What’s the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?

There’s considerable overlap. Both can be enriching and help you to deal with your problems and issues in a more effective way. Counselling often focuses on a specific problem or crisis, where as psychotherapy tends to explore more deeply-rooted patterns perhaps at an unconscious level including  arising from your past. Unlike some counsellors, psychotherapists will have been through therapy themselves as part of their training and development.

What happens in counselling and therapy?

A therapy or counselling session provides a safe and confidential setting in which to explore your concerns. You may need to experience and express feelings, examine your relationships and patterns of being, or overcome deep fears. Over time, the therapy sessions can support you in trying out new ways of expressing yourself and in discovering how to live more authentically.

How long will it take?

It depends on what kind of help you are looking for –and this is negotiated directly with you. Some people are seeking short term support through a particular crisis period, while others are interested in exploring particular issues or deeply rooted patterns over a longer period of time. An important aspect of my work includes inviting you to explore and review your personal goals/ timeframes on an ongoing basis.

Generally based on meeting weekly for one hour :

Short term counselling –from 6 weeks to 3 months – helpful as a support to people going through crisis periods of their lives, or those who have never been for counselling before and would like to try it.

Longer term counselling – from 3 months to a year – helpful in supporting people to explore particular issues in their current life in a safe and supportive environment.

Psychotherapy – One year or more   - useful for exploring deeply rooted patterns and ways of being, particularly around relational issues.

How frequent are the counselling/psychotherapy sessions?

Again this depends. Ordinarily I see people for one hour sessions on a weekly basis, which I believe offers the safest containment for ongoing work. Sometimes however, I work with different arrangements - for example at times we may agree to plan for a slightly longer session if a client needs to work through a particular issue/experience. Additionally some clients may prefer to come less frequently, and this may be the best way for them to make use of therapy. I am always happy to discuss options around this, and see my role as one of supporting clients to get in touch with their core needs.

How much will it cost?

My fees are £40 per one hour session