Sally Davies Counselling

My approach to therapy

I am a relational,  integrative therapist, focusing mainly on Psychodynamic and Person-Centre therapy. For me building a safe, empathic relationship with clients is the basis of all of my work. I work longterm with clients around issues that they may have had their whole life so the work can take time and you need to feel that I am with you and helping you during this process. It can feel draining and emotional at times, particuarly after early sessions, as we may talk about things that you have never talked about before. But nothing ever seems so bad when you have shared it with someone. I have worked with many different issues from suicidality, anxiety, depression, different forms of addiction, difficulty in relationships, panic disorders, sexual violence, physical and emotional abuse. Most of my clients come with difficulties relating to childhood trauma, that might be from emotional or physical neglect or a lack of care as a child, difficult relationships with parents, bereavements and losses that have not been worked through, difficult one-off events that have had a longterm effect, nothing is too big or too small to be important in the picture of your life. 

I am also really interested in working with chronic health conditions, chronic pain, and how the mind impacts the physical body. Often emotional pain manifests as a physical ailment, this does not mean it is not real or painful, but sometimes working with the emotional diffiiculties or losses can resolve the physical pain. I have seen this happen with clients. Sometimes a fear or anxiety is passed down through families and the younger generations suffer from anxiety but do not know why.

Exploring familial histry can be really helpful, for example if an uncle committed suicide, it may have deeply impacted a client’s parent and therefore impacted their upbrining by that parent, who carries the anger or guilt and a fear of it being inherited. I see myself as a kind of detective with my clients, helping them uncover where their thoughts, behaviours, fears etc come from. 

How does it work?

We will have a 15-minute phone chat first and then meet for an initial consultation. Sessions are 50 minutes. We will agree a time to meet weekly, possibly with a trial period of say 6 weeks initially. Once you feel ready to stop, we will discuss a date for ending. It is important that the therapy does not stop suddenly. 

What kind of therapist am I?

I aim to be collaborative and make suggestions – I do not sit in silence. Often we cannot see how our behaviour looks to others or understand why we don’t get the result we want. I can help you get a different perspective. I am empathic but sometimes use humour. 

I work with the mind and the body. I may ask you to do a breathing or grounding exercise, or we will explore emotions and a vocabulary for feelings. I may also use creative writing, drawing or other symbolic work, if you are comfortable to do so. 

Who do you work with?

I work with adults of all ages and all backgrounds, from 19 to 90. I have worked with students at the University of Bristol and have worked with retired people. I encourage men to come to therapy too. 

Some issues I have worked with:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Attachment and child development
• Narcissistic parents
• Health anxiety
• Chronic pain
• Boarding school survivors
• Child sexual/physical/emotional abuse
• Addiction – gambling, alcohol, etc
• ADHD, particularly in women
• Developing a vocabulary around emotions, particularly in men
• Trauma

Incase Of Crisis

• Samaritans
• Kinergy
• Mind