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One-to-One Therapy Manchester

Therapy to help you recover and rebuild after life has been turned upside down, delivered with clinical expertise and a down-to-earth approach.

Support after trauma, illness, and overwhelming life events

Perhaps you feel like you ‘should be over this by now’, or you’re frustrated by being unable to move forward.

Maybe you feel a sense of disconnection from the people and activities that once brought you joy.


“I felt so desperate and ashamed of my emotions. Sarah was kind and gentle with me. I immediately knew I was with the right person, and I felt safe enough to open up.” – Client after trauma therapy

We start with a single session,  focusing on the main difficulty that’s affecting you most. From there, we can explore possible ways forward, and if it feels right, plan a block of weekly sessions.

Therapy can help you

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Find clarity and feel more in control again

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Shift patterns that keep you feeling stuck

Move forward with confidence and direction

I help people recover from or adjust to life events that have been overwhelming or life changing, including:

Trauma after a medical emergency, cancer, or life-threatening illness.

Anxiety and trauma symptoms after an accident, assault, or incident of medical negligence.

Grief and loss, including sudden or traumatic bereavement.

Ongoing stress or burnout in your working life.

Panic, hypervigilance, or difficulty switching off.

Loss of confidence or identity after trauma or major life change.

Feeling stuck years after a traumatic event.

Difficulty adjusting after major life changes in work, family, or relationships.

The psychological impact of pain or living with physical limitations after illness or injury.

When life no longer feels like it fits

We start where you are

I understand that talking about what happened can make you feel worse.

I’ll introduce you to proven tools to handle what you’re facing, and tailor therapy to your goals and needs.

While we can’t erase memories or undo the past, therapy can help you regain a sense of safety, feel more in control of your responses, and reconnect with the people and things that matter to you.

“I really like the person I have become now. I like this guy.” – Client after trauma therapy

Contact Sarah and check availability

How we’ll work together in therapy

I bring together ACT and EMDR, and we’ll agree on a plan that feels right for you.

 

“I never thought I would be able to manage EMDR for complex PTSD, yet through using advanced techniques, it has completely turned things round.” – Client after childhood trauma and adult cancer

Find clarity and manage overwhelm

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a skills-based approach that helps you get present and disrupt cycles of anxiety, panic, low mood, or distressing memories like flashbacks. You’ll learn how to handle difficult thoughts, feelings, and memories so they have less impact on your daily life.

Work through what’s been holding you back

If we’ve linked something that happened in the past to present-day difficulties, EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) can be powerful. We work to neutralise memories that feel disturbing, and the processing allows your brain to integrate helpful learning experiences to resolve what’s been keeping you stuck. ACT skills also support healing – especially when emotions like guilt or shame, or limiting beliefs, are keeping you stuck.

Move forward with confidence and direction

We’ll clarify what matters to you and what “better” looks like – at home, in relationships, or at work. With direction and focus, you’ll set meaningful goals and build the skills to manage the inner obstacles that get in the way. This phase of therapy helps you rebuild and reconnect, so you can show up in the ways that matter most.

Appointments & Fees

I offer in-person appointments on Thursdays at my consulting rooms on Deansgate, Manchester and online appointments on Tuesdays.

Initial consultation session £150 (60 minutes)

Ongoing therapy session £130 (50 minutes)

Ready to take the next step? Let’s talk.

I understand how overwhelming certain memories can feel. In our early work together, we can build coping resources so you have the tools and stability you need. We only move forward when it feels safe enough to do so.

My priority is that therapy feels safe, manageable, and focused on what supports your recovery.

I’m an EMDR Europe Accredited Practitioner (since 2024), recognised for meeting high standards in training and clinical experience. Accreditation means your therapy is grounded in best practice: safe, ethical, and evidence-based.

I’d be happy to answer any questions or help you find the right starting point.

Contact Sarah and check availability
Dr Sarah Bruce, Clinical Psychologist in Manchester

Frequently asked questions

ACT is an effective brief intervention for therapy and coaching, and some people get what they need from sessions quickly. For stress and anxiety problems, people can make significant changes in 6-10 sessions.

With EMDR, I have completed trauma therapy with some clients after a single event in as few as 8-10 sessions. These people had no previous adverse life events, had a supportive partner at home, and already had some ways of coping well without using alcohol or drugs. It doesn’t always go that quickly and smoothly. There are no guarantees. But this is what’s possible.

When trauma is more complex and problems show up in a few areas of life, we need more time to work towards important goals.

We might need 16-24 EMDR sessions to process a more complex event like a medical emergency or negligence, traumatic grief, birth trauma, or trauma after an abusive relationship. With complex childhood trauma, it is not unusual to see clients for 50+ sessions.

We don’t need to process every disturbing event to make meaningful change. I can help you decide where we focus for maximum impact.

My commitment to you is that we’ll regularly review the progress together to make sure we’re on track with goals that are important to you.

It’s helpful to start with a block of weekly sessions so that we can get up and running. This is particularly helpful when there are a few problems to make sense of.

Some people find it helpful to continue to meet weekly, while other people move to fortnightly appointments so they have more time between sessions to practice new skills.

If you want to manage your budget for therapy, we can discuss a plan to meet less often. While we won’t be able to do intensive work, we can have a focus on helping you cope more effectively with challenges in the present.

For the processing phase of EMDR therapy, we’ll either need a plan to meet weekly or to have stacked 3-hour sessions spaced to suit your availability.

If you are paying privately for therapy, then I request payment in advance of each session by bank transfer.

Yes, EMDR can work very well online. I use a video platform designed specifically for EMDR therapists.

After an initial consultation, I’ll let you know if I think we need more preparation time or if in-person sessions might be a better fit.

Some people prefer to meet in person because they want to keep therapy separate from home, or they don’t have enough privacy. These are important things to consider when deciding what’s right for you.

I am a registered treatment provider with:

  • Bupa
  • Aviva
  • Cigna
  • Healix
  • Vitality Health
  • WPA

If you have cover for psychological treatment, then I will need your policy registration number, an authorisation number and some of your personal details.

Once I have checked your authorisation with your insurer, we can confirm an initial appointment. This ensures that I can invoice the insurer for your sessions. After we’ve sorted out these details, I just invoice your insurer and it’s one less thing for you to think about.

There might be an excess for you to pay to claim on your policy. With some policies, you might need to pay a contribution towards each session fee.