What will happen in our first session?
Our initial session will be an opportunity for us to get to know each other and for you to see if you are comfortable working with me and for me to find out more about the issue you are wanting to deal with/work on in future sessions. I will explore if you have had counselling before and what your expectations might be of our sessions.
I will explain a little about the way I work as a counsellor and and about confidentiality, supervision, professional ethics and boundaries. There will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have.
How Many sessions will I need?
I work open ended which means I do not limit the number of session we can have. We can work together until you feel you have done enough work on those issues you wanted to focus on or are ready to end the counselling relationship. I will regularly review the work we are doing together to ensure you are being helped by the process.
What about confidentiality?
Our sessions are confidential unless I feel concerned that you are a serious risk of harm to yourself or about the safety of others. In such cases, I would always do my best to let you know beforehand, that I need to break our confidentiality, in order to contact other relevant agencies so appropriate action can be taken and support put in place.
​
Confidentiality will be fully explained in our initial session and again when we agree to work together.
​
To ensure that I am working in the best way for my clients and adhering to my BACP ethical guidelines I discuss my work, a standard for all counsellors, with a qualified supervisor. My supervisor also adheres to the same ethical requirements of confidentiality.
​
The Purpose of Counselling
The aim of working with a counsellor with whatever you feel you need to bring, is to enable you to resolve possible internal conflicts that may be; preventing you being what can be described as your 'true or real self' or which may be leaving you with a feeling that there is 'something missing' in your life but you can't figure out what it might be.
Counselling also provides the opportunity to explore what is going on for you and help regain a deeper understanding of yourself which in turn can impact on your relationships both now and in the future.
Old patterns of behaviour which you may not be fully aware of may be identified or habitual thoughts and emotions which impact on the way you live your life and experience relationships can be explored and potentially changed as you become more aware of why you respond/behave/feel the way you do in situations and relationships
How do I work as a Counsellor?
I am integrative counsellor so I use a combination of approaches when working with my clients. My main way of working is person centred, which means, I put you the client 'at the centre' of the work we do together, working with whatever you choose to explore the counselling room and at your pace. I believe in your potential and ability to make the right choices for yourself, regardless of my own values, beliefs and ideas.
What is the BACP?
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy is a professional association for members of the counselling professions in the UK.
The organisation works alongside its members throughout their careers and support them in making a positive difference to the mental well being of their clients.
They do this by: promoting and facilitating research to produce trusted best practice, and by providing a robust ethical framework to ensure the profession follows and adheres to the highest possible standards that protect individuals seeking therapy and raising the ethical and professional standards of the profession.