Course & Trainer Spotlight: Sharon Baker
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
When Sharon Baker began working with clients at end of life, she quickly realised something important: this was work she loved — and work for which there was very little specific training.
That experience led her to develop Exploring Death, Dying and the End of Life Client — a workshop designed to help therapists think more deeply about how we meet terminal diagnosis in the therapy room. Not as specialists necessarily, but as practitioners who may one day find this conversation sitting in front of us.
Below, Sharon shares what drew her into this field — and why she believes this training matters for every therapist.
What happens when the ordinary Tuesday isn’t ordinary?
It’s an ordinary Tuesday afternoon.
Your next client walks into the room and after a bit of introductory chit chat says, “I’ve just been diagnosed with a terminal illness.”
What happens in you next?
I ask this because it can arise in any practice, at any time. It certainly did in mine — even while I was still in training.
Why did I create this training?
When I began working with clients at end of life, I immediately loved the work. But I also noticed something
Sharon Baker – CTA -P
Sharon has a private practice in the East Midlands and online. She has provided therapy to end of life clients in a hospice environment and in private practice. She is passionate about talking about death openly and runs regular online therapy groups for trainee and qualified therapists to explore their relationship with death.
striking: there was very little specific training available to deepen skills in this area.
That absence stayed with me.
Any client can come into a session having received a terminal diagnosis. Whether or not you wish to specialise, I believe all therapists need space to think about how they would respond — emotionally, ethically, and clinically.
Is this only for therapists who want to specialise?
No. This workshop isn’t about turning you into a specialist (although you may choose that path). It’s about helping you feel prepared — and not afraid — if this ever appears in your therapy room. If you are seeing clients, this course is for you.
Isn’t this work depressing?
People sometimes assume I only work with “older” clients. Or that this work must be bleak. In truth, I experience it differently. Working at end of life has taught me something profound about what it means to be alive. It can be deeply meaningful, relational, and human work.
What do I hope you leave with?
More than knowledge.
I hope you leave feeling steadier. More confident. With practical tools and ideas you can draw on — not just in end-of-life work, but across your practice.
And perhaps most importantly, with the sense that you are not alone.
What feels important for us as therapists to hold onto?
This work can be isolating. We hold a great deal. I believe strongly in connection, supervision, and sharing the load. We do this better together.
Spaces like this workshop aren’t just about learning — they are about thinking together.
What sustains me outside the therapy room?
Stepping into something new — walking a different route, travelling somewhere unfamiliar, discovering a new author. Recently, a Playback Theatre workshop reignited my creativity and left me wondering how I might bring more creativity into both my professional and personal life.
Curiosity matters. Aliveness matters.
And what would I say to my earlier self?
When I was training, Adrienne Lee said “You’re never going to be a ‘normal therapist’ — go and find something no-one else is doing.” It was both permission and challenge.
And here I am. And so, the first thing I would say is trust the process and the second is find a way of being fully you.
Sharon’s online workshop Exploring Death, Dying and the End of Life Client is on Saturday 30 May 2026 10am – 5pm (UK time). Join her on 30 May to develop the clinical understanding to work with terminal diagnosis with greater confidence.
