Dr Sacha Lawrence

Practitioner Profile

Academic Qualifications  

Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology, City University, London

Conversion Course in Psychology, University of East London

General Medicine, Vladivostok State Institute, Russia

Membership

HCPC PYL27940

BPS Chartered Counselling Psychologist 188649

BPS registered clinical supervisor (RAAPS)

Psychosis & Complex Mental Health Faculty, Division of Clinical Psychology (PCMH)

International Affiliate of the American Psychological Association (APA)

Registered Euro Psyc (Clinical & Health)

International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis (ISPS)

Areas of Expertise and Therapeutic Style

I am a Chartered Counselling Psychologist. My training has involved learning about a variety of therapeutic modalities including those from cognitive, dynamic, systemic and humanistic paradigms. Such knowledge and experience could be especially helpful when a greater versatility is required in tailoring an individual work with a client. I have worked across all levels of Mental Health, from Primary Care to specialist areas such as, HIV Psychology, Psychosis and Complex Mental Health as well as Forensic Services.  Over the course of my career, I have appreciated the depth and extent of the impact of psychological adversity in a significant majority of my cases.

My own background is diverse but is also holistic in nature. I trained as a medical doctor. I have also tried to understand alternative perspectives outside the medical paradigm. I then studied Craniosacral therapy, Reiki and meditation.  Whilst on a quest for further self-development, I have discovered that Psychology could provide a much needed interface between physical and mental health.

My own professional philosophy lies within the exploration of meanings, existential analysis and phenomenology. It also recognises role of trauma and a need for therapeutic adjustment in this light. The skill is in achieving an accurate empathic attunement between the client and therapist guides the whole therapy and therapeutic relationship.

I value the importance of how mental and physical health can become a life changing experience which could elicit drastic shifts in a person’s perspective about themselves and the world around them.

Presentations / Conferences

2014 HSSD, Guernsey – developing Psychosis Services

2015 City University, London – guest lecturer Counselling Psychology Professional Doctorate Programme

2016 University of Exeter: Therapeutic Relationships: Challenges to Mental Health Services and those who use them. ISPS UK Conference

2016 University of Boston, USA: From Reductionism to Humanism, ISPS US

2017 University of Liverpool: Make a Real Change Happen, International Congress ISPS

2018 University of Winchester, UK: guest lecturer on Ms Forensic Psychology

2019 Moscow State University, Russia (Skype) guest lecturer Counselling Psychology CPD programme

2020 Psychosis: an International Perspective with P. Fuller (USA) for Interregional Center for Contemporary Psychoanalysis, St Petersburg, Russia

Research and Publications

Brooker A., Canete, M., Dada, M., Hughes, E., Lawrence, S., Loewenthal, D.  Mason, J., Parsole, S. Reflections on the first year of a critical psychotherapy supervision collective. Self & Society, An International Journal for Humanistic Psychology (2017), Vol. 45, Issue 1.

Lawrence, Mayon-White, Cross (2016). A New Psychologist : Mergers and Acquisitions. The Psychologist pp 36-39.

Lawrence, Miller & Cross (2014). The Scientist and the Creator: Adaptive Dissociation with HIV positive population. The British Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy. 

Lawrence & Mayon-White.(2014) A thought crime or a ‘dead mother’? Counselling Psychology Review, Vol. 29, No. 3 pp 65-66

My experience of the International ISPS Conference in Warsaw  (Lawrence, 2014, Winter).

ISPS-UK: Newsletters of the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis.

Lawrence & Cross (2013). Life transition with HIV: some observations of the phenomenon of growing older with the infection. Counselling Psychology Review.

Areas I Deal With

  • Abuse
  • Addiction(s)
  • ADHD
  • Alcoholism
  • Anger Management
  • Anxiety
  • Bereavement
  • Bipolar Disorder/Manic Depression
  • Borderline Personality Disorder
  • Bullying
  • Dependent Personality Disorder
  • Depression
  • Domestic Violence
  • Drug Abuse
  • Emotional Abuse
  • Emotional Intensity and Regulation difficulties
  • Family Issues
  • Gambling
  • Gender Identity Issues
  • Generalised Anxiety
  • HIV
  • LGBT
  • Low Self-Confidence
  • Low Self-Esteem
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Panic Disorder
  • Personality Disorders including Borderline Personality Disorder
  • Phobias
  • Physical Abuse
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Postnatal Depression
  • Psychosexual Therapy
  • Relationship Issues
  • Schizophrenia
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder
  • Self Harm
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Sexual Issues
  • Sexuality
  • Smoking
  • Stress
  • Trauma
  • Work Related Issues