Psychotherapy – What to Expect

Once we agree to meet I am able to offer face to face meetings or online video conferencing depending on your circumstances and personal preference.

Psychotherapy is a talking therapy, and is a particular kind of conversation between me, the therapist and you, the client. You will talk about yourself, your life story, your current relationships, your frustrations and wishes, your difficulties and how these are affecting your life. We can then begin a guided process of self-reflection, discovery, analysis and decision making. Experience has shown me that this process can be helpful with many kinds of of emotional and psychological distress.

People often seek psychotherapy at times of crisis in life - such as the loss of an important relationship through bereavement or separation, financial worries and problems at work or at home. This would also be true in instances of more longstanding and ill-defined feelings that your life, your work and your relationships, are simply not as satisfactory as they might be.

Psychotherapy can be very helpful in the short-term but can also extend, on a weekly basis, for any period between six months and a number of years. You will find that the psychotherapy process will focus on the deeper, underlying causes of your difficulties and in particular, characteristic attitudes, values and beliefs which you hold towards yourself and others. These characteristic values may have their beginnings in family patterns or long held beliefs, which you commonly take for granted. On reflection, you might come to see that some of these patterns are outdated, unhelpful and sometimes destructive in your present life circumstances.

Possibilities of different choices, or of revising your beliefs and values, together with seeing the consequences of making different choices, often arise at this point. Whilst we might expolore your early life as a point of reference, and to seek understanding, the greater focus will be to examine the possibilities for choice, responsibility and change in your current life.

Our First Meeting and Assessment

Assessment interviews are offered initially, where you will have an opportunity to discuss your needs and also to ask any questions you may have. You will also be asked to talk about yourself and your life history and I will be able to give you my opinion about how we might go on from here. All consultations are confidential and bound by professional codes of conduct and ethics.The first meeting may then be followed by a further offer of six more sessions, prior to any longer-term commitment, in order to explore your needs in some depth and establish how we may work together. You may decide at any time during this process that psychotherapy is not for you, in which case I may be able to help you find a different solution elsewhere.

I am also an experienced couples' therapist and work with the understanding that an individual's upbringing and life story can be carried into their adult relationships throughout life, sometimes giving rise to problems. By talking openly and honestly and examining the parts played by the interacting life stories, together with the particular needs and expectations of each person, it can be possible to understand why the relationship is not satisfactory and to look at the choices available for the future.

For more information or to arrange a consultation: Call: 07910 936068 | Email: Enable JavaScript to view protected content.

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