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Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to consider before choosing you as a counsellor?
When you are looking for a counsellor, your instinctive response to the information which the counsellor puts before you and the way it is presented is very important in informing your choice.
I hope that viewing this website gives you some insight into me and my work. Perhaps there is an element of my life experience or my interests which strikes a chord with you and suggests to you that we might be a good "fit".
If so, don't ignore your gut feeling - get in in touch.
If you have not had counselling before, you may also want to know more about the practicalities and the process before taking the next step of contacting me.
Below you will find a compilation of the most common questions I’ve been asked about the services which I provide.
If you still have questions about the work that I do after reading through the FAQs, please send me an email or a text message and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Do you work face-to-face or online?
I work face-to-face, online and on the telephone.
What is Gestalt counselling?
The aim of Gestalt counselling is to increase the client's awareness of their own experience in the present moment - thoughts, feelings, emotions, responses, reactions, intuitions. We may block these natural responses now when something historically in the environment (eg parents, family, school, society) has convinced us that they are unacceptable or, perhaps, dangerous.
One of my favourite insights is that of Joel Latner writing in "The Gestalt Therapy Book": "Our impasse is the result of the conflict between our free-functioning concern for our own needs and what we believe we can do and survive.".
How will Gestalt counselling help me?
Gestalt counselling will help you to respond more realistically to what is before you in your life situation.
By "responding realistically", I mean that counselling will help you to appreciate your circumstances and your response to them in a way that better corresponds to reality.
It will help you to understand the realistic choices which you have in the situation in which you find yourself.
If I want to go ahead, what do I do?
I understand that you may find it difficult to seek help. All you need to do is to text or email me and I will respond, usually within 24 hours.
How will you respond to my initial enquiry?
In response to your initial enquiry, I will respond by text or email to ask you when you are available and whether you would prefer sessions to take place face to face or remotely. We will then set up a first meeting and I will send you an email confirming the arrangement and payment details.
Before the first session, I will ask you to sign, scan and return to me by email the signature page of our counselling contact and to complete a contact details form.
What happens when we first meet?
The first few sessions give us both a chance to consider whether we want to work together. At the first couple of sessions, we can discuss what it is that is troubling you and what the way forward might be for you. If you have not had counselling before (or even if you have), I will be happy to answer any questions which you may have about the counselling process.
Do you charge for the first session?
Yes, I charge the usual fee for this session.
This session begins our work together. I aim to use it to help you to gain some insight into what is troubling you and to establish a mutuallly agreed framework for our work.
What are your fees and how do I pay them?
The standard fee for each session is £65.00 and the session lasts 50 minutes.
I do not want money to be an obstacle to us working together. I am open to a discussion about the session fee at the first session and subsequently.
I ask you to pay a session in advance so, on the basis of the standard fee, you pay £130.00 prior to the first session, £65.00 prior to each subsequent session and nothing at the final session.
I accept payment by bank transfer, credit or debit card or by Paypal (you do not need a Paypal account for this).
What are your ethical framework, terms of business and your privacy policy?
I am a registered member of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) and I adhere to the NCPS’s Ethical Framework.
You can find a copy of the Framework on the NCPS’s website - https://nationalcounsellingsociety.org/about-us/code-of-ethics - or I can supply you with a hard copy, on request.
Click on the Read More button at the top of the FAQs to see my specimen terms of business.
See also the Privacy Notice page of this website which contains a link to my privacy policy.