Frequently asked questions

There is no hard and fast answer to this. I have seen people for one session but I have also seen people for many years. Some people come to therapy with a commitment to improve their lives or situation and to build a relationship whereas others drop in and leave when they have got what they wanted. More and more nowadays people have 'issues' in the moment that they want to resolve but they don't necessarily want to spend years doing it so therefore more solution focussed therapy is ideal for this. In terms of your ability to work through your issues or problems it makes sense that the more time you spend doing this the better the results long term. 

The session fee very much depends on individual circumstance but I charge between £40 and £60. If somebody is earning less or is a teenager or a student then I tend to charge less but if someone is an adult and in full time employment I will charge more, this creates an average session fee, if some people didn't pay more I wouldn't be able to charge some people less. Given that my approach is that I want everyone to be able to access therapy this is how I go about achieving my goal. I am very accommodating and open to concessions based on individual circumstance and up to this point have never failed to agree a fee with someone. 

There are times when time constraints and finances prevent someone from committing to weekly sessions and in the age that we live in this is understandable. Therapy is ordinarily carried out on a weekly basis and there are many reasons for this, it helps to build momentum, it helps to build a relationship and also it shows a commitment. When people attend fortnightly and maybe a session is missed the sessions then become monthly and momentum can often be lost. My view is that if you commit to 6 months of weekly sessions then we can look at changing the format of the sessions to fortnightly or whatever suits. However, if at the beginning of the relationship weekly sessions are just not possible due to finances then we can discuss this further. 

I would also ask that if you attend fortnightly then the session fee will be higher (£60) and the reason for this is that if I am only see you 2 weeks out of 4 it means that for the other two weeks I do not have a client in that slot which means that the slot isn't monetised and given that I pay rent on my office space this can be problematic. 

I am an integrative therapist which means that I work with theories from different modalities (Humanistic, CBT and Psychodynamic) with a grounding in Jungian (Psychoanalytic). I also incorporate mindfulness practices into the sessions as well as directive solution focussed. 

Please, as much as possible, let me know 48hrs before the sessions if you are not able to make the session that week. If you do not let me know that you cannot attend then I will charge for the session. The reason for this is that if you give me an hours notice or if you do not communicate that you are not attending then this prevents me from offering the session to somebody else. If you would like to rearrange the session then I am happy to accommodate this if I am able to. Please always ask if you want to move a session as more often than not I can accommodate this. 

Please see above. I do offer concessions but unfortunately not every fee can be a concession and I work on the idea that some people pay more which allows me to charge some people less, this approach enables me to offer a service to everyone irrespective of their income or life circumstance. What is important is that you let me know your position in life and how much you can afford otherwise I will charge you the full session fee at that time which could prove prohibitive if you are planning on accessing long term therapy. If in doubt, don't be afraid to ask because I am super accommodating and ultimately my passion is for you to access the support you're looking for. What's the worst that's going to happen?

Unfortunately I'm based in a very old building and there isn't any wheelchair access. If you would like to work with me and this is prohibitive then maybe we could meet online? It can be frsutarting when you find someone that you want to work with but there are barriers in the way, this is where online sessions come into their own.