Frequently Asked Questions
Sessions are 60 minutes long. If required, EMDR sessions may be up to 90 minutes but this will be discussed with you if this proves necessary.
Therapy is usually weekly or fortnightly in the first instance and may be scheduled less frequently if appropriate. A treatment plan that best fits your financial resources can also be considered e.g. some people chose to see me monthly in order to spread the cost of treatment.
Assessments are always undertaken at the beginning of therapy to ascertain your current difficulties, to draw up an agreed understanding of these difficulties and to plan a way forward. This usually takes one or two sessions.
An Individual Treatment Plan will be devised for you based on the assessment and focused on recovery as soon as possible.
Treatment Reviews will be built in to your treatment plan so that we can assess for effectiveness and ensure that you are gaining from therapy.
Treatment may be more open-ended and we can collaboratively agree when it feels like we have completed the work.
Treatment may be targeted on specific issues or symptoms and the treatment plan will reflect this.
Treatment plans can be broken down in to “chunks” so that we might work together for a period of time, have a break and then come together to work on another issue.
Treatment can also include “top-up’s” and may be conducted as single sessions.
As a general rule of thumb, many treatment plans are between 6 and 20 sessions long with an average of around 12 sessions for a lot of people.
Psychologists in the UK must be regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). All psychologists registered with the HCPC are trained to doctorate level or equivalent and have met the standards to practice, take part in continuing professional development, work to appropriate ethical guidelines and are permitted to use the protected title psychologist. You can check the register using this link and my registration number is PYL29955.
https://www.hcpc-uk.org/check-the-register/
Psychotherapists and counsellors are regulated by private organisations with the lead organisations in the UK being the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
The leading organisation in the UK for Cognitive Behavioural Therapists (CBT) is the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP). Anyone with an interest in CBT can become a member of BABCP, but only those who have completed a recognised post – graduate training course in CBT can be an accredited member.
To help keep yourself safe, please ensure that you check the appropriate registers to ensure that you are working with an individual who is of an appropriate competency level for you. Expect to pay more for psychologists, psychotherapists and accredited counsellors, but be assured that you are safe and with someone experienced and who has appropriate supervision and ethical competencies.
Creating a safe and secure space for you to share your difficulties is very important in therapy and, in almost every circumstance, what you talk about will not be shared with others. There are some exceptions to this, for example, if I feel that you are at risk of hurting yourself or others, then I may need to let someone know. If you have been referred to me from another organisation, I may be requested to write a report about our work together. I will remind you of this when we first meet and you will be asked to sign a contract so that you are clear about the boundaries of our work together.
If you are self-funding, sessions are £85 per 60 minutes. The cost of sessions via a third party vary and will be discussed with you when planning therapy.