Liz Sarker:

Liz  holds an advanced diploma in counselling following her training at a Christian Counselling Centre. She has 6 years experience of working as a counselling dealing with clients who had a wide range of emotional, psychological, and relational issues.

Liz believes that her Christian faith enhances her work as a counsellor, meaning that when appropriate a spiritual dimension to the work can be addressed.

Liz also has a nursing background and qualifications, with many years experience of working within a GP surgery as the practice nurse and practice manager. This greatly influenced her decision to train as a counsellor.

Currently Liz is in her second year of training to be a TA psychotherapist. She offers ethical, safe and confidential counselling and psychotherapy services to clients wanting to overcome anxiety, depression, low self worth, bereavement, and obsessive compulsive disorders.

Liz has also experience of working with clients who have been sexually abused and also those who have been the victims of spiritual abuse.

Transactional Analysis psychotherapy:

TA is often described as the treatment of psychological problems, based on the relationship between the client and the therapist. Transactional Analysis psychotherapy in practice is used for personal growth as well as to resolve the whole range of life's problems, for example, depression and manic depressive disorders, anxiety states, to specific behavioral difficulties and relationship problems.

Life's problems often have their source in the childhood, the therapist helps the client identify what it is they want, and how they can now use their resources to achieve their goals, rather than remaining 'stuck in their problem'. This leads to living in the present rather than living in the past, or being afraid of the future.

• The four stages of therapy are often described as outlined below. these four stages describe both the overall process as well as each session.

1. Contact: developing your relationship with the therapist.

2. Contract: deciding what you are wanting to change.

3. Content: Dealing with the issues.

4. Concluding: dealing with the ending of the relationship.

I often think of two stages... the first dealing with the immediate difficulties... what is bringing you to therapy now and the second stage dealing with the underlying (in TA terms... script issues) issues. The first stage can often be relatively short term, while the second stage is dealing with underlying issues which usually require longer term therapy.

Types of psychotherapy:

TA is a humanistic therapy, believing that the client knows best what they want and have the resources within themselves to achieve their desires. The role of the therapist is to promote the clients autonomy and their inner healing.

Contact: therapy@lizsarker.co.uk