Sam Carew

Psych. dipl, M.A. psych, MBCAP,

Transpersonal Psychotherapist and Counsellor

I am a BACP Accredited Psychotherapist and Counsellor in private practice in Banstead, Surrey. My practice is within easy reach of Banstead train station. I am seeing clients face to face and via Skype.

I work with people who may be facing a wide range of issues and difficulties that are disrupting their lives. Some people may be feeling low or depressed, or anxious about things they previously took in their stride. Others may be finding the stress of work or family life difficult to cope with. Perhaps there are problems in relationships with friends, partners or relatives, or feeling lonely, isolated and low on self-esteem.

Often, changes of circumstance can induce feelings of confusion, helplessness, or anger without really knowing why; which can result in feeling lost, frightened, or ‘out of control’ following the end of some stage of life or the beginning of a new chapter.

For many people, these feelings can be quite overwhelming at times: “I don’t know what’s happened to me”, “I never used to be like this”, “It’s not like me”, “I should be able to cope with this”, “I don’t know why I do these things, think these things, feel these things…”

Counselling allows clients the opportunity to talk through their feelings, to be listened to, and to find a fuller, more balanced and enjoyable life.

Testimonial

Sam struck the perfect balance of highly professional and personable right from the start of my session with her, making me feel at ease quickly. She always brought new energy to each session and was thorough, compassionate and insightful.

Testimonial

"Sam is a gifted counsellor. She just gets it. She is so very intuitive and brings a lightness and joy to any encounter. Sam can sit with you through great difficulties or profound exploration facilitating with the lightest of touches. I can wholeheartedly endorse and recommend Sam."

Testimonial

"Samantha is a thorough and professional therapist. In her work with clients, she is caring, compassionate and insightful"

Testimonial

"I got to a point in my life at age 47 where I didn’t think life was worth the effort any more. I had spent my life pleasing the people around me from parents, friends, patients, sons and a husband. I finally plucked up my last ounce of courage to leave my husband (not a kind man), drove my second son to Uni and started my new life. I was...

Testimonial

"I worked alongside Sam as her long term counselling client for over a year. I would highly recommend her. She has professional boundaries that helped me understand the process, and guide me to understand myself on a different level. She is easy to talk through difficult feelings with, as she has such a warm and compassionate nature. Sam has...

Testimonial

"I could not recommend Sam enough; insightful, patient, counselling.I felt ‘held’ and safe at all times."

Testimonial

"I was a client of Sam's for a number of years. I first starting seeing her to help me cope with a bereavement but we ended up talking about previous losses too. The work Sam and I did was tremendously helpful to me; not only did we work through the difficult experiences but we developed the tools within me to be able to cope more effectively in...

Counselling and Transpersonal Psychotherapy

Understanding Counselling

Counselling is a talking therapy. Therapy enables clients to talk through issues with a caring but uninvolved professional, where perhaps other sources of support, such as family or friends are too close or may be part of the problem.  Therefore, it is often more helpful to talk to a trained and experienced counsellor in a private confidential setting whereby one is able to talk freely without fear of being judged or upsetting the other person.  That is not to say that counselling replaces family and friends.

My aim is not to give you advice, but to help you clearly identify what you wish to change and, by raising awareness of your own unique inner strengths and resources, help you to move forward productively.

People work at their own pace, therefore the length and regularity of sessions are negotiated, but usually therapy sessions last for 50 minutes on a regular weekly basis.  Sometimes just a few sessions will be enough to clarify a problematic situation. However, regular sessions over a period of time may be more appropriate.

Therapies Used

  • Cognitive and Behavioual Therapies (CBT)
  • Psychoanalytical and Psychodynamic Therapies
  • Humanistic Therapies
  • Person-Centred Counselling
  • Gestalt Therapy
  • Transactional Analysis
  • Transpersonal Psychotherapy
  • Visualisation
  • Existential Therapy
  • Integrative
  • Art Therapy/Art Psychotherapy

Transpersonal Psychotherapy

Transpersonal means beyond the personal, or transcendence of attachment to the ego. The problems that transpersonal therapy can address are symptoms many of us face such as anxiety, depression, panic, phobias, relationship problems, addictions, weight management could all be seen to have a spiritual component which needs to be understood and addressed.

In transpersonal psychotherapy personal breakdowns and crisis are seen to have a useful purpose in that they act as a warning signal as well as indicating the way for us to change, grow and unfold. Transpersonal therapy is done in the context and knowledge of traditional therapy methods of counselling and psychotherapy.

