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FAQ
During the initial consultation, I will ask a range of questions to help build up an understanding of the main difficulties you are seeking help for. I will ask questions to try to understand how those difficulties are impacting on your wellbeing and day-to-day life but also to consider relevant factors on where the problem might have started or why those difficulties exist. We will also discuss your goals and hopes for treatment to help guide the next steps. Sometimes it can take more than one session to fully develop that understanding to ensure you then receive the best possible treatment. My therapeutic style is not trying to find sticking plasters to offer short-term relief for people. I believe that true healing comes from doing the deeper work, getting to the very heart of our pain and suffering. For many people, the roots of our pain and suffering is grief, feelings of sadness, anger, hurt and other issues. Often we carry unresolved grief which can then lead to patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving as a way to cope or adapt or to avoid those feelings. The grief can be linked to traumatic or difficult experiences but also to things we didn’t receive, for example, not having our needs met, not feeling loved or acknowledged or heard, not being allowed to show emotion or vulnerability. Connecting with those themes in therapy is hard and often painful and uncomfortable for people. What I’m saying here is therapy with me is probably not just going to be a nice, relaxed and pleasant chat. It is likely I may make you cry (not because I enjoy seeing people upset but because that usually means we are then at the heart and the root of the problem). It is my view that it is healing at that deeper level that can lead to the most lasting and meaningful change.
Absolutely not. I just want to share my own view based on my personal and professional experience of therapy. I would, of course, listen to and respect your wishes on how deep you want to go and we would work at the level and pace that feels right for you. You would not be pressured to go into any feelings or experiences that you didn’t feel ready to go into.
It can be difficult to know exactly how many sessions people will need and the pace at which people can work through things. This would partly depend on the goals you want to work towards in therapy. In many cases, it is likely we will need to have more than one session, as it takes time to build a complete understanding of the problem and to build trust to then work towards attending to that. If you did want to book a consultation, I will then likely be able to give a more specific guide based on your individual needs and therapy goals. There is no obligation to book more than one session at a time, so you don’t need to commit to an agreed number.
I hope so. I believe I am a good therapist who truly cares about what I do and the service I provide. I have comprehensive training in the field of psychology and I am fully qualified in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Sensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). I have also completed comprehensive training and have regular supervision to deliver Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). I take pride and privilege in being a therapist and I hope this comes across in how I try to support people through the process. I now have over 15 years of experience working in psychological therapy services, including NHS services and the private sector. This helps to give me a good understanding of the common patterns that people may develop as a result of their pain and suffering. It is true there are common patterns that connect many people, but every individual person is unique and I try to guide my skills and training to what each individual person needs (what we call a person-centred approach). I will be guided by the evidence base (what research tells us is most likely to help) when suggesting treatment options and intervention but I DO NOT take a manualised approach to therapy. In other words, you won’t be getting a template treatment approach which is the same for every person I work with. I commit to trying to tailor my knowledge and skills to your individual needs. It is my view (a view shared by many) that having a good therapeutic relationship (in other words, feeling safe and heard when speaking with your therapist) is essential to provide a foundation for change. I hope that my skills and experience help me to establish that with many people I see. Of course, it can be the case that different therapists or different therapies can match better for different people. I try to be open to feedback and would welcome any discussions with you during therapy about the best way forward, if you didn’t feel I was the right therapist for you.
Early on in therapy we try to agree goals of what you would like to work towards or achieve in therapy. We then try to measure progress towards those goals. We regularly discuss that together to review that progress and you can change or extend your goals if you decide to. We may also use psychometric questionnaires which have been proven to measure severity of a range of problems linked to low mood or anxiety.
It can happen. As discussed, often at the heart of our suffering are unresolved painful feelings. If we do start to connect more with those feelings in therapy it can be the case that people may notice some initial increase in distress. If that does happen we would be working on finding ways together to help you and often connecting with the distress does mark the start of the healing process.
Following the initial consultation I give my assurance that I will only agree to offer further sessions if I feel I have the necessary expertise to provide you with the appropriate treatment. If I felt I was not the right therapist for you, I would try to direct you to other therapists or agencies within the network who may be able to assist you. This would also apply if you felt at any time that I was not the right therapist for you.
You have my complete assurance that what we discuss in therapy sessions is completely confidential. I do have regular supervision where I may discuss cases I am working with but I do not disclose identifiable information. The only exception to the confidentiality agreement is if you disclosed information to me which indicated you could be at risk of harm to yourself or at risk of harm to or from another person, or if you provide information that could indicate another person is at risk of harm. In those cases, I have a duty of care in my role to share that information with the relevant agencies in order to safeguard people and to adhere to the standards and expectations of my professional code of practice. If any concerns were raised during therapy around risk to yourself or others I will always try to be open and honest with you about that concern and inform you and discuss with you if there is a need for me to share that information.