How does counselling work?

Counselling is the process of talking with a trained professional about what’s on your mind. A counsellor will aim to create a warm, safe, confidential space where you can feel heard, understood and accepted for who you are. They will listen without judging you or advising you on what you should do.

Instead, they will usually reflect what you've said and ask open questions about your experiences. This can help you to sort through your thoughts and feelings, developing a better understanding of your patterns of behaviour. Over time, you may develop greater insight into who you are as a person, how you have come to be this way, and where you want to go from here.

What are the next steps after I get in touch?

When you get in touch, let me know if you’d like to have an initial 30-minute consultation and if you have an idea of when you might want to do this. I will suggest some available times and we can go from there.

If you’d like to go ahead and book a counselling session, I will send over information about how to access it (whether it is in-person, online or via phone) and what you can expect from the session. I’ll also share a counselling agreement and a new client form for you to complete.

What is the first session like?

We’ll spend some time in the first session discussing how counselling will work. We will go through the counselling contract and come to an agreement about how we’re going to work together. This will include how confidentiality works in counselling, when and where sessions will take place, what happens if you need to cancel a session, and how we might communicate in between sessions. There will be plenty of time for you to make sure you’re happy with everything and ask any questions you might have.

I’ll also ask you a bit about what’s brought you to counselling and what you might be hoping to get from it. You may not have a clear idea of what your goals are, and that’s okay - this often becomes clearer over time. The main thing, however, is to spend some time getting to know each other and giving you some space to start talking about whatever is on your mind.

Are your counselling rooms accessible for those with mobility issues?

Unfortunately, the counselling rooms I use are only accessible via stairs, as they are located within a listed Georgian terrace. I am in the process of looking for an additional location for my face-to-face sessions, so please let me know if this would not work for you and I’ll see if I can suggest another option.

How will you keep my personal data safe?

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (registration number ZB540868) and any information that I keep is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 18) and United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK-GDPR).

I explain where and how I store data in the client agreement we discuss in our first session, and I can answer any questions you may have at that point as well.

For more information, please see the Information Commissioner’s Office website: https://ico.org.uk and BACP’s Privacy notice: https://www.bacp.co.uk/privacy-notice.