Find Balance In Your Life
Grow with Counselling for Awareness
Hello, I'm Sammie and I believe counselling can help you explore your feelings & thoughts, offering you a new sense of awareness. So that you can live life, in a way that's right for you.
My Story
I am an experienced counsellor and i believe change is possible for all.
I am BACP registered and qualified as a Transactional Analysis psychotherapeutic counsellor. Having worked in the mental health sector for the last 10 years, I would describe my counselling approach as integrative, which means I use various skills and styles of therapy. This allows me to help people to explore, reflect and understand their thoughts, feeling and behaviours, holding equal light to past experiences and the here and now. I personally think this is really important as it means you can heal some of your past wounds and look to carve out a here and now experience that you want.
I have worked within the charity sector, working in homelessness, the addiction field, and in mental health settings. I have attended various and comprehensive continual professional development (CPD), including understanding self-harm, working with gambling addiction, working with ‘legal highs’ and substances, suicide prevention, compassion focused therapy, critical incident debriefing, exploring dreams, CBT for eating disorders and CBT for addiction.
Issues I work with
I have experience of working with the following Issues;
Abortion, Bereavement, Loss, Grief
Anxiety, Depression, Dissociation, Personality Disorders, Eating disorders, Psychosis
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
Suicidal thoughts, Self-harm, Loneliness, Passive aggressive behaviour, Anger Issues
Career counselling, Discrimination, Work-related stress
Addiction(s),
Long term illness, Chronic fatigue syndrome/ME
Relationship problems, divorce, separation
Abuse, Bullying, Trauma, Low self-confidence, Low self-esteem
Spirituality, Multi-culturalism
How I work with some of the above issues;
Breaking down addictions - With addiction I tend to explore what is driving the person to the addiction and work towards a sense of recovery and stability. I have experience of working with many forms of addiction.
Acknowledging multi-culturalism - As someone who has Indian parents and was brought up in the UK, I have an understanding of some of the issues faced by both 1st and 2nd generation immigrants. I have worked with many people from various ethnic backgrounds and have explored the potential pressures of living within multiple cultures.
Transitional work -This work often takes place after a life change, such as a bereavement, change in relationship or employment. I can help you to explore where you are currently and where you would like to be, focusing on the person you want to be as opposed to the person you think you should be.
Understanding physical/mental health conditions - I have worked for over 10 years within various health settings, I have experience of working with people with health diagnoses, part of that work has been to help people make sense of their diagnosis and to build an identity that is not a label.
Shedding light on abuse – I have extensive experience of working with people who have experienced various types of abuse, this work requires patience and space and I work to the pace of the person I am working with.
Working through relationship issues - Often people who are experiencing relationship issues, can be in conflict with themselves. I therefore pay attention to the persons relationship with themselves as well as others, this is to promote healthier ways of communicating for both yourself and others.
Improving self-esteem and confidence - Through this work we can explore what improved self-esteem means to you and what steps we can take to get you to where you would like to be.
Location & Fees
I work both online and offer face to face counselling.
We can work together for as long as needed and the length of our work can be discussed and reviewed. I practice from a private and comfortable room, in my home in Harpenden. I live 5 minutes from the train station and parking is available in a private parking bay.
I offer a sliding scale of £50-65. I offer discretionary rates to NHS staff and low income households.
