Sarah Leonard

Sarah Leonard is a counsellor with 18 years of practice who brings a warm, down-to-earth style to sessions. She works with people facing stress, anxiety, depression and life changes, and she has experience supporting LGBT clients and people dealing with ADHD and eating concerns. Sarah holds BACP accreditation, which she uses to guide her professional practice in the United Kingdom.

Her approach is integrative and client-centred. She listens first and helps each person shape their goals. Practical tools from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy are offered alongside mindfulness and motivational interviewing techniques when they suit the person's needs.

Sarah often blends short skills-based work with slower, reflective conversations. She uses psychoeducation to explain why patterns form and to make strategies easier to use day to day. Sessions focus on what the person wants to change and on small steps that build confidence.

People come to her for many concerns, including addictions, relationship difficulties, career strain, parenting stress and eating and food-related issues. She aims to make the room feel non-judgemental and inclusive, particularly for LGBTQ+ clients and those who have felt misunderstood elsewhere.

Her style is collaborative and paced to the individual. She encourages people to try practical exercises between sessions and then checks how they went. If someone is considering starting, Sarah asks them to outline their main worries and what they hope to achieve so the work can be tailored from the first meeting.

How Sarah’s approaches translate to online work

Sarah uses client-centred work and elements of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in her practice. Client-centred therapy focuses on listening, acceptance and helping the person set their own pace and goals. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy looks at unhelpful thoughts and behaviours and teaches practical techniques to change them.

She also draws on Dialectical Behaviour Therapy skills, which provide clear tools for managing strong emotions, improving tolerance for distress and building better day-to-day routines. These approaches are useful for anxiety, mood difficulties, eating concerns and managing impulsive behaviours.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Sarah works collaboratively to see which methods fit a person’s needs and preferences, adjusting the balance of reflection, skills practice and psychoeducation over time. The aim is to tailor sessions so they feel useful from the start.

If you are considering online therapy, check the current session options before booking because formats are not listed in the biography. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions around work, childcare and travel, and it can allow shorter check-ins or quieter sessions when needed. Registered or accredited professionals typically help people decide whether remote meetings or face-to-face sessions suit their goals and routines.