I am Sally-Carol Delay

Humanistic therapist
Psychotherapist specializing in the Person-Centered Approach

One does not become a therapist by accident

As the saying goes , you don't become a therapist by accident . I've had many jobs (in the arts: actress, director, project manager; sailing instructor) , and what has always interested me is people. How they move, how they communicate, how they breathe among others. And it's in my relationships that I've been able to meet myself, to discover myself without judgment. What a joy ! I'm now in my forties, and being a therapist feels like a natural fit. I love stand by people toward greater meaning, toward a deeper connection with their reality. The concepts of authenticity and respect are at the heart of my practice because they have become essential in my personal life. They offer freedom to be, fluidity in relationships, and greater attention to what is being experienced here and now.

Life paths

Life didn't give me the security and kindness I needed to grow. I felt "twisted," strange. I didn't know how to be myself because I had learned to be someone else. And I hurt myself, I navigated turbulent waters, I cried out my powerlessness without being heard. But deep inside, I had a flame of life that allowed me to see that behind the dysfunctions of the people around me lay the desire to be loved. Like in the song "Nature Boy," covered by many artists: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." That, I believe, is what everyone is looking for, because it's what allows us to feel like we belong, with all the space we deserve. I have been and still am in therapy, and it is thanks to authentic, strong, and inspiring people that I can be myself and flourish. I trained in this approach because it resonates with my humanity, it's the one I've grown with in my personal life, and it's the one I can use to help people who are suffering. I continue my creative and spiritual explorations to foster life in my professional practice.

My first name

Since I was little, my first name has been a topic of discussion; I have to repeat it for people to understand. For a long time, it seemed like an obstacle to easy connections, a burden that wasn't mine. I felt too different from others, weighed down. You don't choose your name, and rather than change it, I gently tamed it. Today, I appreciate its poetry. It's a literary name from the heroine of Scott Fitzgerald's short story "The Ice Palace". She embodies choosing what's good for you, roots over money, gentleness over conventions. After all these years of not knowing what to do with this name, I realized it was smiling on me.

One day I was struck by the sound of a little boy singing at the top of his lungs, and when people told him he was singing off-key(in French we say "singing wrong", he replied, "I'm not singing off-key ("wrong"), I'm singing in tune ("true")." This phrase resonates deeply with me, because I can now say that I mostly sing in tune ("true"), like Sally-Carol in that wonderful short story.

Ethics

I trained in psychotherapy using the Person-Centered Approach (PCA) at the ACP-France training institute, certified by the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP).

I am supervised and commit to doing so throughout my practice.

I am continuing my therapy and regularly practice personal and spiritual development experiences.

I am a member of the AFP-ACP (the French Association of Psychotherapy in the Person-Centered Approach).

I adhere to the Global Charter of the Client in Psychotherapy,

to the Strasbourg Declaration,