Counselling and Psychotherapy
A good definition of Psychotherapy (I use the term 'psychotherapy' and I include counselling AND psychotherapy) is that it makes the unconscious, conscious. The premise is that the things/issues that are negatively affecting you in your life, are likely to be unconscious. If you were conscious of everything that could make you live a good life and make you feel good, you wouldn't need to be in therapy! So our job together is to understand how unconscious 'stuff', usually from childhood, can be brought to your conscious awareness so that you have more choice in what you hold onto and what you let go.
Our job together is to hep you life well - although you can't change the facts of your life, we can change how these things are stored in your brain and how they then impact you now. In time you will come to understand, and become aware of, the things that make you unhappy or just don't work in your life. As we work together, you will notice that your confidence grows and you have increased levels of self-esteem and the courage to change the things in your life that you want to change. Psychotherapy offers an opportunity to gain insight into your life, your life story and your relationships. By seeing things differently it is hoped that you will be able to make changes so you can life better.
The most important part of psychotherapy is our relationship and I always encourage people to come for just one session to see if we can work together and if you like the way I work. I also encourage people to let me know if I get something wrong - this happens; I am only human. But how this happens and how you feel if this happens, is very important and may be a key to your healing so it's important to let me know.
My hope is to support you to make meaningful and effective changes in your life so that you feel happier, more in control and more fulfilled.
My wish is for you to become the person you want to be so that you can lead your life to your full potential - without anxiety, depression, negative beliefs, or whatever it is that is limiting you. In order to do this, I ask for you to be curious and without judgement, especially about yourself. The more curious you are about you, the more you will get out of therapy....
Typically psychotherapy and counselling can help people deal with :
- Feelings of depression, anxiety, stress or confusion
- Relationship difficulties
- Dissatisfactions with work or lifestyle
- Destructive behaviours, such as eating disorders, drug or alcohol abuse
- Illness or bereavement
- Difficulties arising from abuse
- The aftermath from traumatic experiences
- Negative and other destructive thought patterns
- Recovery from, or untangling oneself from abusive relationships
- Trauma - childhood trauma, relationship trauma, trauma from sexual abuse, trauma from workplace bullying..
Counselling or Psychotherapy?
In both, the aim is to help you identify, and change if necessary, those behaviours and modes of thinking that are contributing to your current unhappiness.
Counselling works with conscious difficulties, anxieties or distress. It tends to be solution-focused and short-term. Most Counselling training is short and counsellors are not always required to be in their own counselling.
Psychotherapy looks more deeply into the underlying causes of our inability to live life as fully as we would like. It tends to be a life-changing journey and longer-term. Because psychotherapy tends to be go deeper into the unconscious, psychotherapists typically spend 5-6 years in training and undergo their own long-term psychotherapy so that we can be able to more fully support you as you attend to your own healing.
Get in touch
To arrange an initial appointment please call me on 07445-672295
On contacting you I will arrange a date and time for an initial appointment.
All messages and calls will be treated in strictest confidence. Both my e-mail account and mobile answer phone service are only ever accessed by me.
All enquires are usually answered within 24 hours, and all contact is strictly confidential and uses secure phone and email services.
Some frequently asked questions
Yes. Since the Coronavirus has exploded into our lives, people are naturally very anxious and yet are worried about attending therapy face-to-face. Online therapy offers a perfect way to get to 'see' a therapist and to stay safe.
No - the most usual route to get counselling and psychotherapy is self-referral: you contact me directly and we agree to meet and discuss what you feel you need. However, I also take referrals from G.P.s, psychiatrists, other medical consultants, private medical insurance companies and Employee Assistance Programmes.
Although the terms counselling and psychotherapy are both used, counselling tends to be shorter and more solution-focused, whereas psychotherapy is more open-ended and allows for deeper, more meaningful work. While psychotherapy can include certain aspects of n, it is also an opportunity for you to explore your problems and difficulties in more depth. The main difference in the two ways of working is in the training: psychotherapy training is longer and more in-depth and we are required by our accrediting body to be in our own therapy for the length of training, and usually beyond. Personal work continues in workshops and trainings which I then bring back into my work with clients to expand and deepen the work we do. Counsellling training does not often mandate being in personal therapy at all or, if there is some requirement, it is usually short-term.
EMDR - EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITISATION AND REPROCESSING - is a treatment approved by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence for the treatment of a number of disorders, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. I use EMDR in conjunction with talking therapy and find it very effective and provides subtle and quicker results than just talking therapy on its own. In brief, counselling and psychotherapy provide insight but EMDR can provide profound changes. Come and give it a try!
I work with men and women of all backgrounds and sexualities and I work mainly with individuals.
This will be an opportunity for both of us to get a sense of each other. It will also be a chance for me to gather some detailed information on your background and what has brought you to counselling or psychotherapy. We will discuss whether you want insight or change and how best to support you in that. If we together decide that we can work together, we continue. I often suggest that we contract for 6 sessions and re-assess at that stage. If, after this time, you are happy and getting something out of the therapy, we continue. If you feel that you have got what you need in terms of therapy, we end.
Therapy works best on a weekly basis. If you are in a lot of distress, twice a week may be helpful but we would discuss what is right for you.
We try and meet at a regular time each week. I invite you to be curious about yourself and without judgement. We all have behaviours we are not proud of but trust that these are developed for a reason, a long time ago so we may have forgotten what that reason is.
Sessions usually last 50-55 minutes. However, there may be times that we schedule in a longer session if needed and if so, I charge pro-rata for whatever time we use.
There is not a typical time for someone to be in counselling/psychotherapy - depending on what you bring, what you would like to work on and in what depth. It also depends on what you are hoping for in terms of the challenges in your life and your childhood experiences.
Short-term Counselling tends to be anything from six weeks to a year or more. Long-term Psychotherapy, which is about real change, tends to take longer. Psychotherapy usually explores issues in greater depth and leaves a more lasting effect. EMDR makes for real, tangible and profound changes.
My fees are currently from £95-£120 and change each year. If you have genuine financial difficulty that may exclude you attending therapy, a form of sliding scale exists where fees are negotiated according to what you can comfortably afford. I would rather you were able to come to therapy than not, if the only obstacle is financial. If the financial situation should change at any time during therapy, it is assumed that the fee would be re-negotiated.
NHS counselling through GP surgeries is often time-limited and you may have to wait a long time to see someone. Usually counselling is not offered on a weekly basis and you are unlikely to have much choice about who you see, when you see them, or the approach they offer. Some counsellors are not registered/accredited to UKCP or BACP.
No. CBT is the favoured approach offered by the NHS for everything from depression to stress and bereavement. I do not offer CBT. Whilst CBT works for some people some of the time, it does not work for all the people all of the time. If it has not worked for you, it may have left you feeling even worse as you may feel like you're the failure and even more hopeless. If this is your experience, you are not alone - this is not unusual. CBT is a top-down approach, meaning that it works to change your thought patterns and then your behaviour. Whilst this works sometimes, for most of us fear, anxiety, depression, trauma, fear, etc is not just about our thoughts but something much deeper. There are many good articles on the internet about CBT and I encourage you to check out whether this form of therapy would work for you. For example: check out this article
Yes. The contract covers issues such as confidentiality, cancellation policy, etc. If you contact me via email or we are meeting online, I will send you the Terms and Conditions before we meet. If we are meeting in-person, I will give the information when we meet. I will always ask if you have any feedback and if you are ok with the documents. I am happy to discuss any concerns you might have and welcome any comments. (If I forget to give these documents to you, please give me a nudge!)
Yes I have a privacy statement which I can give you when we start working together if you would like a copy or it can be found here.