When Counselling or Psychotherapy Can Help

If you are considering Counselling or Psychotherapy you may be thinking of reaching out for some help. I understand this in itself can be a daunting prospect, and often brings up strong feelings. If you would like to get in touch with any questions or to ask how the process may work for you, you are very welcome to contact me.

There is no right or wrong reason to need therapy, whatever you are bringing will be entirely valid.

Perhaps you are looking for support, understanding or are facing a crisis in your life. Maybe you are struggling coming to terms with loss, or feel stuck in various ways in your life. Some people seek therapy to unlock further potential they feel is blocked or because they are in too much pain to bear alone, while others are drawn to get to know themselves better.

Whatever your story I look forward to meeting you as the unique individual that you are.

Counselling or Psychotherapy cannot change your history but it can help reframe where you are now, and allow you to expand your perspective of where you are going. It can provide a valuable opportunity to explore your choices and rewrite your personal story so that you can start to live in ways that are more fulfilling and satisfying and inevitably allows you to feel more aware and grounded in what is personally meaningful to you.

How Will Psychotherapy Work for You?

When we meet I will want to hear about what brings you to therapy and what you are looking for. I will offer you the opportunity to ask me any questions, and if we feel we are a good fit to move forward we can arrange to start therapy together.

I offer a space for you to come as you are. I will not have solutions to give you, nor will I offer interpretations of what is going on for you. Central to my work is the belief that we are all always more than we know of ourselves, and always changing. I will therefore never make judgements of you or put labels on you. What I will give you is my undivided attention, so that together we can explore your world and how it feels to live in it. I will bring curiosity to your assumptions, values and beliefs, in order for us to explore what is meaningful for you. I offer an accepting and open environment for you to be heard and seen. In my experience it is these qualities that make therapy such an extraordinary space. That through self-enquiry and subsequent self-knowledge and acceptance the way we meet ourselves and the world can become profoundly different.

Initial Meeting:

Whether meeting in person or online our first meeting will always be an assessment session. This session will be slightly different to our ongoing work together as it gives us a chance to meet; where you can share what brings you to therapy as well as what your expectations are so that we can explore how we may work together. If the fit feels right then we can agree to a set number of sessions or I can offer an open-ended timeframe, depending on what you would prefer. I always leave it at least 24 hours after this initial assessment session before we each decide if we want to commit to work together. If the fit feels right we will then find a regular time slot that works for you.

Therapy Agreement:

Prior to our first session I will send you my therapy agreement. This lays out our responsibility and commitment to you as your therapist and in turn yours to me as my client. I welcome any questions on this, as it is essential we both agree to this to create and maintain the safe space within which the therapy can take place.