How does online counselling work?
- I will email you a Zoom link and all you need to do is open it when it is time for your session. You can join a meeting on Zoom without needing to make an account or downloading the app, although the app may run more cleanly on some devices.
- Here is a beginner’s guide for Zoom: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360034967471-Quick-start-guide-for-new-users
- Make sure that the place you choose for your session is somewhere comfortable where you will not be overheard. Think ahead about what you might need during the 50 minutes, like a glass of water or tissues.
Will the things I talk about in therapy be confidential?
- I take confidentiality extremely seriously; this includes the fact you are attending counselling, and anything you speak about with me in sessions. The only exception to this rule is if I have serious concerns about your safety, or the safety of another person.
- It is also an ethical requirement for all counsellors in the UK have a clinical supervisor. This is a person who supports us with professional development and with maintaining good practice. Work is discussed without revealing the identities of clients, and takes place in a confidential setting.
Will you be offering in-person sessions in the future?
This will remain an online and telephone only service, regardless of what happens with the pandemic.
Do you only work with LGBTQ+ people?
I am happy to work with clients of any orientation and gender.
Why speak to a therapist when I could just talk to family/friends?
Loved ones can be incredibly helpful during difficult times in our lives; however, sometimes the emotional bonds we have with them can make it more difficult to get what we need. Often people close to us have a vested interest in which choices we make. We can also feel unable to truly open up out of fear of burdening, shocking or upsetting them. A therapist is someone entirely outside the situation whose emotional reactions you don’t need to worry about.
What kinds of issues do you have experience working with?
Work with past clients has been vary varied but a few of the themes include: depression, anxiety, childhood abuse, trauma, questions of identity, sexuality, gender, family conflicts, relationship difficulties, parenting, loneliness, low self-esteem, bereavement, body image, chronic illness and disability, work stress, career decisions, discrimination and bullying.
There is a particular thing I really want to talk about, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to ‘open the box’.
There is no set time frame for our work together. I recognise the courage it takes to open up, and it is only natural that it might take time to feel safe enough to share particular parts of your story. You are welcome to use your sessions as best suits your needs. Working on less intense topics like daily functioning is a perfectly legitimate way to spend a session even if you originally sought out therapy to address something ‘bigger’.
I don’t live in the UK – can I still work with you?
I am very happy to work with international clients! However, there are different legal requirements for being a therapist in different countries, so it is dependent on where you are based. Please do contact me and I will be able to let you know.
I have a particular mental health diagnosis – how would you work with that?
For medical professionals its helpful to group people into categories to make a treatment plan, but as a therapist I am only interested on your specific experience. It’s for you to decide if your diagnosis is meaningful to you, or if the process around being diagnosed impacted you in a particular way (positive or negative) that you would like to discuss.
