-minute phone call or video call to help us confirm if working together feels right. During this session, I will ask what brings you to therapy, why now, and what your intentions for therapy will be. I can also answer any of your questions the time allows.

Once we decide to work together, our first 50 minute session will be a little different from our usual sessions. I will ask questions about your life now and in the past, to help me to learn more about you. I may also offer some tools and the techniques to support you and our work together.