Counsellor profile
Sidonia Stiles, BACP
Counsellor - relationships and bereavement
See online counselling options- Person-centred therapy
- Relationship work
- Gestalt for grief
About Sidonia
Counsellor Sidonia Stiles is a BACP-registered practitioner with 27 years' experience. She works with relationship issues, bereavement, anxiety, stress and depression, and also supports people facing addiction, parenting strain and LGBTQ relationship concerns. She speaks English and Portuguese and is based in the United Kingdom.
Sidonia listens to the personal history behind current problems. She uses person-centred ways of working and relationship-focused methods to look at how upbringing and family patterns affect present relationships. She often uses genograms to map family connections and recurring patterns across generations.
Her background includes ten years as a group worker with residential young people for a local council. That work involved helping individuals and families manage difficult relationship dynamics. Later training led to diplomas in person-centred counselling and relationship therapy.
In sessions she draws on approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Attachment-Based ideas, Cognitive Behavioural techniques and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy tools. She also uses Gestalt-influenced thinking when addressing grief and loss, explaining different ways people process bereavement.
Sidonia runs a private practice in Eastbourne and has offered online sessions since the Covid period. She describes the practical side of life and the effects of upbringing in clear terms, and she helps people talk through relationship choices, intimacy questions, coping with change and issues around self-esteem and communication.
To begin, clients complete a short matching questionnaire and arrange a first session. The therapist notes that session arrangements and fees vary with location and that the service uses a subscription that can be cancelled at any time.
Therapeutic approaches and online counselling
Sidonia uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people notice what matters to them and take small, practical steps towards those values despite difficult thoughts or feelings. That approach can help with anxiety, low mood and coping with life changes.She also draws on Attachment-Based ideas to look at how early relationships shape current ways of relating. This can be useful for people working on intimacy issues, relationship conflict and long-standing attachment patterns.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Sidonia discusses different methods with each person and agrees a way forward that matches their needs, goals and preferences. The choice of techniques is collaborative and may change as the work progresses.
The therapist has offered online sessions since the Covid period. The biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm which options are currently offered before booking. Online counselling can make it easier to fit sessions around work, reduce travel time and offer shorter check-ins when needed. It can also avoid being on camera if that helps, or use lower bandwidth options for slower connections.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
27+ years
Listed in
United Kingdom
Languages
English, Portuguese
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does she commonly help with?
She works with relationship issues, bereavement, anxiety, stress and depression, and also addresses addictions, intimacy-related problems and self-esteem.
What style of therapy does she use?
Sidonia uses person-centred and relationship-focused methods and draws on ACT, CBT and DBT techniques as needed.
How much experience does she have?
She has 27 years of experience, including ten years as a group worker with residential young people for a local council.
Which professional body is she registered with?
She is registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, shown as BACP.
Which languages are supported?
Sessions are offered in English and Portuguese, and she accepts international clients.
What session formats are available?
The original biography mentions she now offers online sessions; please confirm current session formats before booking.
How are fees handled?
Costs vary with location and sessions use a subscription model that can be cancelled at any time.
How do I start a first session?
Select the See online counselling options button, complete a short matching questionnaire and then schedule a first session.
Details come from information the counsellor supplied to BetterHelp. A membership or registration can be checked on the professional body's own register.
Online counselling is not emergency care. In an emergency call 999, or see the help numbers.