How I work.

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Not every therapist works in the same way and so, here is a guide to how I work.

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At our first meeting we will start to get a feel as to whether we can work well together and will focus on what brings you to therapy.

 

I will talk you through a working agreement so you will fully understand what you can expect from counselling and my service. You will be given one copy of this agreement to take away; a signed copy will remain on file here.  Or if working online I will email this to you after our first session.

 

My records are confidential and you are under no obligation to inform anyone you have come for counselling if you do not wish to. It will not be on your medical records and you do not need to inform your GP if you do not want to. 

 

Although you have signed a contract that doesn’t mean you are obliged to have a set number of sessions.  Clients will often ask me how many sessions they will need,  and the simple answer is that I do not know.  A rough guide  for many people is that between one and six sessions  can be sufficient to make a real difference.  However,  where appropriate,  longer term counselling can be more beneficial.  Often,  the longer you have had an issue then the longer the therapy takes.

 

Endings have their own natural feel and ideally we will recognise when our work is coming to an end. When this happens  we will  set a date for our last session and spend some time discussing that ending, but life sometimes throws curve balls. 

 

An important point is that  it is my clients who choose when to end their counselling process. However, please keep in mind that the longer the therapy goes on,  the longer we should take to create our ending.

 

Long term counselling work will include a review every six weeks to ensure that we remain focused on what is important to you.

I do sometimes make notes and you are welcome to see them.  But the notes are confidential and I would not show them to others unless legally obliged to do so.

 

There are also some other exceptions to confidentiality. Most  people, at one time or another, have thought of suicide or not wanting to live, and they may talk about that in therapy, however, if you make it clear to me that you are actually planning to take your own life and you are taking action towards that end and if I cannot persuade you not to do that, I will call your doctor.

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Other legal exceptions to confidentiality are that if you tell me of a child who is presently being abused, then I am legally and morally bound to pass that information onto social services.  Similarly, if you tell me that you are going to commit an act of terror I have to inform the police.

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Sometimes I will bump into clients in the street or at  social events. When this happens I will not say hello or wave unless you do so.  This in not because I am being rude, it is simply to allow you your confidentially. If we are introduced at an event I will just say hello and allow you to take the lead. Our conversation will just be on a social level and no reference will be made to therapy.

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Unfortunately, if you are late then you will miss some of your session. Your session is booked  for a set time. This time  belongs to you, so it’s up to you how you use it.

 

I  offer discounted counselling sessions for psychotherapy and counselling trainees.

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 If you have other questions please email them to me and I will be glad to help