I will arrange a free initial telephone consultation to understand the area of you concern, whether you want to come as an individual, couple or family with children. I will ask for you to email me further information to increase my understanding of the history of the difficulties as well as things that you may have already tried to help improve the situation.
I will book the first appointment and confirm the fee.
In the first session I will ask questions about you, your family and relationships and work/school and things that you enjoy doing and times when things have gone well as well as how the current problem has arisen and any attempts that you have made to help resolve the situation.
I will also start drawing a genogram or family tree where I will write down any significant events and this genogram can be used and added to in later sessions to identify and explore family history and family patterns and beliefs.
If the concerns are regarding a young person I will initially meet with one or both parents either together or separately, if you are already separated or divorced depending on what feels right for both parents and then will try and understand the history of your concerns.
Following meeting with the parents I will then try and meet with the whole family and after a gentle beginning asking about school/work and interests will try and understand from all members what the current concerns are.
If I am working with a couple I will have sessions with the couple but may also have some sessions with each partner separately, to gain a better understanding of each individual as well as the couple issues. The individual issues can also be brought back to the couple session as directed by the individual.
Initial sessions are about establishing treatment goals and planning a way forward through and beyond areas of difficulty.
Therapy progresses with regular reviews of how the work is going and how the client or clients are feeling and what progress is being made.
Session frequency vary from weekly to 2-4 weekly, depending on how the work is going and often gaps in the therapy can allow for changes to be observed and practiced.
The length of therapy varies from individual to couple to young person and their family, sessions can span over a 6 month period or up to a year with gaps of 2- 4weeks or longer in-between the sessions for changes to be developed and increased.
Endings are also negotiated from ending in the session up to a much slower process over a few months depending on what suits the client and their processes.