It adds other techniques as well such as guided visualization, inner child healing, dream awareness, breathwork and meditation. Transpersonal therapy does not espouse a particular religious or spiritual view.

Rather it acknowledges the importance of developing inner resources as well as inner qualities upon a spiritual path. It offers approaches from various paths including Buddhism, Native American Spirituality and Shamanism.

It honours Carl Jung’s belief that healing and growth occur through experiences of mystical and transcendent consciousness.

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

 
Teilhard de Chardin

Inner Child Healing

What is Inner Child Healing?

Inner Child Healing is a deep and profound psychotherapeutic healing experience. It goes to the source of the problem and cuts through much of the intellectual chatter which prevents us from living our dreams. We connect and heal the inner child in order to become whole and feel joyful and loving. Inner Child Healing is generally done through a combination of traditional talk therapy, guided meditation, heart-centered talking therapy and breathwork. Inner child healing has roots in Jungian therapy as well as addiction recovery work, but is useful for many problems.

Who is the Inner Child?

The inner child is the creative, spontaneous, loving, trusting, confident and spiritual part of us that may have gotten lost or learned to hide earlier in life due to feelings of fear and shame stemming from experiences of trauma and betrayal. This may have been due to abuse, mistreatment, misattunement or misunderstanding in childhood. It is a rare child who has adults around him or her all the time who are able to be fully present to his or her aliveness. As adults, we can return to childhood memories and ‘retrieve’ and heal that lost or hidden part of us to bring creativity, spontaneity, love, trust confidence and deep spirituality fully back into our lives.

Why do we need to use Inner Child Healing?

As we move gradually through childhood and into adulthood, we face many disappointments in other people and in ourselves. Unless our feelings about these disappointments are acknowledged and validated, we unconsciously hold onto the disappointments and they inform our present approach to the world and to ourselves.

Inner Child Healing is essential because…

As I work with clients, I see them express sadness or anger about some present disappointment, and then I hear them attack themselves, dismissing their own feelings, minimising their own problems in relation to those of others, or rationalising how others are mistreating them.  They are not compassionate with themselves as they might be with a good friend.

Also, clients may be blocked in their relationships or their life path, and the loss or wounding of this child part is the reason.  Healing the child part can lead to profound changes in attitude and in actual life changes.

How does it work?

I usually try to trace back with clients the source of the feelings they are experiencing now.  Many times they release grief and resentment from many years in the past, and find themselves finally free of the burden of carrying these old feelings.

Exploration of inner self-attack dialogue.

Often clients are surprised when I explore the tendency to self-attack, as this attitude may feel so natural to them, that they had no idea that they have a choice to treat themselves otherwise.  Sometimes the self-attacks are hard to give up because as children they took on the belief that indeed they and their feelings truly were without value.

Exploration of old inner belief systems and old potentially distorted conclusions about ones self.

These old belief systems were put into place when they were children.  In this healing work we help release those old beliefs, and this allows room for a new understanding, and a new positive approach to themselves and the world.

Letting go of mistaken beliefs and self-attacks.

It takes some intensive work to help clients let go of mistaken beliefs and self-attacking behaviour, but it is possible, and clients report long-standing depression and anxiety as well as physical symptoms resolving after doing the work.

Healing the Inner Child.

As we let go of mistaken beliefs about ourselves, we can begin to love ourselves, and especially the naïve and trusting child part of us who was once hurt and wounded.  As we heal, we can then also begin to love other more deeply.  Clients who do this work suddenly find themselves reassessing relationships with partners and with their children, being able to be closer and to offer more caring to others and especially to themselves.

PUBLISHED WITH THE KIND PERMISSION OF FRANCESCA RICHARDSON, ANNAPOLIS, MD, USA

Areas of Professional Expertise

  • Abuse
  • Addiction(s)
  • Affairs and Betrayals
  • Alcohol Dependence
  • Anger Management
  • Anxiety
  • Bereavement
  • Bullying
  • Inner Child related issues
  • Depression
  • Emotional Abuse
  • Gambling
  • Generalised Anxiety
  • Low Self-Confidence
  • Low Self-Esteem
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Meaning in Life
  • Purpose in Life
  • Developing Inner Qualities
  • Spirituality

Professional Fees

Each therapy session lasts 50 minutes and costs £60.

Should you have any questions or require any additional information then please do not hesitate to contact me by filling out the form below.

My practice covers a twenty five mile radius from Banstead, Surrey.

Counselling Directory

You can also find me on the Councelling Directory