Counselling sessions

What to expect

The first meeting may feel like a daunting prospect so, to begin with, we will meet for a free thirty-minute initial appointment. This will give you the opportunity to meet me in person and ask any questions. I can give you more of an idea of my approach as well as talking through the counselling process and what’s involved. Together we will start to think about how counselling can help you and where we might begin. I hope to make this feel relaxed and informative. Should you then decide to proceed we will arrange our first session.

Online or telephone counselling will follow a similar approach in that we will arrange a free appointment via your medium of choice. I appreciate that there may be some apprehension about working in this way so I hope this goes some way to reassure you and give you a sense of how it will feel. Upon initial enquiry I will also provide written information about some of the practicalities and considerations of online and telephone counselling.

During our first session we will go through a counselling agreement. This sets out our shared responsibility toward each other and what happens about things like confidentiality and cancellations. This is both standard and ethical practice in counselling. I will also clarify how personal information is stored and give you a copy of my privacy notice.

We will meet regularly – usually weekly but this is negotiable – at an agreed time and place. Counselling can be a challenging process so it is important that you feel supported through it. I will offer this through clear and consistent boundaries that, I hope, will give a sense of security and safety. In turn it will require a level of commitment and engagement from you so it is important you feel able to give this.

As we move forward we will work at your pace and regularly review how the process is feeling for you. This will give an opportunity to make any adjustments in line with your needs and ensure you are getting what you want from the counselling.

Counselling will end at a time that feels right and we will prepare for this as part of the ending process. You are free to end whenever you choose.