Psychotherapy is a way to help people experiencing significant emotional distress that is coming in the way of them being physically well, enjoying personal relationships or working productively. Psychotherapy begins with the therapist understanding the background of the person seeking help and the concerns that led them to seek help. Following this, the client and psychotherapist come to an agreement about the goals of treatment, treatment procedures, and a regular schedule for the time, place and duration of their treatment sessions.
Trauma-informed care is a lens or approach to therapy that is aware of how trauma impacts a client’s overall life - mental, behavioral, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. It understands the connection between a person’s traumatic experience and their emotional and behavioral response. The goal is to provide skills and strategies to assist the client in understanding and coping with what happened to them and to guide them in processing their emotions and memories tied to the traumatic experiences. The overall aim is to enable the client to create a healthier perspective of the traumatic experience.
The aim of therapy is to provide you, the client, with a confidential opportunity to explore personal issues in safety, without judgement, and without telling you what to do. Psycho-education is provided where needed and exploration of different ways of thinking will be encouraged. Goals to be worked towards are collaboratively arrived at, and we will assess progress and address any obstacles at each session.
Some people find that they feel worse for a short time before they start to feel better. In these circumstances it is best to discuss the difficulties, rather than abruptly end therapy, in order to have the chance to discuss the decision and to complete the process adequately. The client is always in charge of the decision to continue or to stop therapy and will not be under any pressure to continue at any point.
If you are in a mental crisis or a state of breakdown, please immediately contact your GP or go to your the emergency unit in your nearest hospital.
The duration of each session is 50 min. It is helpful to attend regularly, and to keep absences to a minimum, as too many gaps may slow down the progress of therapy. Intervals between sessions may lengthen as the therapy progresses, but this will be by agreement between client and therapist.
The pace is decided collaboratively by the client and therapist. Usually sessions are conducted once a week.
Keeping client identity and information confidential is an ethical practice and is adhered to. On occasion there might be need to discuss a session with supervisors. This is standard practice and helps the therapist to work as well as possible with the client. In this process client identity is not revealed. In circumstances, where there is cause for concern for your wellbeing, or that of others, it may be necessary to seek help outside the therapy relationship, e.g; when the law requires it; referring you to another professional for help, or sharing basic information relating to health with a health professional involved in your care.
Fees are determined by therapist’s experience. However, we desire to make therapy accessible to many and offer client concessions where deemed necessary. Client can discuss this need in their first session.
Adapting to the pandemic, online sessions will be offered to all clients as an option. However, where possible, in-person sessions are strongly recommended.
You need a good internet connection and a working camera on your device. Laptops are preferred to phone. To ensure privacy, and enable keeping the therapeutic space safe, we would encourage clients to use earphones/headphones. Confidentiality and security should be treated like an in-person session: no outside distractions, turn off mobile phones not needed in a session, close other programs on the phone or computer and make sure no one can see your screen while you are in session.
In keeping with ethical practice, we do not encourage or engage in social contact with a client outside of their counselling sessions. Similarly, we do not to accept invitations from clients to connect on social media. Please do not be offended when we decline such requests.