Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some frequently asked questions which may support your decision to undertake counselling. For a more tailored conversation, about your specific needs and how we might work together, click the booking button below for a free initial half hour consultation.
How Many Sessions will I Need?
This can depend on your goals for counselling.
Short term work such as six sessions can support you with one particular area of life which is maybe situational such as a change in personal circumstances. The focus will be on changing behaviour
Longer term work can be over months or years and is generally suited to working with trauma, childhood and attachment difficulties, and longer term behavioural patterns. The work will be reviewed regularly by us together both to check ongoing efficacy and the benefits and implications of continuing.
What do Sessions Involve?
Most sessions will involve you talking about what's going on for you, how your day to day life is affected. I will support you through questions and prompts to consider patterns of behaviour and explore how these were formed.
Through talking you can make sense of your experiences and make more informed choices.
On occasion we might explore creative interventions such as creating visual representations, exploring dreams or working with metaphor to support your understanding.
Often people come to counselling because they feel they can't keep their emotions 'in check'.
When we suppress emotions they can burst out of us unexpectedly, making us feel out of control. I will encourage the expression of emotion in a contained way in sessions so that you learn to feel and attend to your emotions more consistently.
Will I feel Better?
Counselling is not always a linear process.
There will be days where sharing supports you to feel lighter and other days where things feel heavy as we explore areas which you may have buried or have been hidden from you.
Counselling is not about the counsellor giving you the answers, but to support you to unlock resources within, to make conscious some of your unconscious processes. I will support you to take measured risks and explore different ways to behave and relate to yourself and others
How Will We Meet?
I offer both in-person or online sessions and it's worth considering what works best.
In-person work enables you to meet in a neutral, confidential space which can enable you to focus more on your needs and minimise external distractions
Online work is conducted through video calling and requires you to have a safe confidential space usually in your own home, access to headphones and the ability to not be overheard.
Elements which can impair online sessions include having others in the house, (including looking after children), potentially being in an environment which feels unsafe, and distractions such as parcel deliveries.
Before embarking with online counselling these elements will require consideration and strategies to support you.