Sessions for individuals

First contact

I have come to counselling and psychotherapy through working in health services, charities, universities and business.  As I’ve worked with adults, young people and couples, I’ve noticed that first contacts with a new person or organisation can be the hardest bit.  Some of the unspoken questions in counselling and psychotherapy are, ‘how does this work? will I like the therapist? will they like me?’ If you contact me, I’d be happy for you to ask me those questions, and any others that are bothering you, as you work out whether I'm the right person for you. 

The first contact can vary in length from a few minutes to arrange a good time to talk or email or Skype, to a longer time - up to 30 minutes free - as you find out a bit more about me, and I find out more about you.  If, following this contact we decide you want to formalise our connection, I will send out some forms. When I saw these first, I thought they were rather impersonal, so apologies for that.  However, they do offer you a chance to reflect on what you want, and also to give you the information you need:

• ask you for background information -  some is factual, such as age, contact details, general health, and some is exploratory, such as what you think you might want out of counselling

•  a couple of brief (tick box) self -assessments, which are used by most agencies to establish a 'benchmark' and help me audit the quality of my practice - CORE,GAD

• a contract which outlines what we are both signing up for and details of payment, what happens if either of us is not available, which also includes a confidentiality statement about how I protect you information, and exceptions to confidentiality (eg child protection; terrorist activity!)

Saying hello - the first full session

The most important thing for you in the first session, is to find out whether you feel ok talking to me.  That will be key to your confidence in our therapy.  We also need to find out whether you are ok with me finding out more about you - in particular finding out more about what you need now, so that we can work out if there is something immediate we can do.  We will also think about how many sessions you have in mind.  It is important for you to have space to say what is most important to you and what you want to do.  There tend to be more questions from you, and from me, in the first session, so it's not quite a 'usual' session, but you should be able to leave feeling welcome and safe.

Discovering options - following sessions

We can work in:

•  short, medium and longer term agreements

• skype and telephone can also be helpful for those who travel, or cannot get out of their home

We can use whatever helps you best to learn about yourself and your options.  So talking is a key element, but other things can help too.  These would only be a part of our work, and only if you are happy with them.  I will always ask you first, so they are always with your consent ....

• thinking quietly
• drawing
• writing notes
• laughing together
• problem solving
• imagination
• testing out the right words to say

I’ve also noticed that looking at the kind of messages you picked up about getting along with people during  earlier years can form a kind of ‘script’, like in a play, and that sometimes these ‘scripts’ become a pattern.  We can have a look at those patterns to see if they are all still useful, or if some of them are holding you back from living the life you hope for.

Saying goodbye

Saying goodbye can feel so awkward that many people avoid it in everyday life.  The same can feel true in therapy - whether it is after a couple of weeks, or after a few months, or longer.  So saying goodbye is an important part of what we can do, and we can work out a way to do it that feels best for you.