Frequently Asked Questions
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What is therapy?
Therapy is a space to examine the things that are troubling you, it is an ongoing active process of engaging with another person about various aspects of your life. It’s through an examination of your thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and the understanding that grows from that investigation, that we internally shift and begin to change and develop towards greater happiness and satisfaction with our lives.
2. How does therapy help us to heal?
Each person is unique, and their journey towards happiness and fulfillment will be unique too. In being your therapist, my goal is not to lead you where I believe you need to go, but to use the skills and experience I have gained in my training and my years of working with people, to help you to untangle your own thoughts, feelings and experiences, to weave together an understanding of who you are, and where you want to be. It’s very tempting and attractive to imagine that there is some sort of blueprint for happy living, but anyone who spends even a small amount of time trying to attain that understanding will discover that no such fantasy exists. There are no meaningful quick fixes or maps to lead us towards a ‘one size fits all’ happy life. The person centered approach is founded upon the belief that people have great natural potential towards positive growth if put in the right supportive conditions. It is my job to provide those conditions and to hold a space where you can explore and subsequently heal.
3. What kind of therapy do you practice?
I practice a type of therapy known a ‘Person- centred therapy’ or sometimes ‘Client centred therapy’. It was developed by Carl Rogers by observing what treatment patients in his care responded well to. He found, in a stance a step away from the offerings of psychotherapy of his time, that following his patients lead, and helping them to tune into their own potential, had more success than attempting to direct and change them. He believed (as do I) that people had immense capacity for growth, if put in the right conditions. His therapy is essentially an exploration and theory of the best conditions for therapeutic and personal growth.
4. Is there a difference between counselling and psychotherapy?
The terms counselor and psychotherapist are not legally protected terms, and the difference in meaning between the two terms is hotly debated within the therapeutic community. At one time counselling was used to refer to more short term holding work, and psychotherapy as more long term depth work, and you may still find people using these terms in this manner. However as the field of therapeutic work has grown over time, we now have long term counselling and short term psychotherapy, so the words have lost some of the distinction they once had. Personally I'm happy to use whatever terms make you feel more comfortable and to work together to achieve whatever is important to you, be that long term exploration or short term coping.
5. What issues can you work with?
As a confident and competent therapist, I am able to work with most presenting issues, I do of course have special areas of interest and particular issues that I have increased experience and understanding of. I list these in the section below, but here is a list of issues I work with regularly:
Abortion, Abuse, Addiction, Affairs, Alcoholism, Anger issues, Anorexia, Attachment issues, Anxiety, Bereavement, Binge eating, Bipolar disorder, Birth Trauma, Body Dysmorphia, Borderline Personality Disorder, Bulimia, Bullying, Child Related Issues, Dementia, Disabilities, Depression, Domestic Violence, Dissociation, Drug Addiction, Emotional Abuse, Eating Disorders, Family Issues, Gender Dysphoria, Gambling, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Infertility, Hoarding, Internet addiction, Low self-esteem, Miscarriage,Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic attacks, PTSD, Physical Abuse, Phobias,Pregnancy, Post-natal depression, Relationship problems, Redundancy, Self-Harm, Seasonal affective disorder, Separation and divorce, Sexuality, Sexual Abuse, Sex Problems, Stress, Spirituality, Suicidal thoughts, Trauma, Work related stress.
This list is not exhaustive and ultimately, I meet a person not a presenting issue. Whatever issues you are facing in your life, we can explore them.
6. What specialties do you have?
I have particular experience of and a special interest in: Birth Trauma, Complex Trauma, Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault and Rape.
7. Is it confidential?
Yes. I engage in a contract with you which covers our work, I will hold what we discuss in confidence. However, if I had concerns about your safety, or the safety of someone else, I may need to share those concerns with another. I will speak about our work to my supervisor regularly who is another therapist I meet with to review my work; this is to make sure I am practicing ethically and offering the best service possible. In line with GDPR you are able to view the information I keep for our work at any time, just ask and I will arrange this.
8. What happens in a session?
The sessions are your time to discuss anything which feels important to you. I will help you to explore what you bring, and better understand the complexities of your situation, and the thoughts and feelings they evoke.
9. What might we talk about?
You can discuss anything at all that is of significance to you. We may talk about something which is happening to you right now, or we may talk about something which happened to you a long time ago. We may talk about your thoughts, feelings, behaviours or fears. We might talk about your memories, your dreams, the people in your life and your relationship to them. Nothing is off the table and everything can be of use. If it feels significant to you, I encourage you to bring it!
10. Will you ask me questions?
I may occasionally ask you questions, but the direction of the therapy and our conversation will be largely directed by you. Sometimes the depiction of a therapist we see on tv involves a person with a clipboard working their way through a series of questions, and taking notes of the answers. My therapy sessions don’t look much like this. You will determine what it is you want to explore, and I may ask questions to help you in your exploration, but what we talk about is determined by you. My aim in our discussions is not to ‘diagnose’ you or your problems, but to assist you in an exploration of them.
