Sarah Willocks

Currently accepting new clients. 

Addiction doesn't look the same for everyone.

I'm Sarah Willocks, a psychotherapist specialising exclusively in addiction — alcohol, drugs and prescription medication, gambling, gaming, pornography, compulsive sexual behaviour and other compulsive behaviours — and in supporting the families affected by it. I work with people who are still using. You don't have to have stopped, or even be ready to stop, to start understanding what's happening and what needs to change.

If you think you have a problem

I don't see addiction as a moral failure or a disease. I see it as learned behaviour, which means it can be unlearned. Recovery isn't just about stopping. It's about understanding what the addiction was providing, and building something meaningful enough to take its place.

We start with where you actually are. I don't require abstinence to begin and I don't set the goal for you. For some, abstinence is the goal. For others, it's moderation. I'll support you in achieving whichever one you set. 

I understand addiction from both sides. I have twenty years of personal experience with Class A drugs, and professional experience across addiction services, mental health and academia.

For families

Family work is a specialism in its own right. I have experience as a Senior Family Practitioner in NHS addiction services working only with families.

Your experience as a family member is different from the person who is using, and it requires its own specialist support. There is a lot of contradictory advice out there. Enable or don't enable. Confront or don't confront. Set boundaries or stay close.

We will work together to understand your situation, look at how you're coping, and identify where you need support. The aim is to reduce the impact addiction is having on your own life and find a way forward, whatever the person you love chooses to do. You don't need to wait for them to get help before you get help. 

My clinical position is grounded in the learning model of addiction. Repeated, rewarding behaviour trains the brain towards doing more of it, while narrowing the routes away from it.

Substance and behavioural addictions can, for a time, fill a void. Something that once provided relief or meaning can gradually become the thing that takes those things away.

I'm integrative, so I draw on contemporary neuroscience, cognitive behavioural approaches and harm reduction depending on what's useful to you, rather than a fixed framework.

I understand addiction from both sides. Both professional and personal experience have taught me the same thing: people are stronger than addiction makes them believe.

Living alongside addiction brings its own particular kind of fear, despair, anger and frustration. Family work is a specialism in its own right, and I hold advanced training in this area.

Our first session is an initial assessment, giving us time to get to know each other, talk about what is happening for you, and consider whether I am the right therapist for you. There is no pressure to commit to ongoing sessions, and if either of us feels I am not the right fit, I will help you find someone who is.

I am a human being before I am a therapist. My training and experience matter, but they do not replace compassion, understanding, or being present with someone in their suffering. I fully understand the impact addiction can have, not only on the person using, but on the people who love them. 

Before booking, I offer a free 30-minute phone call so you can ask questions and get a feel for whether this is right for you.