Like a lotus flower, you will sprout through the soil, reaching up through the dark water…
FREE initial 30 minutes phone consultation
It can be anxiety provoking or awkward for many when deciding to contact a psychologist for help. You might feel scared about being judged, feel embarrassed about explaining your problem or worried about what the treatment will involve. You might be unsure whether I am the right fit for you. These are all normal concerns! That is why I offer you a free initial phone consultation to ask any questions or express any anxiety you have about therapy – rather than meet me “blindly” at the initial session. In this way, there is no surprise about who you will meet and you can feel more confident about the decision to start therapy. I will also ask you some questions to ensure that I am the right therapist for your needs. If not, I will refer you to the right service.
After you have booked an appointment, I will email you some forms to complete before our first session. In that way, we can devote therapy time to YOU – not paperwork.
Your initial 70 minutes assessment session
This is when you will start feeling relieved that you took the step to attend therapy. My aim is to help you feel comfortable about sharing your presenting issues/concerns. I will gently prompt you with some questions which will help me understand you and your difficult issues. We will have a shared understanding of the changes you need, how my therapy will help and what activities can be done before the next session. I know making that first step towards psychological therapy is not easy and it is important that you feel comfortable and not rushed whilst talking about difficult issues.
Your subsequent 50 minutes session
In the second session, we usually explore the maintaining factors to your current issues such as what put you at risk, what triggers your problems, what maintains them (including your core beliefs or schemas) and what are your protective factors (your strength, coping skills and what prevent your problem from getting worse that it is). Each session usually commences by reviewing your progress since the last session, highlighting what worked and what are the barriers that prevent progress. We then proceed with the treatment or work on the issues that are bothering you the most at that moment. So in each session, we do a review of the past (the week/weeks before starting the new session), focus on the present (what is important to work on today) and plan the future (changes to work on or actions to take until the next session).