Sara Vali

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, low self-esteem, bereavement, abuse and eating disorders. I have recently completed a diploma in trauma therapy, as well as training with MS-UK on counselling people with Multiple Sclerosis .

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

Integrative counselling brings 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. This creates a space for you to explore who you are and what you really want from life
• 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 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 start with a 15-20 minute phone call to talk about what brings you to counselling and how I work. This can help us think about whether we'd be right to work with each other. Please email or text me to arrange this.

If you decide to proceed after that, we'll arrange an initial session. This is a chance to get to know each other a bit more. I'll ask some general questions about you and what you want to get from counselling, and you can ask me about how I work. Afterwards, I'll ask if you'd like to book in more sessions or have a think about it first: either is fine.