FAQs

My standard fee for psychotherapy is £90 per session.  

I have a small number of spaces for clients of very limited financial means, although these are often full. If you need to discuss the fee and what you can afford to pay, please let me know on initial contact.

Supervision fees are discussed on an individual basis with each clinician. As a general guide, I suggest a fee of your standard hourly rate.

In a word, no. Central to therapy, especially attachment-based work, is the sense of offering a regular and consistent space where you can feel fully met on an emotional level.  Sessions less frequent than weekly tend to feel less containing and holding, and run the risk of becoming a space to check in rather than do deeper work. It can therefore become a false economy.

The only time we might meet less frequently is towards the end of the therapy, as a way to wean off of sessions. This is agreed on an individual basis.

This is a really important question - the quality of the therapeutic relationship is key to whether the treatment works or not. 

A person needs to have a sense that they feel comfortable enough with the therapist to be able to engage in what can sometimes be very painful and challenging work. Many people know within a minute or so of meeting someone whether they connect, so it is important to trust your gut instinct. And this is especially true if your gut is saying ‘no, this person doesn’t feel right for me’.       

Other important points to consider are the model the therapist uses - essentially, the beliefs they hold about the origins of emotional distress. I believe that the roots of our emotional distress can often be traced back to our childhood and early infancy, even before we learn to talk.  Obvious examples of this would include abuse of any form (sexual, physical or emotional), neglect, or being cared for by carers who are struggling in their own right, perhaps with untreated mental health problems, financial difficulties, or who are very isolated. All of these can (but not necessarily will) mean that the carer is not as emotionally available as a young infant needs, which can have profound lasting effects on a person’s ability to make and maintain relationships throughout their life. Addressing this is a key aspect of the therapy I do.

This is one of those "How long is a piece of string?" questions. As someone who has benefited from therapy over many years, I believe the value of therapy continues to grow the longer you stick with it. But I would add that therapy is my job and my life - I am committed to being the best version of myself, for my clients, my family and friends, and for myself, so I remain in regular therapy. But I appreciate this isn’t true for everyone, and that finances are often a key factor in the equation.

Over the time I’ve worked as a psychotherapist, I have noticed a natural rhythm to therapy. People come knowing that they want to address certain distressing issues. To begin with, there is an urgency to the work - the problem/s that trigger someone to seek therapy feel hard to manage, and life feels challenging. As therapy proceeds, there may be an immediate sense of things improving (‘a problem shared’), but sometimes things might actually feel harder for a bit. This is normal - therapy encourages us to face our problems head-on, to avoid the avoidance, as it were. But hopefully, with the right support, things begin to feel more settled and the work can become really productive.

Gradually, once things improve, therapy might become less of a priority for them. There may be a shift from sessions being the focus of the week, to there being a level of resentment or annoyance about coming to a session. If this continues and isn’t related to an issue that needs attention, it might mean that the urgent need for therapy is waning; that looking outwards and exploring life is more exciting than looking inwards and/or backwards. Therapy has served its purpose.

So how long does this all take? We are back to the “How long is a piece of string?” question. Clearly, everyone is unique, and so every therapy is unique, but I have noticed that for many, the length of time this whole process takes can be around 1-2 years. That’s not to say that it might be shorter or much longer - if your own therapy doesn’t match what I have just described, but is making a big difference to you, trust the process. It is also important to say that if someone has had a very difficult early life (which may have included abuse of some kind, but not necessarily), the therapy can take longer and have a different feel. But for many of the people I have worked with, 1-2 years of therapy has enabled them to make significant and lasting changes.

Working out what the right length and frequency of therapy is for you is central to how I work, and is done in collaboration with you from day one.