WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CONTACT ME?

When you contact me for an appointment or with an enquiry, I will aim to respond to you within 24 hours of me receiving your message.

I will then offer you a 15-minute brief telephone call if you require this. We may go on to arrange your first appointment. You will be agreeing to one session only and any further sessions will be agreed upon jointly.

I work face-to-face, online using video calls on Skype, WhatsApp or other platforms and over the telephone if requested.

I work with adults with no age limit and adolescents aged 11 years and up. Young people often value being able to talk through their feelings in private and come to a better understanding of their inner world.

WHAT HAPPENS IN YOUR FIRST SESSION?

At your first appointment, I will explain to you what my service can offer you in terms of confidentiality, and we will make an informal agreement based on our therapeutic connection (did it feel right for both of us).

We will agree to the times, frequency and location of the sessions and commit to respecting our work together. We will review your progress together throughout the sessions and this will help you to determine your improvements, set goals and plan for an ending.

WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT IN MY SESSIONS?

In our first session, you may feel nervous and unsure. I will work to help you to understand that this is a part of the process and often the feelings settle down quickly. Towards the end of the first session, we will talk about any further sessions and if we want to continue to work together.

When you choose to work with me, I will offer you the time to talk through your thoughts and feelings at your own pace in a non-judgemental manner. We will work together with the aim of building a trusted confidential working relationship. It is within this relationship that you can feel free to work through the areas of your life that may feel unsettling or that you want to change.

I do some drawing in the session to illustrate your story, some of the ways this can benefit you are listed below:

• It helps you to tell and recall your story in full.
• Recording your story prevents you from having to repeat your information.
• Hearing your own story helps you to understand yourself more.
• It also helps you to identify any contributing factors (Triggers, Pattens and Behaviours).
• You can then recognise why you feel the way you do and the areas you might want to change.

I use several theoretical models in my work, these are concepts that provide a framework to explain and help you to understand your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Each therapeutic approach has its own set of tools and working in an integrated way allows me to access these approaches and work creatively to find what works best for you.