Each session is 50 minutes long. When we begin our sessions, we can discuss how you would like to make the most of this time and what you would like to focus on each session. It's also okay if you don't know what you want to focus on, we can figure that out together at whatever pace feels best for you. If it feels better to have a structure to each session, that's something we can build together, or we can move fluidly and flexibly through each session to see where it takes us.
There is nothing expected of you to prepare for therapy, just bring yourself and an open mind to begin discussing what you'd like to talk about or work on. Some people find that journalling helps them to reflect throughout the week and decide on what has been troubling them the most, in order to make this the focus of the next session. However, journalling isn't for everyone and that's okay! If you are worried about being able to identify what you want to focus on in particular, this is something we can discuss in our 15 minute call and we can work together to find which directions would be most helpful for you.
Yes. One of the most useful things about therapy is that you have a space to talk about whatever you want, and it will remain confidential. Everything that is discussed in a session will not be discussed outside of a session.
The only time this confidentiality would have to be broken would be:
If a client were to disclose that there was a risk of serious harm to themselves or another person.
If a client were to disclose a Safeguarding risk.
If a client were to disclose specific criminal activity such as Terrorism, Money Laundering or Drug Trafficking.
Court order: A judge or coroner can legally issue an order demanding the release of client notes or attendance records, or require the therapist to testify.
Wherever confidentiality must broken, I would inform you of this if it were safe to do so.
All of your data and information will be stored securely in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.
Therapy and Counselling sessions work most effectively when they are attended weekly, however you may want to decrease your sessions to once or twice a month if you are making progress towards towards your goals and you feel the need for less frequent support. This is something that we can discuss together to decide what is right for you.
This is a difficult question to answer, because everyone is different. It is recommended to have a minimum of 8 sessions in order to begin seeing progress, this may be enough for some people but for others this may just be the beginning. There is no cap on how many sessions we can have together, and there is no rush. Making long-lasting changes to your life and your mental wellbeing can take time, and that's perfectly normal. However, some people may want to only commit to a fixed number of sessions, and this is also perfectly fine too! This is something we can discuss in our initial conversation and it is also never set in stone and would be completely open to review and adjust as we go along.
Signs that therapy is working for you can include changes in your thoughts, feelings, emotions, behaviours and general mood. You might begin to understand yourself more, feel more able to cope with stress, develop healthier coping strategies, improve your inter-personal relationships or anything that feels like progress towards living a healthier, happier and more rewarding way of living.
Each person's therapy journey is different, so the things you want work on or process might be completely different to someone else. Your journey is about you and what you want to acheive from it. However, it is important to remember that progress in therapy is not always linear. You may experience some difficult emotions and feelings as part of your journey due to discussing difficult and upsetting topics. However, you will never be thrown in the deep end and we will be working together to make sure you never feel alone in this journey. The work might feel hard at times, but this is usually a sign that real progress is being made.
If you are ever concerned that you don't feel progress is being made, this is also something we can discuss and review. It might be that we need to tailor the approach a little to find something better suited to you, or maybe you want to bring up new goals and areas of focus. Whatever it is, I am always open to discussing how to make meaningful progress together.
My approach to Therapy and Counselling means that homework is entirely optional. Homework is only really useful if it alligns with your goals and prefences and feels like it would be something that would actually help you, rather than create more stress and burden for you. Whilst some people love coming away from a session with something to practise or complete before the next session, many find this to be too much to take on and feels like a chore. The one thing that is important to me is that everything that we do together is for your benefit, so I want to avoid increasing risk of burnout or feelings of guilt for not completing some homework. Therefore, homework is only there if it's something you want to incorporate into your therapeutic journey. It is your choice!
You might feel ready to end therapy when you feel that you've achieved everything you wanted from the sessions. If you can no longer think of what else you want to focus on in sessions and you feel that you're in a good place, this usually means you may be ready to end. You may have learned coping mechanisms and techniques which are supporting you to be confident in coping with life challenges on your own, or you may feel as though you have processed and healed the parts of you that were hurting to a point where they don't affect your daily life anymore. There is no one way to define what it looks or feels like to be finished with your therapy journey, but this is something we can discuss together and decide how many more sessions you would like to have and if we should begin to taper sessions to bi-weekly before ending.
It is always helpful to discuss the ending process when you are feeling ready to end sessions, as we want to make sure that your journey ends with a conclusion rather than feeling suddenly dropped! We can work together to build to an ending which brings reflection and gives closure, whilst also creating a plan for maintaining your wellbeing moving forward.
There is no right or wrong time to end therapy, some people want to engage with therapy long term, over many years, and may never want to stop having a space to be open, honest and to reflect and grow. Others may leave therapy when the time feels right but then return later down the line when they find that they have something else that they want to work on. Your journey is yours to create and I am here to support you for however long is right for you.
If you have any further questions which aren't covered here, please feel free to email me or fill out the contact form on the Contact page.