Psychotherapy
I think the therapy relationship involves working together to better understand your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Your hopes, aspirations, and motivations along with things that may get in the way of you living a satisfying life including good relationships with yourself and with others. I believe therapy is a process that involves working towards change and empowerment. It can be short term or long-term and the number of sessions varies.
Usually focuses on a specific difficulty or life transition.
Usually involves a focus on long-standing challenges or difficulties and provides an opportunity to develop understanding and insight. It often involves thinking about the past and how this relates to the present.
Our first meeting is called an initial consultation. There is no obligation to book another session. This is an opportunity for you to talk about what you hope to get out of working with a psychotherapist. I also need to ask you some questions as part of our two-way conversation. If we agree to work together, there are some documents to complete, including a:
One-Off or Session-by-Session Agreements
Exploring a single issue or concern where you decide at the end of each session whether you want to book another one (dates and times will vary).
Time-Limited Sessions
This approach allows you to work on the issue or issues you have prioritised, usually drawing on your own strengths and coping mechanisms. Number of sessions is usually between 6-12. Day and time can vary.
Open-Ended Agreements
With regular reviews of our work together and a plan for an ending. Day and time for sessions don’t usually vary although there may be instances where we agree this based on your, or my, commitments.
EMDR or DBR
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) or Deep Brain Reorientating (DBR) can be offered as part of an open-ended working agreement or as a time-limited agreement focused on specific traumatic memories.
I use ZOOM for online sessions. Please note that I don’t have control over this platform and things can go wrong. To minimise the likelihood of problems, I ensure my system is up to date and I regularly review guidance to make sure I remain competent to use the service.
I will send you a link for sessions. Please let me know if you need further technical information and/or guidance about using ZOOM for your sessions, and I will forward it to you.
I will work with you in the same professional manner as face-to-face – for example, I will be in a confidential space where I cannot be overheard. I ask that you do the same, for example, dressing appropriately for a face-to-face video session.
Online psychotherapy isn’t suitable if you are experiencing acute distress. We can talk about this and work out whether online sessions will work for you. If not, we can think about whether it might be useful for you to access other services.
If we experience a significant disruption, I will ring you back on the number you have given me unless we have made an alternative arrangement (e.g. you are abroad and we need to use a different method). I will wait 10 minutes for you to return to the session. If this isn’t possible and you haven’t contacted me, I will email you. If we are unable to reconnect for your session, the remaining time will be forfeited.
My fees cover my time and ongoing professional costs which include regular supervision, membership fees for professional organisations, insurance, and ongoing professional training.
Initial Consultation
50-minute session - £60
Payment is due before the session
One-Off or Session-by-Session
50-minute sessions - £60
90-minute session - £120
Payment is due before the session
Time-Limited Sessions
50-minute sessions - £60
Payment is due after the session
Open-Ended Arrangement
50-minute sessions - £60
Payment is due after the session
EMDR or DBR
50-minute sessions - £60
Payment is due after the session
Fees are reviewed annually in January and any increase will be confirmed if working under an open-ended agreement.
You can contact me by email through this contact form. I am the only person that has access to my emails.
When you contact me, please let me know your name and provide a telephone number which you are happy for me to use to contact you (e.g. if we have technical issues).
I usually reply within 48 hours (weekdays) unless I am away. If I am away, you won’t receive a response to your email until I am back at work.
If you contact me and leave an email, I will assume it is ok to get back to you. If you don’t want me to reply to your email or ring you back (e.g. if I need to use your phone number in a remote session due to tech issues), please tell me. If this is the case, I will wait for you to re-contact me.
Please remember – these contact methods are not secure. This means we cannot guarantee complete confidentiality. I therefore suggest it is best not to write or discuss personal or sensitive information in an email.