Frequently Asked Questions.
I'm sure you will have some questions about what to expect from counselling, hopefully you will find them answered below. If not you can send me an email here.
How much does a counselling session cost?
Each online session costs £50 and face to face are £60 to cover the cost of the room hire. Each session lasts for 50 minutes.
How do I book a counselling session?
Online sessions can be booked online, through the calendar. For face to face availability please contact me. All sessions are payable within 24 hours of receiving the payment link.
How are sessions held?
Each online session will be held via video call and will be by Google Meet.
Nothing needs to be downloaded you just click the link that is sent to you on booking.
Face to face sessions are held in Urmston Library.
How many sessions will I need?
The amount of sessions you will need is completely up to you, as I don't work to a fixed number of sessions.
Unless you prefer not to, I recommend that you to commit to six sessions at a time. I will then conduct a review of how you are finding counselling and re-visit your goals every six sessions. This means that you are always in charge of how our counselling sessions are progressing and the direction they take.
You can request an ending session whenever you feel ready.
What should I expect from the first session?
During the first session, we start by reviewing the contract. This outlines what you can expect from our time together and gives you a chance to ask me any questions.
After the contract has been discussed, I will ask you a bit more about yourself. What has brought you to counselling? Who are the important people in your life? What are your expectations from our counselling sessions? Do you have goals you would like to achieve from our sessions?
What is Integrative Counselling?
Integrative counselling means that I am qualified in various counselling theories and I can introduce these into our sessions if it is necessary.
I always begin our sessions by using Person Centred Counselling. This means that you are in charge of our sessions, I may ask questions and guide you but will never give you advice or tell you what to do.
As our sessions progress, if it feels appropriate, I may introduce elements of CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) or TA (Transactional Analysis). Which can be a little more directive in nature.
Is counselling difficult?
The short answer is yes, it can be.
You are required to show up every week, that in itself is a commitment.
The journey is rarely a straight line and there will be ups and downs, good weeks and bad weeks.
Talking about your emotions, re-living things that have happened in the past, can be mentally exhausting and you might need to allow some self care time immediately after the session.
What is self care?
Self care is something that you do for yourself that makes you happier, recharges your batteries or simply enables you to press pause for a while.
Self care looks different for each one of us. But it could be locking the bathroom door and taking a peaceful bath, going out for a walk, getting in touch with nature, cuddling up with your dog or taking five minutes with a cup of tea in the garden.
Whatever self care looks like for you, its important that we all integrate elements of self care within our daily life. Sometimes we are so busy looking after everyone else, we forget to look after ourselves. Self care can be as simple as using a kinder internal voice when we speak to ourselves.
What is mindfulness?
I talk about being mindful a lot during my sessions. Most people think that it involves whale music and a yoga mat, however this doesn't have to be the case.
I believe that being mindful, is being aware of the present moment and how you feel within that moment. You can ask yourself. What is my body doing? What am I feeling? Have I felt this emotion before?
Being aware of what we are feeling within the present moment, can help us when we have a reaction to something that has happened to us. Have we felt this feeling before? Are we reacting to the here and now or the past?
Is counselling confidential?
Yes. Our counselling sessions are completely confidential. I am legally and ethically bound to protect your privacy.
However there are certain legal exceptions where I am required to break this confidentiality by law. These exceptions will be outlined fully when discussing the contract during our first session. So you know exactly what you can expect from me.
Are you a member of a Governing Body?
Yes, I am a qualified counsellor and I am an Accredited Registrant Member of The NCPS (National Counselling and Psycotherapy Society), (MNCPS Acc.). And an Individual Member of the BACP (The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) and therefore I practice in accordance to their codes of ethical practice.
Is there a cancellation policy?
Yes, I require 48 hours notice to cancel or move a session.
In the event that 48 hours notice is not given, 50% of the session fee is payable.
Contact me
If you have any questions that still need answering, please feel free to send me a message below.
Please note if you want to check my availability, the easiest and quickest way is to press on any of the booking links, where you will see my current appointment availability.
Please make sure to include your email address or phone number so that I can reply.