How we work - what to expect when you come for counselling or psychological therapies

Contact

We are happy to see all clients who contact us with a need for counselling, psychotherapy or therapy. We also accept referrals from GPs, consultants and all other medical/healthcare professionals, as well as organisations and employers. We are happy to answer any questions or queries before arranging an initial session with a client. Please contact us here.

Initial session

All new clients are asked to attend for a 'no ties' initial session with the psychologist, counsellor / psychotherapist or CBT therapist they prefer, or the person who is best suited to their needs/wishes. (We can help you decide this when you contact us.) This session provides a chance to talk through particular issues and concerns, and to decide the best way forward.

Our contract

Generally, people decide to commit (what we call 'contract') to a certain number of sessions to start with (often six), although this is not binding. This 'contract' will also specify the type of work to be undertaken and some general goals. Often people want to work in either a very focused way on particular issues or difficulties (usually CBT techniques/methods), or prefer to be a bit more open in agreeing some time to talk about things in a focused but less structured way akin to counselling or psychotherapy. Sometimes we may suggest the use of specific techniques or approaches, such as Interpersonal Therapy.

Options

On occasion, during an intitial session a client may be referred to a different psychologist, counsellor / psychotherapist or CBT therapist if that person seems more appropriate (or if the client wishes). We may also refer a client to another agency if we feel what we offer is not going to help as something else could.