About

My name is Sandra and I have worked as an Integrative Counsellor since 2013. For a lot of that time my work has been focused on working with the bereaved, both adults and children, helping them to understand their grief and finding ways to live with their loss. Through this work I have gained experience working with clients affected by a variety of tragedies, including suicide, whilst also facilitating a number of bereavement and support groups. I have further used these skills to deliver bereavement awareness training for staff at Swindon Borough Council.

During the training for my diploma, I held placements at SWAD’s (Swindon and Wiltshire Alcohol and Drugs) and Cruse Bereavement Care. During my time at SWAD’s I worked as an volunteer addiction counsellor, and as a facilitator for their carers group “A Time for Us”. And, at Cruse I worked as a Bereavement Volunteer. Alongside these placements I also worked as a bereavement befriender for a local funeral director – providing me with key experience for the services I’m now offering.

My method of working with clients is Integrative Person Centred, which is a talking therapy, which is centred around the client and their needs. I believe that the client is the expert on themselves and that my role as the therapist is to support them and to help them develop their strengths and abilities.

When I am working with clients, I consider that everyone is different, and their therapy should be tailored to their specific needs and circumstances. Although I primarily focus on Person Centred therapy, which is based on the core conditions of Empathy, Acceptance and Congruence, I will consider other therapeutic methods such as Psychodynamic Counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

As a Registered Member (107330) of the BACP, I work within their Ethical Framework. These are standards which outline a set of principles and values to ensure there is consistency and accountability within the counselling profession.