Meet the team
Meet the team of fully qualified, insured and DBS-checked counsellors, all with the
necessary experience to provide support and guidance to your students, families, and staff.
Sarah Baker
Sarah Baker has been providing a counselling service within schools for more than 18 years. Beginning her counselling career in Belfairs Academy, she has also worked in Blenheim Primary, Chalkwell Hall Juniors School, Leigh North Street Primary, Milton Hall Primary, Prince Avenue Primary, St Mary's C of E Primary, West Leigh Infants School, West Leigh Junior School, and Westborough Academy.
Sarah's foundation is as a Person Centred Counsellor but has additional training in CBT, TA, Theraplay and Sand Tray work. She is a registered member of the BACP.
Prior to her counselling work, Sarah worked for several years as a Manager of a Call Centre. After obtaining her counselling qualification, she worked as a Support Worker within the Southend Borough Council team, Think Family, working closely with families involved with Social Care and taught Counselling Skills at Southend Adult Community College.
Sarah's company, SCB Counselling Ltd, currently provides a counselling service for many schools within Southend and the ethos Sarah and her team strive for is to provide schools with a professional, reliable service that they can put their trust in. Sarah ensures she establishes close working relationships with SLT and Pastoral teams and works holistically to deliver counselling that children, parents, and staff can use to reflect, grow, and confide in.
In addition to running the school counselling service, Sarah also has a private counselling practice for teenagers and adults. Sarah has previously worked as a Samaritan volunteer and in her spare time enjoys spending time with family, friends, and her little pup Otis, whom she is hoping to train as a therapy dog!
Mel Briggs
Mel qualified as a counsellor in 2015 and is a registered member of the BACP. She is a person-centred counsellor who uses an integrative approach to support clients and their needs. Mel has worked in the education sector for over twenty-five years both teaching English and maths and as a qualified BSL communicator. Working pastorally with these learners led to the desire to train and work as a counsellor.
Since qualifying, Mel has worked for a domestic abuse charity, in a women's refuge, as well as working in both primary and secondary education. She has worked across several schools in the local area when the need has arisen. At present, her focus is on young people in primary education.
Recent continued professional development has included working with vulnerable learners at risk of self-harm, drug and alcohol abuse, death anxiety, child exploitation, and County Lines. This is in addition to ongoing professional development in counselling techniques. Mel has also recently contributed to a published piece for Pearson on supporting young people with maths and exam anxiety.
Angela Huttley
Angela is married and has two adult children. She lost her mum when she was 35 years old, and it was this life-changing event that made her decide to become a counsellor. She graduated in 2009.
During Angela's studies, she had to do several hours as a placement therapist and was extremely lucky to do this at The Priory. This time at The Priory made Angela choose the path to work with children and adolescents. She has been counselling within this environment for the past 17 years and works with children between the ages of 5 - 18 years but also works with adults too. Angela enjoys this wide range of therapy.
It is imperative to Angela that she continues to study and over these past 14 years, she has graduated with a diploma in Counselling Children & Adolescents as well as a Certificate in Counselling Skills with Children using the Arts at the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education in London. She has also completed courses on Hidden Sentence Training (supporting prisoners' families), Mindfulness, Sexual Health Awareness, Child Sexual Exploitation, Domestic Violence Awareness, Eating Disorders, Drug Awareness, Teens & Alcohol and Sand Play Therapy.
Angela is very interested in Mindfulness and really tries to practice this in her own life. She regularly attend yoga classes as she feels this is not only good physical exercise, but also helps mentally.
Hayley Cousins
Hayley is a qualified experienced Person-Centred counsellor working with children of all ages. She is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), fully insured and holds an enhanced DBS.
Hayley offers a calm, safe confidential space free of judgement where she helps children talk and share their thoughts and feelings. Through Hayley's experience working in schools, she has seen how a young person's emotional state and challenges in life can impact relationships, ability to learn in a school environment, behaviour, self-esteem, and anxiety.
Working with children Hayley places great importance on building trust in their relationship, where children and young people are accepted and valued thus allowing them to explore and process feelings, build confidence, and develop resilience. It is Hayley's nature to be patient, empathetic and warm in her approach and she uses play, creative work and talking to gently encourage children to express their thoughts and feelings.
