About Me

Sarah Dawnay (MSc, PGDip(Psych.), UKCP (Acc), BACP, BPC)
I am an experienced and accredited psychotherapist working in private practice in London, Oxford and Internationally. I provide a compassionate, confidential and safe space where I support clients to identify, explore and work through things that are troubling them.

People come to therapy for many different reasons; perhaps you are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, or stuck, or you are struggling with relationships, or seeking personal development. I adapt my approach to respond to your individual situation aiming to help you to move forwards towards positive and lasting change.

I work collaboratively with you to explore any emotions and challenges you may be facing aiming to help you to feel heard, accepted and understood. I hope to help you to make sense of difficult feelings, events, or patterns of relating; to bring greater awareness to these experiences and to develop a greater understanding of unseen behaviours that may underlie psychological distress. In exploring this it may then be possible to address the current and past life experiences to which such feelings and behaviours may relate, to try to create different patterns of relating in the therapeutic relationship and outside and in so doing to move forwards towards positive and lasting change.

I work with clients with a wide range of difficulties including:
- Anxiety, stress, panic attacks (including generalised anxiety disorder, health anxiety, OCD).
- Depression (low mood, sadness, despair, emptiness, isolation, alienation, loneliness, questions around life meaning and purpose).
- Relationship difficulties/changes/challenges (divorce/separation, affairs, sexuality, fertility, miscarriage, expanding your family, friendships,).
- Low confidence and low self-esteem,
- Challenges around identity, body image, purpose.
- Work Stress (negotiating work/life balance or work relationships, career transitions, imposter syndrome, redundancy, perfectionism, loss of meaning).
- Loss, illness, bereavement.
- Traumatic events, physical and emotional abuse, PTSD.
- Major life transitions including mid-life crisis, retirement.
- Counter-productive coping strategies such as disordered eating patterns, self-harm, anger management issues and addiction.

Over the years I have worked as a psychotherapist in the private, public and charity sectors and have worked with clients of diverse race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and religion.

Prior to my career as a psychotherapist I worked as a dispute resolution lawyer at large global practices and also coached, mentored and trained international clients and postgraduates. I am able to use this experience to aid my therapeutic work and have an understanding of the personal, professional and environmental pressures placed on individuals in everyday life.

I provide regular open-ended psychotherapy and counselling, and short-term therapy to adults and young adults. I am flexible in adopting whichever approach best suits your needs, life commitments and budget.

Starting therapy can be a daunting process and I believe it takes courage to do. If you are thinking about having therapy or would like to know more about how I work and whether therapy could work for you, please email me (srdawnay@gmail.com).

Initially we would meet for a free consultation to discuss what has bought you to therapy at the moment, what you hope to gain from therapy, and to consider whether you feel working together has the potential for change for the better. All enquiries are strictly confidential and this is an opportunity or you to explore whether you feel comfortable in this setting and with me. If we decided to proceed we would discuss a fee and would normally meet at the same time each week for a 50 minutes.

Training and Qualifications:
- Accredited psychotherapist having completed a 5 year postgraduate clinical and academic training at one of London’s foremost training institutions (University of Roehampton/WPF Therapy).
- Postgraduate Diploma in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Theory and Practice from the University of Roehampton (Merit).
- Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling Skills from WPF Therapy (Distinction).
- Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Clinical Practice (Society of Analytic Psychotherapy) - Jungian Theory.
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing) Accredited Training.
- Postgraduate Certificate in the Couple Relationship (Tavistock Relationships)
- Mindfulness training MBSR, MBCT-L Frame by Frame (University of Oxford).
- BA Joint Hons. in Economic and Social History and Politics (1st) and an MSc in International Dispute Resolution (Awarded International prize).
- Committee member for the Foundation of Psychotherapy and Counselling (FPC) 2019-2022.
- Mentor for trainee Psychotherapists (through FPC)
- Member of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
- Member of the Oxford Psychotherapy Society (OPS).
- Long standing experience working with individuals within international corporations, finance, law, government, those in the public eye, start ups charities and universities providing psychotherapy and counselling, mentoring and coaching and undertaking consultations/assessments.
- Professional member of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), British Associate of Counselling, Psychotherapy (BACP), the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) and the Foundation of Psychotherapy and Counselling (FPC). All of these organisations have strict ethical codes and professional standards of confidentiality to which I subscribe.

I work with

• Companies
• Couples
• Individuals
• Private healthcare referrals

Types of Therapies Offered

• Psychodynamic Psychotherapist

What I can help with

• Abuse
• Addiction
• Age-related Issues
• Anger Management
• Anorexia
• Anxiety
• Bereavement
• Bulimia
• Bullying
• Cancer
• Depression
• Eating Disorders
• Employment Difficulties
• Health-related Issues
• Infertility
• Mental Health Issues
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Online Counselling
• Relationships
• Stress
• Suicide
• Telephone Counselling
• Trauma
• Workplace Counselling