Psychotherapy & Counselling
What happens in therapy?
Therapy offers you a safe, confidential place where you can talk about yourself, your life and anything that you are finding difficult and confusing. It offers an opportunity to think and talk about your difficulties in a way that you often can’t do with family or friends. Therapy offers a place and time which is just for you. Each session is for you to talk about what you want help with.
In therapy you can;
Talk about your concerns and difficulties
Express how you feel
Make sense of issues or situations you want to think about and change
Change thoughts and responses that have been unhelpful for you
Experience a supportive relationship in which you feel accepted and can be yourself
How will therapy help?
Therapy can help with a wide range of concerns and difficulties that may be affecting your life, by having the time and space to talk with a professional you trust. Within this relationship, you can be supported to understand yourself better; recover from difficult or traumatic experiences; feel better and make the changes you want to improve your life and relationships.
What is the difference between Psychotherapy and Counselling?
There is no agreed answer to this question, both psychotherapy and counselling provide a place for you to talk about and explore your concerns. However, generally counselling tends to be for a shorter period of time (3-6 months) and tends to focus on one difficulty, whereas psychotherapy is generally for longer and gives time to work with a number of difficulties that have lasted for a longer time and may be more complex and inter-related.
How do I choose the right therapist?
Research shows that no one specific approach is more effective than another. Success of therapy depends on the quality of the the relationship you have with your therapist. It is important that you choose a therapist that you feel safe and comfortable with and that they have the skills, training and experience to help you with your difficulties. At our first appointment you will be able to ask questions and have time to consider if you would like to work with me before we book further sessions. I will ask a number of questions so that I can understand you and your situation better and whether I have the right skills and experience to help you. If I believe that another type of therapy or someone with different skills to mine would be better suited to you, I will talk to you about this.
How long does therapy last?
I offer either short term therapy for an agreed number of sessions or on- going long term therapy as it is helpful. If you are considering long term therapy I usually offer an initial six sessions after which we can review and consider if you are finding therapy helpful and arrange further sessions. If you decide to continue, your appointment time is open to you until you feel finished with your therapy. I will include regular reviews to make sure that counselling is meeting your needs.
Is what I talk about private?
Everything you discuss with me will be treated with respect and confidentiality. I am required by my profession to have supervision of my work and on-going training. In my meetings with my supervisor or in training situations, I discuss the content and approach of my work whilst protecting the identity of my clients. Supervision and training are also bound by confidentiality.
The only circumstances in which I might consider going outside these bounds of confidentiality are either if I were required to do so by law or if I was concerned for your safety or the safety of a child. I would want to talk with you about this first wherever possible.
I keep a file with your referral and assessment information, dates of sessions attended and the themes in our work. I do not keep detailed notes of what we have discussed in sessions. I keep your file securely under the Data Protection Act.
How long are the sessions and how often and where?
Sessions will be weekly at the same time and on the same day. Sessions last for 50 minutes.
I provide sessions both in person sessions in Thame, Oxfordshire and online.
Information on Psychotherapy and Counselling is available on the BACP’s website ‘It’s good to talk’