All counselling sessions are 50-minutes and take place in my counselling room at The Lodge, usually weekly. We might work short-term (8-12 sessions) or long-term, depending on what you want and need, and we can discuss this together.
When we first meet, I will ask you some questions about yourself in order to gain some background information, to learn about significant people, periods and events in your life, and to glean a sense of what has brought about your decision to try counselling. During this initial session only, I will take some brief, anonymised notes. I will be curious about you but not prying; it takes time to develop trust, and I will be receptive to however much or little you feel comfortable telling me.
I will explain how we might work together, and clarify important aspects of counselling which relate to the ethics of my practice. This includes explanations relating to privacy and confidentiality, the need for specific boundaries, my use of supervision and my adherence to the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions. We will clarify payment and cancellation arrangements and I will answer any questions you might have about counselling. The aim of this first session is to enable us both to assess whether we can envisage working together………..