FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make an appointment?
You can telephone or email me to arrange an appointment. If you ring and I am unable to answer your call, please leave me a message with your name and contact number, together with a convenient time for me to return your call. I will then call you back as soon as possible.
Your call is confidential. Please let me know if its okay to leave a message when I return your phone call.
How many sessions will I need?
That is up to you and will depend on the nature of the difficulties you are experiencing and the issues you want to work on. Some problems and issues can be resolved reasonably quickly, whereas deeply distressing emotional difficulties, beliefs and behaviours may take time to overcome. Many clients find it helpful to start with 6 sessions on a weekly basis and then review. Some clients benefit from long term counselling because they need ongoing support to cope with life's challenges.
If you are unsure how long you will need you can choose to work on an open-ended basis and we will regularly review your individual needs.
How often are the sessions?
After an initial assessment, if we both agree to engage in therapy then weekly sessions will be arranged at an agreed time for 1 hour per session which then becomes your 'personal space' for counselling. It is an open-ended process. It is primarily up to you, as a client, to decide how long counselling should continue. I will ensure that we regularly review the usefulness of counselling to you, and will help you to establish clear aims and objectives.
What can I expect from Counselling and Psychotherapy?
Counselling offers you a safe confidential environment to feel heard and an opportunity for you to explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
Psychotherapy is a similarly confidential way of working and helps develop a deeper understanding of the way in which past experiences affect you in the present, giving insight into your unconscious motivations.
How will we work together?
How we work will depend on what's best for you and what you need. Counselling and Psychotherapy are ways of helping you discover new choices and to identify and manage the changes you want in your life.
The aim is to help you to develop insight into your own problems and to identify your own resources. Most of all, our work together will help you feel more in control of your life and help to increase your sense of personal awareness.
Confidentiality?
Everything you discuss with me will be private and confidential, unless you were to tell me something that would lead me to believe that you, or someone else, were at risk of serious harm. Full disclosure rules are stipulated by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and we can discuss this at your initial appointment.
If your GP refers you with a referral letter, it is expected that I will send a report to your GP after your first session and again at the end of therapy. I am happy to discuss the content with you.
Do you receive supervision?
All counsellors and psychotherapists need to be in supervision which is a form of consultative support to ensure that I am providing an effective counselling service. My caseload is supervised which means that I discuss my work (clients are anonymised) with my supervisor, who like me, is also bound by rules of confidentiality.
Record Keeping
I retain contact information for clients. This contact information is kept separate from any notes that I might take during the course of counselling. Both contact information and client notes are destroyed at the end of counselling. I do not retain any records in computerised form.