Sammi Leek

I am a specialist in child and adolescent mental health having worked with young people aged 5 to 25. I can help you with many different types of difficulties from anger management, behavioural issues to school attendance and achievement. I primarily focus on working with clients with anxiety, depression or attachment issues. 

​Children show us their emotions in a wide range of ways. We as the adults in their lives, must find ways of decoding their behaviours and giving them a voice. Sometimes we miss important cues, and this can lead to a snowball effect in violent and emotionally draining behaviours from children. This does not mean we have failed as parents; it means that your child is going through something, and they do not yet have the capability to explain it to you. I can help your child process these emotions, label them, and develop a more concrete sense of self. Thus, at the same time, improving your relationship with them.

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For me, the goal of therapy, is to develop a new family system that works for you. To develop conducive ways of communicating; to provide space for your child to process experiences and emotions in their own time; to be more empathic towards yourself and your children and to ensure you become a closer-knit family. 

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Therapy with me is vastly different; your child is placed in the driving seat. I believe that an individual already has the ability to heal and bounce back therefore, the focus needs to be on the lived experience of that individual. I ask the questions “What was it like for you?” “How did/do you feel about that?” “What is your goal for coming to therapy?”. I am here to offer guidance and advice of my own; I am not here to tell your child what to do, but rather show what could be done.

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There are some popular misconceptions about therapy such as: “you have to be crazy to have therapy” or “you have to suicidal” or “you have to have a diagnosis”. I can assure you, all of these are untrue – therapy is about having someone walk alongside your child in their healing journey and to part with expert knowledge to help your child continue to walk their journey by themselves and with their family.

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