Sarah Swain

I'm an accredited therapist and coach working online with professionals across the UK. I have more than 15 years of experience in corporate environments in the UK and abroad. I understand the world my clients move in: the expectations, the pressure to perform, and how easily identity becomes tied to how well you cope.

People come to me when something has changed. A relationship that feels different. A loss that hasn't resolved in the way they expected. A transition that has left them less certain of who they are within it. Often they can't fully explain it. They just know that the ways they've always managed are no longer working in quite the same way.

I work with warmth, presence, and a willingness to gently challenge the patterns that keep people stuck.

The kind of people I work with

You are capable, considered, and used to being the person others rely on. You think your way through problems, keep things steady under pressure, and have spent a long time managing well on your own.

You are probably more comfortable giving than asking. More at ease when there's something to do than when there isn't. You may find it harder than expected to let people in, or notice a gap between how present you are in your relationships and how present you want to be.

What brings you to therapy is rarely a crisis. More often it's a quieter sense that something no longer fits, and that the tools that have always worked are starting to cost more than they used to.

Some questions you might be sitting with

• "Am I actually fine, or have I just got very good at appearing to be?"

• "Why is it so hard to let people in, even the ones I trust?"

• "I've achieved what I set out to achieve. Why doesn't it feel like I thought it would?"

• "Is this just who I am, or is it something I learned?"

• "Why do I find it so much easier to be there for other people than to ask for anything myself?"

• "Something has shifted and I can't quite name it. Is that enough of a reason to seek help?"

And the ones that might keep you awake at night:

• "Why do I feel so lonely in relationships where I'm not actually alone?"

• "Is this it?"

• "Why can't I just be happy with what I have?"

• "What would happen if I stopped holding everything together?"

• "Does anyone actually know me?"

• "Why does being needed feel necessary but also exhausting?"

• "What am I so afraid of?"

My way of working

I work integratively, drawing on a range of therapeutic approaches depending on what each person needs. I also offer EMDR for clients where trauma is part of what we're exploring. Where it's useful, I bring in coaching alongside the therapeutic work, so that what you come to understand can translate into how you live and relate day to day.