What to expect from therapy
What kinds of therapy do I offer?
I am fully qualified to treat many conditions using a variety of therapeutic models that are widely acknowledged to be effective (and you may have heard of already) including:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
Compassion Focussed Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Brief Solution Focussed Treatment
I use these models and techniques to help us identify the causes of your current situation and choose the right solutions for you, tailored specifically to your needs and personality.
How do we get started?
We will arrange an initial meeting to identify the issues you want help with. we will also discuss any concerns you might have about therapy, and discuss the treatment options that work best in your situation.
We then have two more sessions dedicated to understanding what’s going on for you in greater depth, and identify the underlying causes of any difficult emotions, feelings or behaviours you are experiencing.
These initial sessions are really important to determine the best treatment plan for you. We will choose the treatment plan by looking at what the evidence-base recommends for the challenges you’re experiencing and which therapeutic framework suits your personality and preferences best.
At the beginning of the work we’ll sign a contract which will explain my commitment to you, confidentiality, payment and other practical details. You can choose to finish the therapy at any time, or change the focus of the work.
What is a typical session like?
Most psychological therapy involves self-reflection and thinking about our own behaviour and habits. We call it work because it’s not easy - there are no quick fixes or magic solutions for our feelings, we have to work through them. Don’t worry, we’ll get there together - and if you are reading this, you’ve already made the first and hardest step towards making a constructive change in your life.
We will tailor the treatment and the structure to what suits you, and have regular reviews to ensure we’re achieving what we set out to do, benchmark your progress and identify new goals or the end of therapy. Typically, we’ll meet for an hour on a weekly basis, but the frequency of this varies according to individual preference.
What will I do in our sessions?
Therapy is invariably successful when the relationship works well. My job is to help you make sense of your situation, feelings and behaviours with you, without judgement. You need to feel understood, supported and validated.
In our sessions I will help you develop new techniques, strategies and skills that support the person you want to be, the relationships you want to have and the life you want to live. But the most empowering part of therapy is realising you are in control of your life, and in our sessions you are working on yourself. This may include acting on agreed tasks in-between sessions, and reporting back on your progress.
Online & Face-to-face Therapy
I usually arrange initial contact online via Zoom to ensure we are a good fit and check that therapy is the right course of action for you.
After this initial consultation, we can make arrangements for face-to-face sessions, or continue with online sessions (which can be just as effective) at your preference.
I work from my own private therapy rooms located in Suffolk approx. 40 minutes drive from Colchester, 30 minutes from Ipswich, and 20 minutes from Sudbury.