Therapy, at least here in the UK, seems to be something shrouded in mystery.
The only time we get to see it is on TV or films and there’s often a couch involved and someone recounting their dreams in detail.
Am I going to make you lie down on a couch? Do I want to hear about your dreams? Am I going to want to know all about your childhood? Are you broken and am I going to fix you? How long will this take and how much will it cost?
Let me see if I can help by answering some of the frequently asked questions that get asked about therapy.
This is my opinion only, my description of how I work. You might get quite different answers from a different therapist.
And I do recommend that you approach a bunch of therapists and have a chat with each of them to get a feel for which one you think would best suit you.
So, here goes. And if you have a question that isn’t answered here – just get in touch here, I’d love to hear from you.
WHO DO YOU WORK WITH?
My specialist interest is working with stressed out parents. I’m not a parenting expert and I don’t offer advice on how to parent your children (I think you’re the expert on your kids).
Instead, I offer support for the emotional ups and downs of parenthood. If you’re a parent troubled by difficult thoughts and feelings like stress and burnout, anxiety, depression, anger, guilt, grief etc then I’d love to support you.
What if you’re not a stressed out parent? I could still help.
I’m a highly qualified clinical psychologist and I’ve worked with all sorts of people with all sorts of difficulties.
I’ve got experience working with children, teens, adults and older adults. I’ve worked in a range of specialist services for people with learning disabilities, physical health problems and forensic histories.
If you like my style and would like to work together then please get in touch even if you are not a stressed out parent.
We’ll discuss whether I could be a good therapist for you and if not, I’ll try to suggest someone who could be.
Please note that due to therapist licensing laws, I’m not able to work with you if you live in the USA or Canada – you must see someone who is licensed in the state or province that you live in.
How DO I KNOW IF YOU're THE RIGHT THERAPIST FOR ME?
Have a look around my website and get a feel for whether you like the way I talk about mental health and therapy and think about whether you could grow to trust me, confide in me and work together towards changing your life.
It’s important that you feel like your therapist knows their stuff, that they’re trustworthy and compassionate.
You need therapy to feel like a warm, safe place to be your true self and explore difficult thoughts and feelings but you also need a therapist who encourages you to try new things and take brave actions to make changes in your life.
Change is hard and you need someone who you feel has your back.
I always advise that you check out a bunch of different therapists and find two or three that you think you could work well with. Then speak to them. Most therapists offer a free 15 minute consultation to get a feel of whether you could work well together.
I’m very happy to answer any questions you have over email/phone/zoom – just get in touch here.
During that 15 minute chat you could ask about the therapist’s approach, their qualifications and what experience they have with your particular difficulties.
You could check out things like fees, cancellation charges, and the days/times that therapy is available and whether you can contact them between sessions.
You’ll get a first impression about whether this is someone you feel you could work well with.
If you choose to work with me then I’ll send you my terms and conditions to check over before we book some initial sessions (often called assessment sessions).
WHAT HAPPENS IN A THERAPY SESSION?
We’ll start with some assessment sessions. Together, we’ll explore your current difficulties and think about what might be causing them both in the present and by considering your life history.
I might give you some questionnaires in order to be able to ask you many questions quickly and to get a sense of where you are currently. It’s often helpful to repeat these questionnaires both during and at the end of therapy to get a sense of the changes you’ve made.
The assessment sessions will lead us towards a plan for therapy. Psychologists grandly call this a ‘formulation’. It’s our shared understanding of what problems you’re dealing with and what factors are influencing your problems. Once we have an understanding of what factors are making things so difficult for you – we make a targeted plan to address those factors.
Therapy sessions can look different depending on the formulation we have and the stage of therapy you’re at.
Sessions may involve us exploring your life history together to make sense of who you are and where you’ve come from.
We may discuss what’s important to you in life and how you would like life to be different.
We could practice building new skills for managing difficult thoughts, feelings and relationships.
We’ll work together to get you back on track and living a life that is fulfilling and meaningful for you.
WHERE AND WHEN AND HOW OFTEN WILL I MEET YOU?
