Frequently Asked Questions
The decision to seek counselling or psychotherapy is not necessarily an easy one to make. Contacting a person you don’t know with a view to sharing aspects of yourself and your life that are causing difficulties or making you unhappy may feel rather scary. Perhaps, though, it may just feel like now is the right time to address an issue. And sometimes things demand attention whether we feel ready or not. Whatever your situation, you are assured of a warm, professional, and respectful welcome!
How long does therapy take?
Short-term work could be six to twelve sessions. Six months would still be considered short-term. In open-ended psychotherapy, however, how long the work may last depends on many things and is an almost impossible question to answer. Therapy is a process, a journey if you will, that happens in its own way and in its own time. It is rarely linear but often spirals around, revisiting different aspects of our life, but each time with greater insight and forward movement.
When the therapist and/or the client feels the work is drawing to an end, this is discussed in sessions, and an ending date agreed so it can be worked towards in an orderly way. Planning the ending of therapy is important because it is not only the work that is ending but also the therapeutic relationship. Although the client may continue their journey long after therapy finishes, the journey that’s been shared also is also drawing to a close.
What is trauma?
Most of the time, your body routinely manages new information and experiences without you being aware of it. However, when something out of the ordinary occurs, and you are traumatised by an overwhelming event (a car accident, sexual assault, natural disaster) or by being repeatedly subjected to distress (childhood neglect, psychological abuse), your natural coping mechanism can become overloaded. This overloading can result in disturbing experiences remaining frozen in your brain or being "unprocessed".
Cancellation policy
Your session time is reserved for you at the same time and day each week.
I have a 48-hour cancellation policy. If you cannot attend your session for any reason, I will try to offer another time that week. If we cannot agree on a suitable alternative, the session will need to be paid for in full.