Sarah Bailey

Clinical Psychologist

Therapy for me, is a space where the inner voice has a chance to tell its story. Everyday life is so often preoccupied with mastering the challenges of the external world, that the inner world becomes sanded over and forgotten and one’s inner voice silenced. Therapy becomes a process where through the sharing of one’s story, permission is given to free one’self from the restrictions of the present and to dwell and rehabilitate the journey of one’s life, helping to find a way back to a place of richness and meaning.  To uncage memory in the safety of the therapeutic space is often the first step in re -finding the threads of one’s life, leading to a re-imagining of hope and possibility.

Areas of interest as a therapist

Women’s Issues

My particular interest since qualifying in the eighties has been in working with women. The issues women present with may vary, but they frequently share at their root a struggle around the expression of their needs and a search within their lives for greater balance and personal meaning.

Breast cancer/cancer

The dilemmas facing women are highlighted in the current prevalence of Breast Cancer. On receiving this diagnosis, everything about one’s life is irrevocably changed. The challenge then becomes finding a path back to a way of ‘being’ not completely defined by illness, as well as in dealing with the overwhelming question of why me?

Breast cancer can be a powerful reset button.  It forces change and growth and the redirection of life patterns which no longer serve one.  Within the safety of the therapeutic space, one is able to discover one’s personal story and the internal voices and patterns that belong to the illness. Through this one is able to move forward in life with greater health, balance, richness and understanding.  I am a breast cancer survivor.

Eating Issues/ Disorders

Eating disorders are often a dramatic expression of a complicated life story, longing to be told.  Therapy provides a space where the aspects of one’s life that have affected personal growth can be unraveled and new possibilities found for the expression of dignity and the affirmation of one’s emerging self.

Post-partum Depression

The arrival of a baby no matter how longed for, is frequently an overwhelming experience with feelings of exhaustion and loss of control. In order for a mother to endure all the deprivations involved in caring for a newborn, her needs must to be taken care of, which is frequently not possible depending on circumstances and the levels of support available. The mothers own life story and experience of being nurtured, particularly the image that she carries of her own mother become crucial in determining how she feels about herself and the infant she now has to nurture. Therapy becomes a safe space where the difficult and complex feelings a mother may experience towards herself and the infant can be held, whilst new ways of caring for herself and the infant are established.

Depression / Anxiety Disorders

Depression is defined by loneliness and alienation, where very often one feels disconnected from life and the people around one.  This frequently leads to feelings of guilt, anxiety and despair. Therapy is offered as a place of connection, where through the unraveling of one’s story and the excavation of these places of despair, new sources of hope, meaning and possibility can be found.

Rates

I use both medical aid rates and a sliding scale. If a client does not belong to a medical aid, we negotiate a fee.

Practice number: 8612994
HPCSA Registration number: PS0023680