About therapy

You may not have considered therapy before. You may be hesitant now. Alternatively, you may have had therapy in the past and found it helpful. Either way, your therapist will welcome you to a first session with an openness to you as an individual with your own particular needs and situation. You will be helped to feel confident and comfortable from the outset. The approach taken will be tailored and adapted to you. Your therapist will be able to explain more about this to you in the first session. See Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Counselling Psychology.

The initial consultation, also known as an assessment,  will provide an opportunity for you to describe your current difficulties in a safe and confidential setting. The therapist will ask you questions in order to achieve an understanding of your concerns in the present and how they may relate to past life experiences or external events.  This is an important first-step into therapy. As you provide an account of your concerns in a way your therapist is able to understand, you will begin to gain a perspective on your current situation. Your therapist will ask you how you feel on-going therapy may help you and by the end of the first session,  an idea of realistic aims and goals for therapy will have been discussed.  

A session usually lasts 60 minutes, although longer sessions might be considered useful. We recommend weekly sessions. Between sessions, clients are encouraged to think about and process what was discussed. At times, you may be asked to do something specific outside of the therapy sessions, such as reading a relevant book or keeping records. For the therapy to "work," you must be an active participant, both during and between the therapy sessions.