
Sarah O'Brien
Registered Member MBACP
Contact information
- Phone number
- 07715104648
Therapist - Birmingham
Features
Availability
- My usual session hours are; Mon, Tues & Thurs, daytime and evenings (6-8pm)
- Free Initial call, up to 30 mins – to explore how we could work together and to answer any queries
- Online or Telephone
- Cost per session (50-60 minutes): Daytime £40 & Evening £45
- Flexible in number and frequency - usually weekly/fortnightly and 6 sessions if shorter term
- Sessions for UK based adults
About me and my therapy practice
Hi, I offer Counselling and/or Coaching in any combination to suit you. Would you like things to be different? …to feel differently?I can support you with;
- offering a safe and accepting space, where you are heard and can explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviours
- understanding yourself, your emotions and how your experiences, thoughts and behaviours affect you.
- and when is feels right for you ~ exploring your emotions so that you can see your options and path more clearly
- looking at where you are, where you would like to be and closing this gap
- how to take steps for positive change and to make this sustainable.
During our initial conversation (free) we can explore which approach would suit your needs.
A tailored approach can include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) tools and techniques. An approach combining counselling and coaching (therapeutic coaching) is focused on solutions with emotional support to help generate sustainable change.
As a counsellor I can work at depth, for example, to explore underlying causes, patterns, reasons for feeling stuck and experiencing unease around change.
As a coach I can support you in developing your increasing awareness into clarity around options and steps to achieve your desired change.
Our sessions: I will offer a safe, accepting environment, where you can explore your thoughts, feelings, behaviours and generate thinking. How I work will be tailored to you, supporting you with your own pace and direction.
The sessions and their dialogue, reflections and questions will enable you to find new perspectives, solutions and the steps to achieve them, by drawing on your attributes, strengths and resources. Together we will work on what you want, be that awareness, change, growth…or something else.
Please see testimonials below.
Practice description
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
My first session
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)
What I can help with
ADD / ADHD, Anger management, Anxiety, Autism spectrum, Bereavement, Child related issues, Chronic fatigue syndrome / ME, Depression, Development coaching, Disability, Health related issues, Infertility, Life coaching, Loss, Obsessions, OCD, Personal development, Phobias, Pregnancy related issues, Redundancy, Relationships, Self esteem, Stress, Women's issues, Work related issues
Types of therapy
CBT, Humanistic, Integrative, Person centred, Solution focused brief therapy
Clients I work with
Adults, Older adults, Trainees
How I deliver therapy
Online therapy, Telephone therapy
Languages spoken
English