Hayley has worked in many areas and can help with a wide range of difficulties. She has worked extensively with bereavement and loss, relationship issues, anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. Hayley is committed to her work in helping everyone and welcomes individuals of all backgrounds, cultures, faiths, genders, and sexualities.
Michelle Meddle
Michelle is a qualified Person Centred Counsellor and a registered member of the BACP. Before qualifying as a Counsellor, Michelle worked for ten years in primary education. Her many years of experience using creative play and arts has enabled her to use these skills in her therapeutic work with children.
Michelle also has experience of working with children with special educational needs and helping children integrate back into the classroom after significant non attendance.
Michelle has worked with many clients dealing with bereavement through her work with the charity Cruse. She has extensive knowledge of the Seven Stages of Grief and Loss and uses this model of understanding grief when working with clients.
Michelle works with both primary and secondary school age children and in addition to her school work, she works in private practice.
During her pre Counselling years, Michelle worked as a dance and drama teacher and utilised this experience by doing her Counselling placement at Masters Performing Arts College.
Michelle has considerable experience of working with young people and is passionate about providing them with a safe space to explore how they truly feel and understand how those feelings impact on their behaviour and choices.
Michelle's commitment to CPD has included training in: Self Harm, Radicalisation, Abuse and Selfcare.
Lisa Sheppard
Lisa Sheppard has been counselling children, adolescents, and adults for well over a decade. Her work is integrative, combining aspects of person-centred, cognitive behavioural and expressive therapies to assess, engage and work toward a resolution based on the client's needs.
Lisa's aim is to assist clients in defining their goals and create a supportive and collaborative partnership that facilitates growth, change, relief, and self-fulfilment. Lisa has a particular interest in sandplay therapy. Sandplay is a creative, expressive, and nonverbal therapeutic intervention that can be used with clients of all ages.
Clients are invited to create a three-dimensional picture in a sand tray utilising miniature figurines, symbols, and objects. These pictures will often reflect the clients 'inner world' - thoughts, feelings, concepts, beliefs, concerns, experiences, and trauma.
Sandplay can bring the unconscious into conscious awareness and provides clients with the opportunity to attain self-awareness, resolve conflict and challenge their obstacles.
Zoey Harris
Zoey is a person-centred counsellor and a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), working primarily with children and young people within schools, alongside a small private practice. Her own experience of counselling as a teenager showed her the value of having someone who truly listens without judgement, helping to make sense of what someone might be going through. It inspired her to pursue a career in counselling and continues to shape the way she works today. Zoey is passionate about creating a safe, accepting space where clients feel heard, understood and able to be themselves.
Zoey supports children and young people experiencing anxiety, low self-esteem, bereavement, difficulties with emotional regulation, family changes and relationship difficulties. She believes there is no "one size fits all" approach to counselling and tailors work to meet the needs of each individual. Zoey enjoys incorporating creative and play-based approaches where appropriate, helping children and young people explore their thoughts and feelings in ways that feel natural and comfortable for them.
Zoey has both personal and professional experience of neurodivergence, which has strengthened her belief in adapting therapy to the individual, recognising that every child's strengths, challenges and experiences are unique.
Chantal Snarey
Chantal is an experienced, BACP registered counsellor working within school settings and private practice across North London and Essex. She is passionate about supporting children and young people, providing a safe, compassionate and non-judgemental space where they can explore their thoughts, emotions and experiences. Chantal understands the pressures children and adolescents face both in and outside of school and works collaboratively to help them develop resilience, confidence and healthy coping strategies.
Chantal supports children and young people experiencing anxiety and excessive worry, low mood and depression, low self-esteem and confidence, friendship and relationship difficulties, family changes and conflict, grief and loss, school-related anxiety and exam stress, emotional regulation difficulties and eating and body image concerns.
Alongside her work in schools, Chantal offers counselling to adults through her private practice in Islington and Essex. Her therapeutic approach is primarily Person-Centred, enabling clients to work at their own pace in a warm, accepting and supportive environment. She also integrates Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques where appropriate, helping clients develop practical strategies to manage life's challenges while exploring the underlying issues affecting their well-being.