Initial Conversation

Once you make contact with me, we will have an initial conversation to discuss what you are looking for from therapy. If you feel able to talk to me, and that I might be the right therapist for you, you will be invited to have an assessment and we will be able to discuss your preferences for how to complete the assessment.

Assessment

An assessment appointment is usually 2 hours so that I can ask you about your past, present, and hopes and expectations for the future, and you can ask me any questions you have. The full assessment can be spread out over a series of shorter sessions if that will suit your needs better, and/or I can send you the assessment in advance so you can complete it in your own time, to discuss in a session.

When you book an assessment, I will send you a welcome pack containing information about therapy, the terms of working together, and the privacy policy.

In the assessment, I will ask you about your past and present health, safety, mood, therapeutic interventions, psychological defences, childhood, work life, social life, identity, sexual development, relationships, and any other potential stressors such as legal or financial problems. We will also have a chance to discuss the working agreement which outlines how we will work together. From the assessment, we will have a clearer idea of your needs and how to meet those needs. The assessment may highlight further needs which could be met by another service in addition to therapy. It is possible that we would find out that I am not the right person to help. If so, we would discuss who would be better suited. I would usually be able to support you in the meantime, if there is a waiting list to access another service. I may be able to make referrals, or support you to make self-referrals, and support you through the process. Whilst the assessment is not a counselling session, I will not ignore signs of distress and if you are finding the assessment difficult, we will find another way. The feedback I have received is that people typically find the assessment helpful, and often feel unburdened, listened to, and hopeful about their next steps.

Ongoing Sessions

With a clearer idea of your needs and how best to meet them, we will be able to arrange ongoing sessions. Sessions look different for everyone.

• There may be periods of psychoeducation as well as therapy where I will teach you information relevant to your specific situation. This could be about secure and insecure attachment styles, personality and emotional development, neurodiversity, self esteem, or emotion regulation, to name a few.
• I work with your full consent. We will not force our way through anything, we will only proceed when you feel entirely willing and ready. I work on the basis that, if you are not feeling entirely willing and ready, then we have more work to do before proceeding. This may include stabilising, grounding strategies, learning more coping strategies, and learning to trust yourself.
• The shape of therapy can often feel like you are climbing a mountain. At first it is daunting. We will take it a step at a time and you may feel like it is a lot of hard work. Then there comes a point where you have reached the peak, and things can start to feel like they’re moving a lot faster, where you gather momentum and can believe you are on your way back to a more comfortable path where you feel able to go back out into the world without me.

End of therapy

Life has a habit of happening and not all endings are planned and well resolved. I will do my best to support you through any endings, whether that is in your outside life or in our therapy. Remember that you will be able to return to therapy at any point, whether that is with me or somebody else.

Endings are often very difficult for people, and a lot of people have never had a well managed, good ending. Ending therapy when you are ready can be a good way to gain that experience. We will talk about the end of therapy from early on in the process because the aim of therapy is usually to be able to end it when you feel ready. That can also look different for different people. Some people feel able to declare they feel ready to end it, and so it ends. Others prefer slowly winding down, and this is also okay. As part of ending therapy, we will review what you have learned and how you will apply it in the future. We will fill in any gaps, and finish anything we started but haven’t quite completed. We will be able to part with a good feeling, and know that there is no unfinished business, and we will celebrate your achievements, and our time working together.