Sally Woof

I’m a fully qualified and highly experienced counsellor and psychotherapist and a registered member of BACP. I've trained and worked principally with Relate  and have also studied with the Institute of Family Therapy and with Tavistock Relationships. 

There are times in life where we find ourselves unable to cope in the way we perhaps once did. You may be arguing more or there may be frosty silences in your relationship. Or you may feel blamed, unloved, unheard or misunderstood. Depression might be a factor or it might seem you are so different to one another that you feel incompatible. Your relationship might have broken up and you’re struggling to move on.

I have been working with many couples, individuals and families since 2004 and have a deep understanding of a wide range of relationship issues and finding ways to resolve them.

When we’re struggling with a problem we will often default to patterns of responses and behaviour without really understanding why. Through the process of counselling I aim to help you find a deeper understanding of why you are experiencing things the way you are so that you can then take more control over your situation. As a volunteer with Samaritans for many years, I believe strongly in the power of a safe, blame free and non-judgemental space for you to reflect, learn and decide.

I work bth face to face and online with clients and offer a very flexible approach which we develop together based on your needs, circumstances and wishes.

My core approach is Systemic. It draws on the idea that everything is connected to, and influences, everything else; that we all give meaning and significance to events and language which is very particular to our own life experience; that difference is often both the joy of why we choose to be with someone, but also what we can find most frustrating and difficult to cope with. Drawing also on ideas from Attachment Theory, I help you to explore how early life experiences may be affecting your expectations and responses in your adult relationship now, and how the difference between you and your partner plays out.

I also draw on neurobiological understandings around trauma in thinking about how you and your partner may respond in emotionally challenging situations.

It is well understood that the quality of the relationship with your counsellor is possibly the biggest factor in how helpful you will find therapy to be. It is for this reason that it is so important that you are able to decide if I am a good fit for you. During our initial assessment session I will be interested to get to know you and to understand as much as I can about the problem you are experiencing, its impact on you and what you would like to achieve through counselling. More importantly, it is your opportunity to ask about any aspect of the counselling process and to experience what it is like to work with me. You can then make an informed decision if you’d like to proceed or not.

When working with couples, after the initial assessment I'll ask to see each of you individually as there can often be things you can talk about more freely on your own. This gives me a fuller picture of what might be happening in the relationship. We then meet all together where I share thoughts and reflections about what you've told me. This is a sharing of ideas both ways and we'll then decide a plan of work to suit you. This might be about improving the experience of the relationship or exploring together whether separation might be right for you.