How I Work

As I explain on the What is Psychotherapy? page, one’s experience of psychotherapy can vary a lot depending on who they are, the context they are receiving therapy, and the approach of their therapist. Reading this will make clear how I work, and give you a sense of what you might expect if you were to undertake psychotherapy with me.

I practice in the dialogue between two different approaches: Person-centred and Psychodynamic therapy. Both of these approaches are dialogical, meaning that therapy would take the form of a one-to-one meeting with no specifically set task or activity besides being in eachother’s presence, and a presumption of some sort of communication happens between us. Integral to both approaches is a confidential, empathic meeting, where I would do my best to provide a supportive environment for you to discuss and work through your situation without judgement.

While these approaches have different focuses and foundational theories, both are non-directive approaches. This means that I, as your therapist, will not be determining the agenda of the sessions, instructing you on a course of action to take in regard to your situation, or assigning you emotional ‘homework’ to work through between sessions. Instead, our work will focus on the experiences, ideas, and conflicts you wish to bring to your therapy to explore and work on collaboratively. A metaphor I often use when beginning with clients is that therapy is a psychological roadtrip: You are in the driver’s seat, deciding where we go, and I would be in the passenger seat beside you, commenting on what I see during the drive.

A Typical Therapeutic Arrangement

Every person is unique, and I believe that a psychotherapeutic arrangement is adapted to each person’s particular needs when possible. I am committed as a private psychotherapist to being flexible and open to your particular needs, and offering a service that meets them. That said, it can be useful to know some characteristics of a standard therapeutic arrangement as a reference.

The most common set up for therapy in my practice is as follows:

Psychotherapy typically takes place on a weekly basis. Sessions are ideally scheduled for the same time and place each week.
Sessions typically are an hour (60 minutes) in duration in my practice.
Most of my work is open-ended, meaning our work together would continue until you felt you had done the work you needed to in therapy or an ending was otherwise negotiated due to external circumstances.
My standard rate is £65 per session.

Negotiation and flexibility are important in the contracting process, so while this is the standard arrangement I would recommend, I encourage altering this arrangement based on a client’s needs. Some examples of alterations are:

Having sessions on a fortnightly basis.
Having extended session times beyond 60 minutes.
Offering sessions at a reduced rate for a time limited period.
Contracting for a finish date or a set number of sessions.

Format of Sessions

Currently I offer two main services: face-to-face and remote therapy.

Face-to-face therapy is exactly what you might expect – us meeting in the same room and engaging with the therapeutic process in eachother’s physical presence.

Alternatively, we can arrange remote therapy if more convenienct, or when coming to the office may be difficult or challenging due to accessibility concerns. Remote therapy would take place either on a telephone call or over a video calling service, depending on the client’s preference. Both of these interventions have the same underpinnings theoretically and research has shown remote therapy is just as efficacious as face-to-face work – though be aware remote work will likely require additional contracting due to technological requirements.

All my therapeutic sessions are bound by a strict confidentiality agreement. While there are some exceptions to confidentiality that would necessitate breaking it (generally surrounding your safety, or my legal obligations as a therapist), I will seek your informed consent through a discussed in full during your initial consultation. It is incredibly rare that a confidentiality agreement needs to be broken, but in any case where it was necessary, I would try my utmost to do so with your awareness and consent. I am a registered practitioner member of COSCA (membership no. 4111), and abide by the ethical frameworks put forth by both COSCA and BACP.

Boundaries and Limitations

It is important to note that while psychotherapy is an inherently intimate and relational intervention, there will be clear boundaries in place with our work – most particularly that our relationship exists in therapy, and not outside of it. For example, there would usually be no contact between client and therapist another outside of a session aside from administrative communications.

Psychotherapy also has limitations as a treatment. Psychotherapy is not a crisis intervention, and you won’t usually be able to reach me outside of our scheduled appointments. That said, if you feel having this type of contact would be important for you to undertake psychotherapy, I can refer you to a number of on-call and crisis resources to support you, such as practical assistance and hotlines, if you feel you should need them.

Does this psychotherapeutic arrangement sounds like it would facilitate the personal work that brings you to therapy? If so, please book a cost and commitment-free initial consultation with me! The consultation gives us an opportunity to find out whether we are a good working fit. Just fill out the form on the Booking an Appointment page, and I will be in touch with you in the next 48 hours.

Consultancy Services

In addition to psychotherapy, I also provide other professional services to organisations and individuals. Using my clinical, academic, and research expertise, I can assist you to meet the multi-faceted and complex demands of your professional organisation. Whether you need to support the mental health needs of your employees or colleagues, to arrange continuing professional development opportunities for your clinical team, or to commission targeted, effective qualitative research to inform your next business decision, I’m here to help. You can find out more on my Consultancy Services page.