• BA (English/ Drama)/ University of Cape Town
• PGCE (English/ Drama) University of Cape Town
• MLitt in Creative Writing (St Andrews University)
• PhD in Creative Writing (Brunel University London)
• Foundation Certificate in Counselling Skills (Westminster Pastoral Foundation Therapy)
• Foundation Course in Dramatherapy (Roehampton)
• MSc in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes (Metanoia Institute)
• Currently studying an MA in Dramatherapy (Brunel University London)

Before becoming a counsellor, Sarah Herbert Penny was a creative writing academic for 22 years, with a research interest in using creative writing and dramatherapy for social change in communities facing social challenges.

She has worked in South Africa, Kenya and the UK, working with supporting mature students, families resisting female genital mutilation, xenophobic violence, restorative supervision with NHS healthcare workers, and narcissistic abuse recovery. She was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2013 for her work with supporting FGM resistance.

Sarah is a published author. Published as Sarah Penny with Penguin South Africa, her books include a travel memoir, The Whiteness of Bones, and two novels, The Lies We Shared and The Beneficiaries. The Beneficiaries was the set text for the South African IEB matriculation exam in 2013-2014, and was re-published in a new edition by Valley Press in 2019.