Frequently asked questions

People come to therapy for all sorts of reasons, big and small. Some clients come for help to address specific issues troubling them, others come because they have a general feeling of being stuck, or a pervasive sense of sadness or anxiety they can't shake. Some come beacuse of an accute and cripling sense of anxiety in certain situations. It's worth remembering that an event or set of circumstances that may not trouble one person, can be traumatising to another. We're all different. Some clients are generally getting along well in life, but would like therapy to enhance their personal development and growth.  During therapy I encourage clients to talk about what spontnaeously occurs to them in the moment, however important or trivial it seems to them. Things that initially appear trivial can sometimes start a conversation and set of reflections that leads to something important to the client coming more into their awareness. 

There is no pre-determined fixed amount of time to do therapy. Some clients find they get what they need from only a few sessions, whilst others find they want to continue to explore and grow through therapy for months or years. You are free to stop therapy whenever you wish to do so, and continued therapy is through mutual agreement. 

Unfortunaely there are no guarantees in therapy when it comes to results, but I regard it to be important to review with clients on an ongoing basis how they feel about the therapy and what they are getting out of it. 

I work with people from many different kinds of backgrounds and with all ages from 16 onwards. 

For on-line sessions I charge £50 per session for 60 mins, and for in-person sessions I charge £50 for 50 mins.

The time difference takes into account the cost of room hire and the need for a gap between booked sessions. 

I offer reduced-fee sessions for those currently on low income. Please message to discuss. 

Payments can be made in cash or by bank transfer. 

I offer a 20 minute free (no obligation) video or phone consultation. This is to help give us both an idea of whether I'm the right therapist for you.   

Video sessions are conducted by Whereby (equalivalent to Zoom). A smart phone, tablet, or laptop/computer can be used. I send a link. There is no need to download anything. 

I work weekdays and some weekday evenings. 

Yes. 

Yes there is a dedicated carpark on the site, as well as street parking nearby. #

Yes, yes there is ramp access to the buidling and a disabled lift to the first floor. 

This is down to individual need, preference and circumstances. In my experience once a week tends to work well. Weekly sessions tend to be frequent enough for a sense of continuity and depth of work, whilst also allowing enough space between sessions for a client to process what is explored within the sessions, and also to potentially have a rest from reflection. Less frequent than once a week tends to be therapy as support rather than working for personal change and growth. Sometimes clients start off at once a week, and then at some point switch to less frequent sessions, once they feel they feel the main issues they came to therapy for have been addressed. 

The first session is usually a little bit different from further sessions. The first session involves what is often referred to as 'contracting'. This means I'll briefly set out the limits of confidentiality and answer any questions you have about it. I usually email clients a copy of the written contract that sets this and other key aspects out, such as cancellation policy. The first session would focus on what brings you to therapy, and whether or not you would like to set two or three broad goals for your therapy. Some clients prefer not to have any clearly defined goals, and that's fine too. If you've had therapy before, it can be helpful for me to know a little bit about your experience of it and how you found it. The exact character of the session really depends on your needs and preferences. Some clients have a very clear idea from the outset why have come to therapy, and what they want to get out of it. Other clients are more uncertain, in which case a more explorative conversation around this can help. 

Cancellations should be made with at least 24 hours notice, otherwise the missed session may be payable in full. Occasionally last minute cancellations due to emergencies and illness are unavoidable for both clients and therapists. Where possible I'll reschedule the session for the same week. 

I am not qualified to diagnose mental health conditions, developmental disorders, or learning disablities. I can and do work with people who are diagnosed, as well as people who have some of the symptomology of diagnostic conditions, but have not been diagnosed or who do not meet the threshold for diagnosis. I do not work in a diagnostic way, but I do have some knowledge of theories and research on the causes of various conditions (such as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, borderline personality disorder) and how I can, as a person-centred therapist, work with clients with diagnosed conditions. I believe that a person's symptoms or difficulties are meaningful responses and adaptations to their experience of their present and/ or past social environment. 

You can talk about anything within therapy, no topic or concerns are off limits.  It is of course not possible to share everything that passes through your mind, or to share everything that you've done in your life or during your week. Time simply doesn't allow that. It's also okay if there are things that you don't want to share. Sometimes it may be important to hold on to things until you feel comfortable-enough sharing it. It can take time to build trust. 

Generally, everything the client says in a session is confidential, and remains between me and the client. There are rare exceptions to this. This is if I have reason to believe that the client or someone else is at serious risk of harm, in which case I may need to contact a third party. I do where possible speak to the client about my concerns first. I do also have monthly supervision with a qualified clinical supervisor. The focus of this is on how I'm working, and is to help ensure that I'm working with clients in the best possible way. I do not share details that would make client's easily identifiable, and the supervisor is bound by the same code of ethics regarding confidentiality. They broadly work in the same person-centred orientation as myself. 

