How I Work

My first aim is to understand the issues you face.  Then, in collaboration with you, I begin to tailor my approach so it will help you tackle the issues you face in a satisfactory way.  Throughout the work I obtain your feedback on what you think works best and change what doesn't.  My overall aim is to strengthen your own ability to identify and implement solutions, so that you no longer need me and feel empowered to get more of what you really want from life.  See what clients say about how I have worked with them.

Because this format is effective, normally meetings are organised weekly, at the same time, on the same day and each session lasts 50 minutes.  The number of sessions will vary depending on your needs.

The Initial Meeting

I view our first meeting as an opportunity for both of us to explore whether working together will help you find a solution to the problem(s) you are facing. During this meeting I like to obtain a basic outline of the problem(s) which made you seek therapy and identify what a good therapy outcome would look like for you. This meeting is also an opportunity for you to check out my style of working. I like to answer any questions you have about the way I work. I will let you know if I think the skills I have will make me effective in supporting you to find a solution for your problem. If I do not think I can be of help, I will make recommendations for alternatives that may be more helpful to you.

If I believe I can help you, I am aware that you might like to go away and think for a while before making a decision to work with me or not. Alternatively, you may like to organise a further meeting or more at the end of the session. I do recommend that you check out a number of therapists in order to get the best sense of which approach will work best for you. You can learn more about the Therapies I Offer by clicking that section on this website menu.

Further Meetings

I find that people differ greatly in how they like to plan their therapy sessions, depending on the problems they are dealing with and the solutions they are seeking. Therefore, I like to discuss your requirements and agree an initial plan we can work towards. This always has flexibility and can be changed. You can get an idea about the number of sessions other people find useful in the How Long Will It Take section on this website.

Once we have agreed the structure for further sessions, we commence the work.

At the beginning of each session I ask you what you want to work on and obtain feedback throughout the work about which interventions are most helpful and which are not. My aim is to build on what you find most helpful.