Everything you say in therapy will remain confidential. There are a few exceptions to this, which are in place for safety reasons. For example, if there is a significant risk of harm to a child or a vulnerable adult, I will have to break confidentiality. This means I will tell someone who is able to help. I will always do my best to involve you before telling anyone. There are also other instances, like money laundering or other illegal activity, and I will explain this to you when we contract for our work.

Not at all. Therapy can be helpful to everyone. This is a misconception in some cultures that you needing emotional help is a sign of weakness. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Therapy involves supporting you by helping you achieve a clarity of thought. This is so you can make the change that you need in your life. Going for counselling therapy is one of the bravest and empowering things you can do for yourself.

You might be doubtful about having therapy, thinking it will probably not be helpful, because it cannot change your circumstances. Part of that is true. But the often-missed truth is that therapy will help you cope better with what you are going through. Therapy can help you with inner strength. It gives you clarity of mind to work with what you are facing. There is a large body of evidence to show that therapy helps clients make a positive change. Many studies have shown the effectiveness of counselling. There have been positive and lasting results from both short and long-term therapies.

There is no set number of sessions. You can have as many sessions as you want. Every person’s requirement is different. People come for counselling for a short term as well as longer terms.

If you want, I will help you set goals for your therapy when we start. We will regularly review our work.

If you wish to end, it would ideally be great to have at least one final session. This is so we can have a proper ending. A good ending in therapy will help you deal with your feelings and emotions. You can discuss your goals, and replicate a healthy ending in other aspects of your life. But I appreciate that having a final session is not always possible.

Life happens and there will be times when you need to cancel your session.

If you need to cancel your session and you tell me 24 hours in advance of the session, there is no fee incurred.

If however, you tell me less than 24 hours before the session, the full cost of the session will be payable. There are limited exceptions to this, assessed on a case by case basis.

There is more information about booking appointments here (Link to Costs page).

Face-to-face sessions are roughly 50 minutes long. Online and walk-and-talk sessions are 1 hour long.

Most people come for therapy every week. Some people come for fortnightly sessions. But this is entirely up to you, and what you feel is best suited to your situation.

Payment for the first session is through bank transfer. When you book your session, I will send you my bank details to make the payment.  

For subsequent sessions, you can pay in cash in advance to book your next session.