All sessions are 50 minutes long. The first session will give us an opportunity to explore your key presenting issues and for you to get an idea of my style and way of working. There is no commitment to continue further. Equally, if I don’t think I am the best person to help you at this point then I will let you know. In the second session we will complete a pre-therapy questionnaire which will look in more detail into your needs and discuss some short and long-term goals for our longer term work together.
You can use your sessions however you wish.You might want to talk about a particular issue, share difficult or painful feelings or deal with what is arising in the present moment. It is for you to direct the content and pace of your sessions. My role is to act as a supportive and understanding guide and help you make sense of what’s going on. At appropriate moments I might:
- Ask questions to clarify your thoughts and feelings
- Offer a different perspective
- Gently encourage deeper exploration of what is going on
- Notice ways in which you relate to yourself and others
- Help you to make connections and see patterns in your life
- Suggest ways forward that might help and support you
- Encourage you and affirm new ways of thinking and being
I usually encourage regular reviews so we can assess how therapy is helping you. We decide together whether to continue or work towards completion. The decision to end therapy is always open to you. It is best to work towards an ending over two or three sessions.