11. Will you give me homework?
No. With some kinds of therapy, setting homework is a normal part of the process, but this isn’t how I work. That isn’t to say that you will not be working on yourself in between sessions, it’s just that what you do in between sessions will be because you think it will be of benefit to you, and not because I have dictated that you should.
12. Will the session just be talking?
Generally psychotherapy & counselling is mostly made up of talking, yes. Most sessions will just involve conversation. There are lots of ways of working, and sometimes people find it very useful to access those other avenues of communication, through art and creative media. I am trained to use different tools, like stones, art materials etc. We can look at this if you think it would be useful to you.
13. Will you give me advice?
Advice giving isn’t really the purpose of counselling, though people seem to anticipate that it will be. There is an element of ‘psychoeducation’ to therapy, so there may well be times when I can share with you what we understand about people and why we think people (in general) behave the way they do, in the hope that this information might offer you something useful, and I will frequently offer you a sense of how things seem to me in an attempt to check out whether my understanding correlates with yours. However, for the most part what I am most concerned about is how things seem to you, what you think and feel and want. I may have understanding of people and their behavioural patterns, but no one understands you as well as you do, and this is where we will focus.
14. Do you take notes?
I do, but not in session. After each session I will take very brief notes (a sentence or two) that encapsulates the main themes we have discussed that day. These notes are for my records, they won’t contain my opinion, they will solely be made up of what you have told me. These records will be anonymised, stored securely and destroyed confidentially seven years after you stop coming for therapy. You are welcome to view your notes at any time.
15. How long does a session last?
My sessions last a full hour.
16. What does it cost?
£55 per session of individual therapy. The same fees apply whether the session takes place face to face, online or as a walk & talk session.
17. How frequently would we meet?
When you are in therapy you will meet with me regularly, normally once a week, though occasionally people wish to have fortnightly sessions and this can be arranged.
18. How long do I need to be in therapy?
This is entirely up to you.
Some clients may only wish to come for a few weeks or a few months, and this may be sufficient for them to tackle what they are choosing to work on, others may be engaging in a deep and ongoing exploration of themselves and their patterns of behaviour, and it isn’t uncommon for a therapeutic relationship to span many years. It’s entirely dependent on the person and what feels beneficial for them. When we begin, when we end, and what we do whilst in therapy is all your choice, and within your control.
19. Where does it take place?
I am currently working exclusively online, or via the telephone if that would be preferred.
20. Can I have someone with me?
It’s very normal to find starting therapy daunting and if having the support of a loved one is necessary to allow you to feel ready to begin the process, then I quite understand.
If clients do need to have a loved one with them to a first session, they tend to only stay for the first ten minutes or so, enough to support you in beginning that first session, but leaving shortly after to allow you the space to explore fully.
21. How can I prepare for my first counselling session?
People can often feel some uncertainty about what they need to do in preparation for attending a session, and the simple answer is nothing at all. If it feels like it would helpful to you to think about your reasons for coming for counselling, then by all means do so, but it isn’t obligatory. Some clients will arrive with a clear agenda, others just turn up willing to explore whatever comes up. Either is perfectly acceptable, it just a matter of personal preference.
22. What is Outdoor therapy / Eco therapy?
Outdoor therapy (sometimes referred to as eco- therapy) essentially refers to engaging in therapy, with some level of exposure to nature and the outdoors. What that actually means for each client varies, though often it involves having a ‘walk and talk’ session outdoors. For some clients outdoor therapy may mean simply engaging in the exact same therapy they do indoors, but with the benefit of being outdoors and in an environment that they find enriching or nourishing in some way. For others, the landscape may offer material to help them explore themselves. As human beings I believe we are hardwired to find being around nature emotionally enriching and therapeutic, and being in this setting can be hugely soothing and calming for many clients.
If you feel like outdoor therapy may be of interest to you, please get in touch and we can discuss what it may mean for us to work in this way.
23. What if we don’t get on?
Having a good therapeutic relationship with your therapist is the bedrock to successful work, it’s vital that you feel comfortable and if I happen not to be the perfect fit for you, I will gladly offer recommendations of colleagues, and won’t take it personally. In fact, I actively encourage you to try and get a feel for whether or not we are a good fit, and that’s why I offer our first session at half price.
24. How will we know when the work is finished?
Generally, as a client you have a sense of when a therapeutic relationship has run its course, and I will trust your judgement on this, when you tell me you feel done, I will accept this. It’s not uncommon for people to return to therapy at different times in their life, so closing for a time doesn’t mean having to end forever. What is most important is that you feel able to discuss those feelings of approaching an ending with me, so that I can give you the closure you deserve.
25. How to book?
You can book a session by using the contact form below, or emailing or calling me using the details at the bottom of this page. I offer a half price initial consultation, so that we can meet, and you can get a sense of what i'm like and how I work, and decide for yourself if you would like to work with me.