What to expect in therapy with me
I seek to create a safe, confidential, welcome space for clients of all ages.
Adults, children and adolescents all need a space to explore and express their feelings and experiences, and for some this tends to be more difficult as they struggle to understand what they're feeling, never mind find the words to describe them to someone. People often find that when they voice their experiences, feelings, and worries, and confide in a professional who can offer support and help them make sense of these, they feel heard, understood, and often a little lighter from sharing the weight of these. I aim to help my clients to feel that little bit lighter.
My approach to counselling is integrative. This means the type of counselling/psychotherapy is completely dependant on clients needs and preference. From talking therapy including CBT, to therapeutic art and play for children, each client is an individual and therefore their counselling should be individually tailored for them.
My counselling service is completely professional and confidential, aimed at creating a safe space for a client to explore their thoughts, worries and past experiences to make sense of these and help them to move forward.
Our first meeting
The first meeting is the Assessment.
Before you sign up for ongoing counselling, we will have an assessment. This is an opportunity to meet, talk through the presenting issues, get family history/background, set hopes/goals for therapy, sign consent forms, etc.
The assessment usually lasts 45 minutes, and is charged as a session. Adult clients tend to attend the assessment on their own, teenage clients are usually given the option whether to come into the room on their own, or whether to have a parent with them. Some prefer to do the first half with a parent, then the second half on their own - im happy to work with them and whatever makes them feel most comfortable! Child clients (usually primary school age) generally do not attend the assessment. The child assessments are completed with the parent(s) - this allows the parent a chance to speak more freely regarding the child's presenting issues, and also depending on the age of the child, if they are sitting in a room with their parents and a therapist, being spoken about with papers being signed, this can feel uncomfortable and intimidating for the child and sets a bad precedent for the ongoing work.
After the assessment, if counselling with me feels like a good fit, we will agree to a time and day repeating weekly for the ongoing sessions. The therapy will be reviewed every 6 sessions to ensure that we are on the right track/ acknowledge any progress and discuss whether to continue therapy or whether the client is ready to finish.
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