Question 1

What is counselling/therapy?

Accepted Answer

Generally, mental health counselling (or therapy) revolves around talking about your issues and feelings in order to improve your mental health, reduce the intensity of negative feelings and change unhealthy thoughts/behaviours to reduce suffering. That is not to say that someone who has undergone counselling will never feel sad or always be in control of their emotions - we are all human! The idea is simply to help you get from where you are, to where you want to be (or at least give you the tools to get there).

Question 2

What happens during a session?

Accepted Answer

Ultimately, it is up to you what we spend the session doing and what it is you would like to get out of it. However, we will work together to find a place to start and by talk through your issues. Where wanted, I may also teach you tools you can use, or help you come up with actions to try outside of session to improve your situation.

Question 3

How long are sessions?

Accepted Answer

Generally:

- Sessions with one or two people | 60 minutes
- Sessions with three or four people | 90 minutes

This can be increased or reduced, you would just need to discuss this with me.

Question 4

How much does it cost?

Accepted Answer

Individual sessions are £60. Sessions with two people are £80. Sessions with three people are £120. Sessions with four people are £140. Concessionary rates of £45 are on offer for students, or £30 for those on universal credit - this applies to individual sessions only.

Question 5

How often should I have a session?

Accepted Answer

This will be dictated by your needs. As a general rule, a good starting point is: weekly if you're really struggling and the thought of having two weeks between sessions feels like too much. Or, fortnightly if you feel you're mostly coping and having two weeks between sessions would feel okay.

As sessions progress and you begin to feel better, you may want to decrease session frequency. I do not recommend having sessions further than one month apart at the start or middle of your therapy journey. If you want to make optimum progress and you feel there is a lot to work on, weekly or fortnightly is the best starting point.

Question 6

How long should I have counselling for?

Accepted Answer

That is a very personal question and will depend entirely on what you would like to achieve, your schedule, and your budget. Some people stay in counselling for years, some have it for months, some have a single session and feel they have achieved what they needed to. It is not uncommon to have counselling, finish, and then return at a later time if more issues pop up or a top-up is needed. We can discuss your expectations and preferences about the duration of counselling in your consultation, and I will check in every now and then during sessions to see whether our initial expectations still feel right.

Question 7

Will you give me advice?

Accepted Answer

No. Counselling is not about giving advice for two simple reasons.

1) Your life is unique. You are the best person to decide how to move forward, I am here to help you make the way forward clearer, and to help you to feel more confident in getting there.

2) One of the aims of counselling is to help you to become more confident in yourself and learn to act in healthier ways. If I made decisions for you or gave you answers, you may never grow or learn to trust yourself.

If you need more practical guidance, coaching might be a better avenue to explore:
www.lifecoach-directory.org.uk

Question 8

Do you provide couples, family, or child counselling?

Accepted Answer

I provide relationship counselling for partners, groups, and families, but do not provide individual counselling for anyone under 18 years old.

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