1:1 Therapy
Welcome! Chances are you’re ready for change.
Clients contact me for all sorts of reasons: you might be wanting to get un-stuck and be more productive, or to feel free again after loss or trauma. Perhaps you’re worried, down, disconnected and lonely, or swinging between mad and sad. Your relationships might feel weaker than you’d wish. Or maybe it’s not about you; you might be looking for a way to help someone you love who is suffering from depression, anxiety, eating disorders, or uncontrolled anger. No matter why you have come here, I look forward to helping you make the changes you’re hoping for.
I know from years of experience, as well as my own research, that therapy works best when clients feel their therapist will take the time to understand how things are from their unique point of view. Only when you feel known and respected can change happen, and then it can happen quickly.
I will take the time to work with you as a whole person, focusing on how to increase your strengths, rather than just looking at your problems.
Here is how we usually structure therapy:
Get started
Our first 30-minute consultation is free so you can get a sense of what therapy might be like and whether you feel comfortable with me. There is no obligation to sign up for further sessions; I want you to feel happy about engaging in therapy.
Initial Session
Our initial session (usually 1.5 hours) will focus on what is concerning you, what is happening in your life currently, and how you understand the problems you’re facing. I will ask about many aspects of your life (or your children’s lives), depending on why you are coming to therapy. We will then discuss what your main goals are for therapy and which areas to address first for your unique situation.
Change Gets Going
In the early stages of therapy, we will usually meet once a week for 55 minutes to explore the patterns of thoughts and feelings that are affecting your experience of life. When you know they are there, you have the power to change them. Sometimes we’ll be tracing back to your past experiences and foundational relationships.
I will usually set you some ‘homework’. Homework typically consists of experimenting with different ways of approaching a problem, trying a new way of behaving toward someone, or doing some free writing on a topic that has come up in session, which means you might just think and write for a short time, typically 10 minutes. Homework helps you deepen your understanding and sustain the changes you’re making until they can become habitual.
Moving on - when you’re ready
We will review your progress and adjust our direction when that seems appropriate. As soon as practical, we will move to fortnightly sessions so you increase your confidence in your new skills. In time you will feel calmer, more capable, and more connected. Since your mind will be more relaxed, you’ll have more energy to do the things you really care about, and you will have integrated the changes from therapy into your new way of life.
As of yesterday I owe you a big thank you! If it weren't for you I would never have been able to say this: we have found the house in of our dreams! I’ll be able to run the B&B I always wanted to. So now I’ll have a home and a business! As we speak, my husband is there arranging all the paperwork to finalise the sale in June. So from the bottom of my heart: thank you! Thanks for helping me find the courage and the energy to push it over the line.
Karen from Belgium