Frequently Asked Questions
What's the cost and length of sessions?
Sessions last 50 minutes and I charge £45 per session.
How often would we meet?
I work with clients on a weekly basis. It’s my experience that continuity and consistency are essential to effective therapeutic work and meeting less frequently dilutes the impact of the therapy.
How long will I need to come for therapy?
Therapy is not a formulaic process, so it’s not possible to make accurate predictions about time scale. However, during the assessment session I would want to gain a sense of the nature of the issues that you want to work on and we can then explore the options available to you and contract around that accordingly.
For example, some clients like to negotiate a time limited (e.g. 8 or 12 sessions) contract at the outset, whereas others prefer to agree an open-ended contract, with on-going reviewing an integral part of the process.
What is the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?
Confusingly, there isn’t consensus on this issue, even within the talking professions themselves, and each term is used in a variety of ways.
I undertook 3 years of Person-Centred counsellor training before deciding that I wanted to develop the depth of my work by training for a further 6 years as a Gestalt psychotherapist. Qualified as both a counsellor and psychotherapist, I aspire to draw upon the breadth of my training experience to work in a way that suits each client on an individual basis.
At the assessment stage, I would want to gain some understanding of what you wanted from therapy with me and explore how this fitted with what I can offer. This might include looking at what the labels “psychotherapy” and “counselling” mean to you, and whether you are looking for short-term support or seeking longer-term change at a more fundamental, core level.
What can I expect from Gestalt therapy with you?
♦ a relationship that recognises and celebrates the uniqueness of you and your circumstances
♦ a practitioner who is willing to explore issues of diversity (e.g., gender, culture, race, sexual orientation, age, religion and disability)
♦ a therapy that embraces all of your experience: mind, body, sensation, emotion and spirit
♦ an opportunity to look at how you relate to the world, and what our co-created “here and now” experiences of each other might tell us
♦ a way to notice fixed patterns of thoughts and behaviours, bring them into awareness and expand the options and choices available to you
♦ a practitioner committed to ethical ways of working and being, abiding by the BACP “Ethical Framework” and the GPTI “Codes of Ethics and Professional Practice”
♦ a therapy that supports the possibility of spontaneity, creativity and playfulness!
What about confidentiality?
Usually, therapy is confidential, other than in the context of supervision. Supervision is mandatory for all practitioners accredited and regulated by BACP and UKCP and is intended to support high standards of practice and protect clients. However, there are exceptions to this (e.g., where there is a serious an imminent risk of harm to others or yourself) and people have different concerns about confidentiality. You are invited to discuss these at assessment.
How can I contact you?
Please see the "Contact Details" page.
Where do you work?
Please see the "Fee and Location" page.
For other information about counselling, psychotherapy, Gestalt and ethical codes, please see the "Links" page.