My Approach

What can I expect when we start therapy?

I am happy to have a brief phone call with you prior to starting treatment, so I can understand your concerns and feel confident that we can work together. It also gives you a chance for you to ask me any questions. After this we will book in a first session.

The first session is an assessment session, when I ask about your current problems and how they are impacting on all areas of your life. I will also ask about your past and negative experiences that you have had and also focus on the future, thinking about how you want things to be different.

How many sessions will it take?

I typically work with CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), which is a short term therapy. I also work with ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and CFT (Compassion Focused Therapy) which come under the CBT school of thinking. I am also accredited in EMDR. There are NICE Guidelines that recommend how many sessions are needed for each concern. Typically, I see people for 6-8 sessions. Around the 6th sessions we would have a review to think about how many sessions are needed. By that time we will have a lot more understanding of the difficulties and how therapy has progressed so far. This will give an indication on the total number of sessions.

How often do sessions need to be?

To begin with, it usually works best to have the sessions weekly. As things improve and depending on the focus of therapy, it might be that we meet fortnightly or monthly. This will depend on what helps you the most. I am also happy to meet for follow up sessions to make sure the progress you have made is being maintained.