Where – I work online because it’s so convenient for me and most of my clients say they prefer it too. There’s no hassle or cost from driving or parking when you can see me over video conferencing.
Some people prefer telephone only as they find video calls overwhelming and that can be possible, depending on the situation. I’m also able to offer a small number of in person slots – by appointment only – if you can travel to Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire. There will be an extra charge of £15 to account for room hire for in person sessions.
When – I work during school hours because I have three young children. So that’s 9:30 to 14:30, Monday to Friday. I offer three therapy slots a day – 10:00, 11:30 and 13:00.
How often – ideally, we’ll meet weekly as that’s best for really getting a good working alliance and making progress on your goals. I recognise that weekly therapy isn’t financially possible for some people and I am open to fortnightly sessions depending on the difficulties we’re working on and on the understanding that progress will be slower.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Conventionally, a therapy session is 50mins long and I charge £120 for this. Payment is taken at the time of booking.
I don’t offer discounted therapy, but fornightly sessions are an option.
I don’t work directly with health insurance companies but am happy to give you a receipt if you want to ask your insurance company to reimburse you. Any such arrangement is entirely between you and your insurance company and your responsibility to organise and manage.
I advise you check with your particular health insurance company whether they will accept such an arrangement before you meet with me.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE? WHEN CAN I STOP?
It makes total sense that you’d want to know how long therapy takes – you want to know how long it will be before you can start feeling better and you need to know roughly what kind of fees to budget for.
Unfortunately, I can’t give you a good estimate of how long you could expect to be in therapy until we’ve done a thorough assessment. It completely depends on your unique difficulties and the goals you have for change.
When I worked in the NHS, I would expect to see someone for around 6-24 sessions on average. I would budget for at least 4-6 sessions to begin to see some improvements in your wellbeing.
I am happy to see you for as long as you feel it’s helpful and you’re welcome to finish our sessions whenever you feel like you’re ready to end therapy.
WhAT if i need to cancel my session? can i get a refund?
Like most therapists, I operate a 48 hour working day cancellation policy.
This means that if you cancel your session with less than 48 working day hours’ (i.e. weekends don’t count) notice then I will not refund your fee. So, if you want to cancel an appointment on a Tuesday, you need to inform me by the Friday.
In some circumstances, it may be possible to reschedule that missed appointment for another slot that week instead.
CAN I CONTACT YOU BETWEEN SESSIONS IF I'M STRUGGLING?
Typically, we’ll keep all contact between us within our allotted weekly therapy hour.
We may agree that brief contact between sessions is appropriate in certain circumstances. For example, we might agree that I’ll email you an article I mentioned during our session or perhaps I might set you a challenge to complete at home and you want to send a brief email to let me know you’ve completed it.
I’m not able to offer a crisis service in private practice. If you need urgent help outside of our sessions then I suggest you contact your GP, NHS Direct on 111 or Samaritans on 116 123.
IS WHAT WE TALK ABOUT CONFIDENTIAL?
Yes, what we talk about in session, stays in session. I don’t allow recording of the session. I make brief notes to remind me what we’ve discussed for the following session and keep those on an encrypted online practice management platform.
I work in a room where I can’t be interrupted and overheard and I expect you do the same.
I don’t discuss with anyone what we’ve talked about.
There are two exceptions to this:
- I receive regular clinical supervision from another clinical psychologist and I discuss my cases with them. The information I discuss with my supervisor is anonymised and they are bound to the same professional rules on confidentiality.
- I am legally required to report any risk issues – that is, if I am worried that you or someone you know may be at risk of harm then I can’t keep that information to myself. Wherever possible, I will discuss with you before I report my concerns to the relevant authorities (e.g. your GP, social services or the police).
wILL YOU PRESCRIBE MEDICATION?
No, I have both a clinical and a research doctorate but I am not a medical doctor. Only a medically trained doctor can prescribe medication.
If you’re considering medication then I would direct you to your GP to discuss that.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?
Hopefully that’s answered the main questions you have about what it’s like working in therapy with me.
If you’ve got any further questions or you’d like to book a free 15 minute consultation call with me to discuss therapy then please get in touch – I’d love to hear from you.
