How does therapy work?
Counselling and psychotherapy can provide a confidential, neutral space to explore any difficult situations or issues you may be struggling with. It can help you overcome challenges, manage life transitions, process difficult emotions and bring awareness and perspective. It can help you find your way back to yourself.
It is an opportunity to speak with someone openly who doesn’t know you. It allows you to gain insight or alternative perspectives on problems you may be facing, or helps you release difficult emotions you may be holding. It involves working towards changes with someone who will support and challenge you when necessary.
What is the cost?
Ongoing weekly sessions cost £60.
I can offer lower-cost sessions for those on a low income. Please ask me about these.
How do you work?
I’m a person-centred therapist, so I trust you to lead sessions with what you want to bring, and I offer talking therapy. If I notice that you are struggling or experiencing dysregulation, I will ask you to pause and see what’s happening in your body or breathe deeply. I believe in mindfulness and grounding, and I suggest using exercises to help support the nervous system regularly. I generally don’t offer advice, and I can’t always offer a fix. Therapy is not something that is done to you; it is something that you need to actively engage in.
Who do you work with?
In my day job at a college, I work with young people aged 16 -18.
In my private practice, I work with adults and young people aged 18 and above. I am trained to work with all emotional and psychological distress in a person-centred way. I have specialist training and services for neurodivergent clients and people who have experienced trauma, including domestic abuse, sexual assault and birth trauma.
What is the first step to working with you?
If you are interested in working with me, please contact me by email, text or WhatsApp. We can then start discussing how we can work together.
I offer an initial assessment session. We can discuss your experiences with therapy and address any concerns or fears you may have about it. We can see if working with me is right for you before committing to regular sessions.
Once I arrange an appointment, I will email you some forms and information. You must complete the forms and bring them to your first appointment. This paperwork covers vital info I need from you, including informed consent. It lets us work together. If forms are complex for you, we can fill these out together on the first appointment.
I follow a detailed intake procedure that helps me understand your situation, your problems, and their origins. I individually tailor therapy for each client, but I invite you to set your own goals and objectives. Confidentiality is essential to me, and I work in accordance with GDPR rules. Please see my privacy policy.
What happens in our first session?
Our first session begins with an assessment appointment. In our first meeting, we’ll discuss your current issues, background, and goals.
We’ll determine if therapy is necessary. If so, we’ll decide how often to meet (usually once a week) and for how long. Six to 12 counselling sessions (or fewer) work well for some people and usually focus on a specific difficulty or some stuckness that needs resolving.
Sometimes, longer-term psychotherapy (six months to a year or longer), where we examine your relationships, life patterns, and history, may be more appropriate. I tailor each therapy session to meet the individual needs of my clients. Every person is unique, and therapy should reflect that. Together, we’ll co-create a treatment approach that works for you. I offer short, medium and long-term therapy. I can also offer single sessions.
I understand that therapy isn’t always easy and can sometimes feel challenging. Talking therapy works best if you’re honest and say how you feel, if possible. Therapy also works best if you can commit to the process, complete the work outside of sessions, work towards specific goals, and remain open to change.
I offer a non-judgmental space and time to do this work. I review our progress every few sessions. I do this to ensure you get what you need from the process and are happy to continue. When you feel ready to end, let’s discuss this and find the right time for your last session.
What will my sessions be like?
Our therapy sessions will be 50 minutes or one hour long, and all discussions during our time together will be kept confidential.
Our sessions usually involve two people talking. Yet, we can also include other ways to express ourselves. For instance, we can draw, write or use paints or modelling clay. We can also incorporate deep breathing and explore new movement techniques. It can help you relax and regulate your nervous system. I utilise various tools, including breathwork, music, somatic exercises, and grounding meditation.
I offer you a fixed time each week to meet and check how things are going for you. I’ll listen carefully to understand how this affects you. I’ll ask questions to help you explore this at a comfortable pace.
How many sessions will I need?
People sometimes feel that they experience change or a ‘shift’ in just 6 to 12 sessions, whereas others choose to come to therapy on a long-term, open-ended basis to work more deeply on their life experiences and relationships.
How does therapy for trauma work?
I have been trained in a three-phase approach to trauma treatment, which includes:
- Safety and stabilisation
- Processing traumatic memory
- Consolidation, integration and reconnection.
I am trained in the Rewind technique and the Flash technique, which I can offer as part of other therapeutic work or as a single-session trauma treatment. This year, I will be training in EMDR.
You will often hear me ask you how the emotions you express in our work together can be ‘felt’ in your body, and where. This is a way to help you better understand the connections between your mind, emotions, and body. You may struggle to recognise how emotions are felt in your body, and this can be addressed through ongoing grounding and somatic work.
In our first assessment session, we will agree on the pace at which we begin the work and review our goals regularly.
How does creative therapy work?
If you struggle to express your thoughts and feelings in words, creative therapy may be beneficial. Creative therapy can include activities such as doodling, writing, using paint, buttons, therapy cards, and stones. Or working with visualisation, metaphor and play. These are there as a way of exploring feelings that can often be difficult to put into words.
Do you need to be artistic? No, you don’t. Please see this as a way to free your inner child, express yourself and process what is happening for you. This work is more about the process than the end result.
Can we do this online? Yes. It’s helpful to have a journal, pens, and paper readily available. We can negotiate how we will work and with what, and tailor our approach to meet your needs.
What is email therapy?
Email therapy involves a weekly exchange of emails between you and me, with both parties committing to crafting thoughtful and reflective responses similar to a standard therapy session.
We each send a maximum of 500 words once a week. I will spend the same time writing to you as I would if we were meeting for a 50-minute session. And I ask that you give your writing the same amount of time.
We will agree to respond to each other by a specific time and day of the week, so you’ll always know when to expect to hear from me next. As the time delay is an essential therapeutic difference with email counselling, I take three working days to reflect, ponder and draft my reply. This allows me to thoroughly consider your thoughts and words as you wait for my answer.
How do I know if you’re the right therapist for me?
Truthfully, you may only know if I am the right fit for you a few sessions in. A successful therapeutic alliance is the relationship between the therapist and the client; rapport needs time to develop.
Knowing what you need or look for in a therapist can feel confusing and daunting. Finding someone I felt accepted by and could trust was essential in my personal therapy. During our consultation, you can ask me any questions and get a sense of who I am and how you feel about me.
Do sessions have to be weekly?
No, while weekly sessions create more consistency and can mean the work can progress more quickly, I offer weekly or fortnightly counselling sessions. What works is up to you. These are generally on the same day at the same time. If this isn’t possible, let’s consider a pattern within my availability that works for your schedule and resources.
If you need shorter or longer session times, we can discuss this as well.
Life is busy. Whether you work shifts, a 9-5 or need sessions that fit around childcare, get in touch. Early morning and evening sessions are available. Face to face, or online.
What happens if I miss a session?
I request 48 hours’ notice for a cancelled session – but, of course, sometimes life gets in the way and things can’t be helped. If I can reschedule your missed session at a mutually convenient time, I will do my best to accommodate you. Otherwise, the full fee will be charged.
What are your available sessions?
I currently offer daytime sessions on Fridays and Saturday mornings. I also run evening sessions on Mondays and Thursdays.
The first session of the day starts at 9:00 a.m. (I can accommodate 8:00 a.m. sessions upon request.) The last evening session, on either Monday or Thursday, is at 7:00 p.m.
What should I ask you to see if you are a good fit for me?
Asking me questions to see how I work could include:
- How I might help with your particular concerns
- If I have dealt with this type of problem before
- What my process entails
- What are my qualifications
- What your treatment timeline might look like.