Counselling Therapy Frequently Asked Questions

I offer a free 15 minute phone conversation if you would like one. This will enable us to have an initial conversation before proceeding to booking your first session.

I understand how important it is for you to make the right choice when looking for a Counsellor. The first session we have together will be an initial consultation session. Like all sessions this lasts for an hour.

You will be able to talk about what you would like to look at in counselling and find out more about how I can support you. After this session, you can make the decision about whether to proceed with the counselling.

Each session costs £50.

I offer 2 concession sessions a week at £40 for students and those on a low income. Please ask me for further details when you contact me. If a place isn’t available, I am happy to add your name to a waiting list.

I ask for payment in advance before the first session via bank transfer, before I can book you in.

I work in a downstairs room, in a private residence in Plympton. It is approximately 10 minutes walk from a main bus route.

I also accommodate people who may not be able to attend in person for any reason by offering online counselling sessions via Zoom or telephone sessions.

I am also able to offer sessions in an outdoor setting. Please contact me for further details about this.

Although the traditional ‘counselling hour ‘ is classed as 50 minutes, I give a full hour (60 minutes) session.

The recommended frequency for attending counselling is on a weekly basis. I tend to give clients the same appointment time each week.

I offer several sessions a week which are on an every other week basis to make counselling more accessible to those financial limitations. These sessions are at specific times. Feel free to contact me and ask me more details about this.

I offer sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at various times ranging from 9.30am to 5.30pm.

This will depend on what you are wanting to look at and what you are hoping to gain from counselling.

I would consider 6-12 sessions to be short term counselling. This amount of sessions could be helpful for looking at current life situations and general difficulties with stress.

The longer term work can last as long as it is required for you. An example of this would be working on self-esteem and exploring childhood experiences and family circumstances.

You do not have to agree to come to a number of sessions at the beginning of counselling. You can decide as you go along, what you are needing, and when you are feeling ready to end counselling.

You can talk about anything you want to, such as what is going on in your current life which is causing you to feel troubled or stressed, things which might have happened in your past which are impacting your current life or concerns you might have for your future.

You can talk about your thoughts, emotions, worries, fears, relationships and past or current situations which you are struggling to cope with and process.

The first session is an initial consultation session. It is a chance for us to meet and start to get an idea of what it will be like to work together.

You will have the opportunity to talk about what is causing you to come to counselling. I will explain about how I work and there will be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

You can then decide for yourself whether you would like to carry on with more sessions.

Talking therapy is another way of describing counselling.

Very often we have thoughts swirling around in our minds and it can be difficult to make sense of them.

In a counselling session these thoughts can be spoken out loud and explored in a safe, accepting atmosphere without a fear of judgement.

This can enable you to gain insights about yourself and your circumstances as well as developing a greater understanding of what is going on in your life and how it is impacting you as an individual.

You can experience greater clarity about yourself and your situation and feel small shifts within yourself as you move forward to a place where you feel more in control of how you react and respond to what is happening in your life.

For more detailed information about the EMDR Therapy I provide please take a look at the EMDR page on this website.

I offer you a place where you can speak freely and confidentially.

There are some legal limits to that confidentiality and if there was a serious risk to your safety or the safety of someone you know, I would need to discuss with you first the requirement to contact other services.

There are more specific details about this in my Privacy Policy which can be found here.

There is no specific formula as such, but there are certain things you can do to help you get the most out of your counselling sessions.

Being committed to attending regularly attending sessions is essential.

Also I find that clients who tend to go away and refect on the session and think about what has been discussed and use any insights gained, in the time between sessions, seem to gain more from counselling.

I will regularly review with you how sessions are going and actively encourage feedback about how the counselling is going, so that I can ensure that the therapy is focused on your needs and what you are hoping to gain from having therapy sessions.

I only see people 18 years and over.

I only see people on an individual basis.