FAQs

What reasons bring people to counselling?

Clients choose to have counselling for a wide range of reasons. Here are some examples of the questions or thoughts that might lead them to approach a therapist:

What is anxiety and how do I know if I have it?
What can I do about my anxiety?
I keep on feeling anxious - what’s wrong with me?
How can I overcome my social anxiety?
What can I do about my health anxiety?
Is it normal to feel overwhelmed all the time?
What's the difference between stress and anxiety?
Why am I having intrusive thoughts? What can I do about them?
I don’t know if I want to stay in my relationship.
My partner and I keep fighting.
Should I have kids? My partner wants kids and I don’t/I want kids and my partner doesn't.
I need help navigating fertility treatment/IVF.
I’m finding dating overwhelming and need support.
I’m having friendship issues.
I am struggling to care for my children/partner/elderly parents.
I’m unhappy in my job. What should I do?
I feel like I am burdening my friends/family/partner with my problems. I need someone neutral to talk to.
I’ve moved to the UK from overseas and I’m finding it hard to settle/make friends.
What can I do about my loneliness?
Dating is getting me down; I’d like to talk to someone.
I’ve got very low self-worth/self-esteem.

Counselling offers a space for clients to explore these questions and many many more.

What fears and concerns do people have about starting therapy?

Starting counselling for the first time can be quite daunting and is it completely understandable that you might have lots of questions. Clients have shared some of the following concerns:

Is my therapist going to judge me?
Do I have to talk about my childhood?
Will I end up hating my parents?
What actually happens during therapy?
Will anyone know I see a therapist?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to what happens in therapy - your situation is unique to you! - and this is something we can talk about in our introductory chat.

If you choose to work with me, I will offer a non-judgemental space for you to explore what’s happening in your life. And we will work at your pace, and only explore topics that you are comfortable with. Your sessions will be confidential.

What kind of therapy do you offer?

I offer a broad range of types of therapy - from vanilla talking therapy, to CBT and ACT, to EMDR. Depending on what you bring to the sessions, and what your preferences are, we might use one type of therapy, or many. These are your sessions and we will work in a way that works for you.

How many sessions will I need?

This will depend on you. I don’t tie clients down to a set number of sessions. We will do therapy at your pace and according to your needs. Sometimes clients come to therapy to work on one issue and life throws them a new challenge they wish to focus on.

All I ask is that you give me one week’s notice if you wish to bring counselling to a close. Ideally, we should schedule a session to bring therapy to a close and to review your learnings and any strategies we have discussed.

How long is a session and how often will I have sessions?

A typical session for an individual is 50 minutes. Clients usually come once a week. For scheduling purposes, we agree on a set day and time and that becomes your regular weekly session slot.

For a variety of reasons, some clients ask if they can attend every two weeks. We can discuss this in the introductory call.

Long-term clients may start with weekly sessions, and, as they prepare to bring counselling to an end, drop down to every two weeks and eventually once a month.

What if I miss a session?

You will usually need to pay a cancellation fee for missed sessions. I ask for one week’s notice if you will not be able to attend a session. If you need to cancel last minute, my priority will be to find you another slot in the same week so you don’t have to pay a cancellation fee (the price of a session).

When clients sign up, I take a £20 deposit. This is to cover my room and administration costs should a client ghost me or cancel last minute. Otherwise the deposit is fully refundable at the end of therapy.

How can I pay?

Payment is by bank transfer and a minimum of 48 hours before the session. If I don’t receive your payment, I may have to cancel the room (so that I am not fined) and I may not be able to rebook it last minute so you could lose your slot.

What if I’m not sure about having therapy?

The best way to find out is to have a free introductory phone or Zoom call to discuss what brings you to therapy and explore what happens in sessions. If you choose to work with me, you can book a session and take it from there. This is your therapy and you can stop at any time if you feel you no longer need support.

What happens when I book an introductory chat?

During the call, you will be able to ask anything you like about counselling, and perhaps discuss in broad terms what is drawing you to therapy. There is no pressure to sign up for sessions during the call. I always suggest that clients take their time to reflect on our chat, and email me if they have further questions. There’s lots of research that shows that one of the most important factors in counselling being a positive experience is the client-counsellor relationship. So the call allows you to get a feel for whether I might be a good fit for you.

Can I contact you in between sessions?

In emergencies, you can get in touch. It may be appropriate to schedule an ad-hoc session.

Please note that if I am with clients, my phone is off and I do not check emails. So you may find you cannot get hold of me.

Will my health insurance pay for the sessions?

I am not registered with any health insurers. Whether or not your health insurance will cover your sessions is a matter for you to discuss with them. A number of clients are able to have our sessions covered by their insurer and they handle this process themselves.

Do you work with couples?

I do not work with couples. I do have training in couples counselling and I use these tools to help clients with issues in their relationships. But I work with the individual, not the couple.

Do you work with children?

I only see adults aged 18 and above.