About counselling -Frequently Asked Questions
Please email me if any of your questions or concerns are not answered below.
Q: What is psychotherapy?
A: Psychotherapy aims to help clients gain insight into their difficulties or distress, establish a greater understanding of their motivation, and enable them to find more appropriate ways of coping or bring about changes in their thinking and behaviour.
Psychotherapy involves exploring feelings, beliefs, thoughts and relevant events, sometimes from childhood and personal history, in a structured way with someone trained to help you do it safely.
Depending on the nature of your problem, therapy can be short or long term. Sessions can be provided for adults, adolescents and children on a one-to-one basis, or for couples, families and within groups whose members share similar problems.
Q: What happens during therapy?
A: Every session is different because every client is different, as are their problems. Your psychotherapist will encourage you to talk and explore, in a structured way, your feelings and experiences.
Depending on their training and modality, your therapist may also suggest particular techniques as part of that exploration - for example, using art, imaging, dream or movement work.
Whatever the technique or clinical approach, psychotherapy is not a magical cure, it is a process to help you find the capacity for improvement within yourself.
Q:What is the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?
A: Different people use the words counselling and psychotherapy in different ways, so there is no commonly agreed definition. There is a general understanding that a psychotherapist can work with a wider range of clients or patients and can offer more in-depth work where appropriate.
UKCP believes the difference lies in the length and depth of training involved and in the quality of the relationship between the client and their therapist. UKCP-registered psychotherapists are trained to Masters level.
UKCP registers psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Psychotherapeutic counsellors are counsellors who have received more in-depth training than that undertaken by most counsellors. UKCP's training standards for both qualifications seek to ensure that UKCP registrants are competent to practice to the highest standards.
Q: Will you discuss my material with anyone else?
A: Material shared within therapy is confidential and I adhere to the UKCP code of conduct.
Q: How long does a session last ?
A: 50 minutes
Q: What benefits can be expected and how long will it be before I see results?
A: Each person has different issues to address that require varying degrees of time in therapy to overcome. Consequently, there is no fixed time to therapy, however therapy should be effective and a client should feel that their material is being explored and that insight is being gained so that he or she is able to develop autonomy, leading to a more enjoyable experience of life.
Q: How will the therapy end?
A: Ending therapy happens when the client feels they are at a point where they feel able to manage their life or issues by themselves. An ending is an important part of the therapeutic experience and requires different ending periods for different clients which can be a few weeks or a few months. The ending period is always discussed with the client to ensure it feels manageable and that any issues regarding ending therapy are given enough time to be worked through.
Q: Will I be able to come back to therapy if I need to?
A: Hopefully after therapy a client will be able to manage by themselves, however changes in ones life can mean that therapy may be required to offer support at challenging times. I am therefore available to a client re-entering therapy with myself for as long as is required. I am also available for less frequent follow up sessions once therapy has concluded to provide support during the transitional period.
Q: Why do you use different approaches to therapy ?
A: The reason I draw upon different approaches to therapy is that each person is unique and therefore requires a unique approach to tackling their issues. An integrative approach to therapy allows me to facilitate the therapy in a way which best suits the needs of the individual client.
Q: What if I feel you are not the right therapist for me?
A: There are no initial obligations to working with any individual therapist, and during our first session we will get a sense as to whether i am the right therapist for you.
