Sarah O'Brien

About me:

I would describe myself as genuine with a positive outlook. I believe in people and am passionate about the benefits that independent support can bring. These beliefs were strengthened by my own experience of support; counselling and then coaching, after experiencing Post Natal Depression and Anxiety. With support I was able to survive, adapt, grow and become happy.

Currently, periodically being coached myself enables me to explore issues and transform ideas and aspirations into actions and sustainable change.

I feel privileged to be able to offer this support to others.

When I am not counselling, I enjoy swimming, gardening, meeting with friends, restyling or fixing things, Pilates and live comedy.

As a counsellor I have supported people experiencing a varied range of difficulties, in both short and longer term support. Additionally for the past 2 years I have been providing solution focused well-being support sessions for NHS workers through volunteering with Project 5. 

My experience includes:

•  individually supporting people with difficulties 
• working with anxiety, depression, stress, feeling sad and relationship difficulties
• working to increase self- confidence, self-esteem, awareness, acceptance and compassion
• exploring choices and making changes in line with hopes and goals, whilst considering energy and life balance.

 Qualifications and Information:

 BACP Registered Counsellor (MBACP Register number: 377399) - I am bound by its code of ethics and practice and am subject to its complaint procedure 

Foundation Degree in Person-Centred Counselling and Psychotherapy - accredited by BACP 

Qualified coach, holding a Diploma in Transformational Coaching accredited by the Association for Coaching

Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring 

Coaching member of the BACP

Counselling online training

Testimonials: 

A) “I hoped to improve my mood and anxiety without the need for medication. I had previously been told that I required CBT to get 'better' rather than counselling. I was at breaking point and was willing to try anything. Therapeutic coaching with Sarah was beyond what I could have hoped for. I feel like a different person to the one when we started and so much more equipped to take on what life has to offer. The sessions helped me build a ladder, each week building more 'rungs' to allow me to climb higher and out of the hole I was in. Looking back at the first session it is amazing to appreciate how far I’ve come. It’s almost as if coaching has given me a prescription to take care of myself. It has given me tools and most of all motivation to keep going even when sessions have ended.” (ES, 2021)

B) “I had therapeutic coaching to predominately develop my confidence as a manager and my self-awareness. It surpassed my expectations. I definitely feel my confidence and awareness has grown. I enjoyed the process as it brought up a lot of things for me which I hadn’t realised at the beginning was interconnected to how I was feeling, things I had never explored before. I’m much more confident in situations where I feel vulnerable as I have a better understanding of the reasons for this and what I need to do to ensure I overcome these negative feelings. I realised my strengths and developed, skills and how to overcome challenges harnessing these. A mix of counselling and coaching is a positive opportunity to work through an issue(s) holding you back or as an opportunity to continue to develop as a person. The coaching was delivered via Zoom which gave more flexibility and I’m not sure meeting in person would have added anything more to my experience.” (TS, 2021)