Sarah Preston

Supervisor

My approach to supervision is collaborative and relational. It is anchored in the Relational Matrix Model which emphasises the relational realms that lie between supervisor, supervisee and client.

I have a post-graduate Diploma in Counselling from York St John University and a Diploma in Professional Development from the Gestalt Institute. I am currently completing a Diploma in Supervision at Relational Change (SW London).

My theoretical orientation is humanistic but it is influenced by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Attachment Theory, Neuroscience and Transactional Analysis.

I have worked in both a GP practice and a low-cost counselling centre and have been working in private practice since 2020. I am also influenced by my 20+ year previous career as a speech and language therapist which included a specialist role working with adults experiencing anxiety in speaking situations, and supervision of students and peers, as well as by my lived experience of nearly six decades.

About my practice …

Gaie Houston describes supervision as ‘policing, plumbing and poetry’. For me, this beautifully encapsulates the duties, responsibilities and tasks of supervision; the opportunity that it brings to provide an open, caring and supportive space where supervisees can reflect on their work with their clients; and the artistry by which theory and practice, knowledge and skills, humility and wonder, are interwoven in a shared learning relationship.

Since many of the processes that emerge in supervision reflect those present in the therapeutic relationship, it is my belief that staying with what emerges for you and for me in the ‘here and now’ as we work, can bring insight and clarity to concerns and dilemmas you might be having, as well as to feelings and bodily sensations that may be in your awareness but that haven’t quite find a voice.

I work online and in person in Helmsley and SW London. I am registered with the BACP but am following a UKCP accredited supervision training. I receive supervision for my own supervision work as required by both professional bodies.

If you would like to discuss your supervision needs further, please contact me, and we can arrange an online call to see whether our working together would be a good fit for you.

Whilst I complete my supervision training I am currently offering supervision free of charge.