“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change”
– Carl Rogers
Therapy is an individual experience and I aim to create an environment which feels safe for you to freely share what is important to you. If you are to share your most personal thoughts and feelings, it is important that you feel you can trust your therapist. Although I am completely committed to my work and believe I am a warm, kind, compassionate and professional therapist, only by meeting can you make your own assessment of that.
The initial session
At the initial session I invite you to share what you are experiencing as difficult and what you think needs to change in order for things to feel better. I offer my thoughts about your concerns and then will discuss with you how you would like to proceed with the counselling.
This session is very much about meeting each other and for us both to assess whether we can work together taking into consideration…
For you:
- To get an idea of the practicalities of getting here – the journey, childcare etc
- How you feel about this environment
- What you think of me and if I am the right person for you
- Whether you feel I can help you and if you are ready to make the commitment to start therapy.
For me:
- To make sure that the issues you are bringing are within my area of competence. I work with most issues, but on occasion may suggest you would be better placed with another therapist if you need to work on a particular specialised area or if there is a boundary issue and I am not able to work with you.
Once you have decided you’d like to come back to see me, we make a therapeutic contract and so the work begins…
Individuals
Individual work means that I will work with you on a one to one basis on your own personal issues whatever they may be.
Couple Counselling
Couple work generally means working with two people who are in a relationship regardless of marital status or sexual orientation. This may be to work on improving the relationship or to look at how to end the relationship in a positive way. I have also worked with adult child/ren and their parent/s as well as with working business partners.
Short Term /Long Term work
I offer both short and long term work.
A single session might be enough if you have something specific you need to explore or talk over with another person.
Short term work – This tends to be for people who have a very clear focus on what they wish to work on for 5 or 6 sessions. We would then review the work and decide together whether to end as planned or continue.
Long Term work – This enables us to work more freely in a more in depth way to really try to get to the root of the difficulties. We will work with regular reviews so we can shape the work to your need.
Zoom/Telephone/Face-time Counselling
At the moment this is all I am able to offer due to the Covid -19 pandemic.
This was not a service I generally offered in the past as I believe one of the most important aspects of my work is in the relationship between client and therapist. Being able to fully engage and pay real attention to you is important and I believe so much is lost ‘over the airwaves’ through online working.
However the Covid pandemic has changed a lot in our lives and I have come to realise there is certainly value in online working. I think that once we are able to work face to face again, I am likely to offer a mixture of both in person sessions and online.
All enquires are welcome so please feel free to contact me.
My Counselling Room, Oundle