My name is Jo Sankey. Alongside my diploma in therapeutic counselling I have a PGCE in primary education and a first class honours BMus in music. I have also continued my CPD in areas such as neuroscience, child development, attachment, self-harm and trauma. I am a registered member of British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP).
I’ve worked with children and young people for 10 years. I started working in a therapeutic team as a support worker before moving into schools to work in pastoral teams. I trained in primary education but continued to feel the pull to support children’s emotional needs rather than academic learning. As such I re-trained in counselling and psychotherapy. Whilst doing so I worked as a mental health practitioner for children and young people for two years, providing support for children with SEMH (social, emotional and mental health issues) and helping train school staff on issues such as self-harm and attachment.
I also worked for NCS as their mental health advisor, looking after the safeguarding and mental health needs for over 3000 young people in West Yorkshire and continued to train front-line staff on ways to approach and support young people with issues such as eating disorders, self-harm, psychosis, suicidal thoughts, autism, ADHD and OCD.
After finishing my studies I moved on to work for Barca-Leeds running the emotional well-being project for 8-17 year olds in West Leeds. Within Barca-Leeds I also created and led the Apollo project which supported children witnessing domestic violence. Within Barca-Leeds I moved into the Youth Inclusion Project which supports 8-13 year olds at risk of permanent exclusion and criminal behaviour.
I have volunteered since 2016 with Talking Spaces and Just ‘B’ Bereavement projects based in Harrogate. Talking Spaces is a service for adults for general counselling. I have worked with a wide range of issues such as depression, anxiety, trauma, bereavement, domestic violence, porn addiction, alcoholism, bi-polar disorder, borderline personality disorder, sexual abuse and relationship problems.
I also volunteered for SARSVL (Support After Rape and Sexual Violence Leeds) doing pre-trial counselling and self-care sessions.
My work with Barca-Leeds saw me supporting families as an integral part of my jobs so I am experienced in working with families as a whole unit as well as with schools. I am experienced in helping parents to understand issues or behaviours their child is presenting with and supporting them find the best ways to help their child.
Alongside my private practice work I am contracted with Just B in Harrogate as project-lead for a Self-harm Service Design co-production project. I am working with organisations, councils, schools and healthcare trusts across the Humber Coast and Vale Health Care Partnership to design a new non-clinical self-harm service for the area.
The relationship between counsellor and client is incredibly important as it underpins all aspects of therapeutic growth. For therapy to be successful there needs to be mutual respect and trust. I offer a warm, inclusive and non-judgemental approach that has three core elements:
‘Create’ Counselling first starts with a problem. ‘Create’ includes finding ways to start identifying the underlying issues causing the problem. Many people struggle to open up with just talking alone, using creative techniques helps this happen more easily. Having identified the core issues, we then move on to explore.
Explore: When we explore the roots of the issues we can resolve thoughts and feelings that we have left unacknowledged- some of these we may have been carrying around for years without realising it. Therapy is a chance to address an process these issues. Having time to process these allows us to start to thrive.
Thrive: The final part of counselling involves being able to identify when we are using feelings from the past in our present-day responses. When we become aware of our automatic responses we have a good chance of consciously replacing them with healthier ones. This in turn allows us to thrive.
My current fees are £60 for a 60 minute session. I also offer a discounted rate (£40), please get in touch if you feel you are eligible for this.
Whilst £60 might seem a lot this fee covers my clinical supervision*, insurance, training development, cost of materials, as well as me earning a wage. Payment can be made via bank transfer- before the session. Payment can also be taken with cash.
*All therapists registered with BACP (British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists) must have monthly supervision to ensure high standards and ethical practice.
If you are interested in a session please contact me for availability.
My practice is based in my home. I have a dedicated room for counselling sessions. I am based in North Leeds. Unfortunately at this time there is no wheelchair friendly access.
Please get in touch for details of my availability.