Earlier this year, when Certified Neuro-Behavioural Coach Sarah Joseph noticed that an international brain health conference was seeking speakers for its upcoming event, she knew it would be a leap of faith to submit her name for consideration.
But for the past two years, that’s exactly what she’s been doing — taking leaps of faith. She went through the cumbersome submission process, applying some of the same neuroscience-based techniques she teaches others and in the end, it paid off. Sarah became the only Caribbean-based speaker at the International Association of Functional Neurology and Rehabilitation Global Annual Conference in September, and notably, the only non-physician to lead a session.
Her keynote address was titled Rewiring the Stuck Mind: Leveraging Neuroplasticity to Overcome Emotional Avoidance and Overthinking.
The organisers later emailed her: “I just wanted to let you know… the feedback on your session was terrific!” But excellent public speaking is just the tip of the iceberg for Joseph, whose growing brand centres on helping others improve brain function and mental well-being.
“In 2023, when I started blogging about my personal experience with autoimmune, neuroimmune, hormonal imbalances and chronic illnesses, my initial aim was really to raise awareness about invisible disabilities — to let people know they weren’t alone,” Joseph told St. Lucia Times.
That blog evolved into her brand, S.A.R.A.H Chronicles, under which she offers mindset transformation services using cognitive neuroscience and behavioural psychology. Her mission: to help people rewire their minds and restore emotional balance while building confidence.
Sarah is certified five times over in neuroscience, behavioural change, and emotional mastery — a foundation for the work she’s been doing since officially registering her business in 2023. By 2024, she had transitioned to behavioural coaching full-time, closing the chapter on a 13-year career in finance and leadership. She also serves as a facilitator for the Saint Lucia Employers Federation, lectures with the Youth Development and Empowerment Programme, and has twice been nominated for the Caribbean Posh Icon Award.
Client reviews of Sarah’s coaching programmes are scattered across social media, testifying to her growing influence. But what continues to fuel the 33-year-old as she builds one of the region’s only behavioural coaching brands?
Sarah traces the origins of her passion back to 2019, a year marked by personal hardship that led her to seek therapy. “When therapy was done, I mean, emotionally I was okay because I stopped crying, but then I still felt like, okay, what do I do next?” she recalled.
Navigating mental health challenges — and the gaps that often exist in available support — is something she says she also witnesses among her clients.
“A lot of people say they’ve spoken to certain people in these professions and what they shared was leaked, so I do think we may have an issue with lack of confidentiality in that field,” Joseph said. “A lot of people reference a lack of active listening skills as well… they would not feel like they were able to get their points across. They also didn’t feel like the environment was safe or judgment-free.
“A client even said she expressed something to a counsellor and afterwards she went home and never heard back… Nobody called, nobody messaged. And she was like, ‘You see, I know they did not care,’” Joseph shared, describing some of the pain points in Saint Lucia’s mental health landscape expressed through her clients.
While her own business does not provide counselling services, Joseph is working to offer a different kind of support. “Therapy, I would say, works on the conscious level — your thoughts, your words, your memories. And it really focuses on the past and helping resolve it. But what I do works in the subconscious. It’s a brain and body connection where emotions have left habits and triggers, all of these things being neural pathways deep in the subconscious. What I do is get to the root from there and help you rewire that path to something new. So coaching, in essence, is more about restoration and future focus.”
Although she’s charting new ground as one of the few behavioural coaches in the region, Joseph’s clients often speak as passionately about her professionalism as they do about her methods. “I have seen significant improvements, in even taking risks — certain things I would normally think I’m not capable of doing, and I’m doing it because now I’m seeing that I have that value, I’m strong, I’m capable,” one client said in an Instagram post about Joseph’s one-on-one programme.
Beyond private sessions, Sarah is expanding her reach through accessible platforms that encourage people to take charge of their mental well-being. She has boldly entered a once-stigmatised space with her YouTube podcast, Master Your Mindset, her LinkedIn newsletter, The CEO Mindset, and a free e-book titled Mastering You, available via her Instagram page, S.A.R.A.H Chronicles.
