My practice
My main approach is psychodynamic. This approach enables people to understand their current difficulties in the context of both current and past experiences. Becoming aware of unhelpful patterns of thought and behaviour is the first step towards change.
I work face to face with individuals both on a short and long term basis. Short term can mean anything from six to twelve sessions, longer term may mean up to a year or a few years. How long therapy lasts depends on the issues you wish to address and the way you and the counselor decide to work. The length of therapy can be decided together and if need be reviewed during therapy.
The first session
The initial session is an opportunity to discuss your particular difficulties and consider whether counseling would be helpful. You may want to go away and think more about this experience before deciding on a course of therapy.
Therapy
Having decided to begin therapy then sessions are usually weekly and on the same day and time. If you would need more flexibility than this is something we could discuss. Sessions last for 50 minutes.
Fee
The fee for the initial session is £60. After that the fee operates on a sliding scale (£40 - £80) depending on your earnings and what you can afford. However, reductions are sometimes possible for both the initial session and subsequent sessions for people on low incomes and this is something we could discuss when we meet.