On the whole I do not set tasks or homework for clients to do between sessions. I do sometimes make suggestions to a client.  I may, for instance, encourage them to notice and describe to themselves how they feel physically when particular emotions are evoked within them between sessions. Occasionally, I do suggest and provide worksheets and exercises to complete between sessions, such as a mindful breathing, or an exercise in anger management, if I feel they may be helpful. Some clients like working in this way, some don't. So I do adapt my approach to what suits individual clients. 

Generally,  therapy sessions tend to help galvanise the clients' curiosity about themselves and how they relate to themselves and to others. This curiosity and reflection tends to be taken to some extent into their everyday lives between sessions, and this often furnishes and feeds into the therapy sessions. In this sense the work continues between sessions, and often a sense of a tapestry of work and meaning emerges.  

No, you just need to bring yourself, and share what occurs to you in the moment, even if this means that you share that you don't feel like sharing! Sometimes clients come to sessions with a clear idea what they want to talk about. That's fine too. It's about what works for you as an indvidual at any particular time. 

That is okay. Both difference and similarity are welcome. Therapists tend to work hard to minimise the impact of their peronsal beliefs in the therapeutic space. I provide a non-judgemental space, and see my role as primarily to faciliate client reflection about themselves. It's a complex issue though, as I also aim to be present as a 'real' person, rather than trying to be just some kind of 'blank screen'. My personal identity and beliefs tend not very often to come explicitly into the foreground in therapy. But they are inevitably present at some level, and it's certainly okay for a client to ask me questions about my beliefs and identity if they wish to do so. It is also, of course, okay not to do so. It is ocassionally helpful to acknowledge and explore how perceived or actual differences between the client and therapist may be impacting the therapeutic work. This can helpfully illuminate how difference influences the client's relationships in their everyday life, and give the client more choice about how they navigate difference between themselves and others. 

There is no consensus within the field regarding the distinction between counselling and psychotherapy, and I use the terms interchangeably. There is no consistent difference between what practitioners who call themselves counsellors do, and what practitioners who call themselves psychotherapists do. 

Psychotherapy trainings are often longer than counselling trainings, but this is not always the case. 

My main training course in Person Centred Therapy, like most courses and trainings that enable a therapist to join one of the main professional associations, followed the tripartite training model: (i) doing personal therapy (i,e. the therapist as a client working with a qualified therapist), (ii) learning the theory, and (iii) clinical practice (working as a trainee therapist with clients). Not all therapy courses make their students eligibe for professional association memebership. 

I've had a lot of personal therapy over the years since I was 30. This includes person-centred therapy, transactional analysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and gestalt therapy. During my training I had a lot more than what was required of my particular course, and I continued with personal therapy after qualifying. 

In terms of theory, I engaged extenstively with relevant theory within my MA in Cultural & Critical Theory, and extensively with clinical theory in my MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice. My PhD, in terms of my approach and its content, could have been done in a counselling or psychoanalytic university department. I conducted it within a department of politics (at Essex University) as it has a well established research tradition that is informed by discourse analytic and psychoanalytic ideas. 

Since qualifying I have also done a lot of reading and workshops, focussed on particular client issues and therapeutic approaches. I am continously learning and developing my craft as a therapist. This includes learning through practice.

Whilst training and since qualifying I have worked with over 200 clients. Length of working with indivdual clients has ranged from a single session to weekly sessions for over two and a half years. 

The effectiveness of person-centred and other humanistic therapies has been demonstrated through empirical research studies.

However,  I subscribe to the view that, overall, the body of research evidence on the effectiveness of therapy (I looked at the literature on this as part of my PhD research) suggests that all types of therapy are generally very similar in their effectiveness. It is sensible therefore to listen to your own intuition and preferences when choosing a type of therapy and therapist. At the end of the day, it is a very personal decision. 

It is perhaps worth noting that research suggests that experienced counsellors and psychotherapists who are form different types (or modalities) of therapy (e.g. a person-centred and a CBT therapist) tend to share more in common in terms of how they work, than newly qualified colleagues working within the same type of therapy as each other.   

I emphasize the importance of 'practice-based-evidence', which is about being attuned to what does and does not work for a particular client I am working with. 

I am an accredited member of the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). They ensure that a therapist who are accredited with them meet a minimum set of training standards. I abide by their professional code of ethics. As a member of the NCPS I am required to have monthly one and a half hour sessions with a clinical supervisor, who is a trained therapist and supervisor. They are bound by the same rules of confidentiality. I respect the confidentiality of clients, and do not provide information in these sessions that would make them easily identifiable to my supervisor.  The focus of these sessions is how I am working and is to help ensure that I am doing so in an effective and ethical way. 

I keep brief notes of each session. These notes are kept digitally on a USB memory stick in a safe. 

I encourage clients to raise any concerns about their therapy with me, even if it feels like a minor issue. This can be an important part of the effectiveness of therapy. 

If I were not to address any concerns to your satisfaction, or you felt unable to discuss the issue with me directly, the NCPS has a complaints process that you can use. 

NCPS | NCPS Complaints & Concerns Procedure