Counselling can be helpful for many emotional and mental health difficulties, including anxiety, depression, stress, bereavement, relationship issues, trauma, and low self-esteem but there are many other things that therapy can help with.

There is no set number of counselling sessions, as everyone's needs and circumstances are different. Some people find that a few sessions are enough to help them work through a specific issue, while others benefit from longer-term support. We will review how things are progressing regularly and you can decide what feels right for you.

Confidentiality is a vital part of counselling and helps create a safe space where you can speak openly. Everything discussed in our sessions remains confidential, with a few exceptions relating to safety and legal responsibilities. These will be explained fully during our first session, so you know exactly where you stand. This includes confidentiality from parents unless I am worried about you/your young person, however this will be discussed in session and prior to working together.

It's completely normal to feel nervous about starting counselling. Many people feel unsure about what to say or worry about opening up to someone new. You don't need to prepare anything or have all the answers. My role is to help you feel comfortable, listened to, and supported. We can take things one step at a time and work at a pace that feels right for you.

Counselling can be helpful if you are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, low in mood, struggling with relationships, coping with a loss, or simply finding life difficult. You do not need to be in crisis to benefit from therapy. It can provide a safe space to explore your thoughts and feelings and gain greater self-awareness.

That's completely normal. Many people begin counselling unsure where to start. Your counsellor will help you explore what feels important at a pace that feels comfortable.

A positive therapeutic relationship is one of the most important factors in successful counselling. It is important that you feel comfortable, respected, and understood by your counsellor.

As counselling/psychotherapy is confidential, I do not provide any feedback or reports to parents/carers. However, if I was worried about your young person’s safety, this overrides confidentiality, and I would make contact with you to discuss my concerns. Occasionally, feedback/reports are required by other agencies, such as health insurance providers who are funding the therapy. I can provide a brief overview of the work and/or goals for therapy and this will be in collaboration with the young person to ensure they consent to the information being shared.

This depends upon a number of factors such as presenting issues, engagement in therapy and the complexity of the work. I offer both short term and longer term work. Some clients may access 6-12 sessions and feel that is enough, other clients may want/need longer term or open-ended therapy. Whilst being mindful of external factors, such as cost of therapy and ongoing time commitments, it’s likely the young person will know when they feel ready to end therapy.

Hopefully you have a wonderful time! Please do let me know of any planned breaks in advance so we can prepare for these within our sessions. There are no charges for when you are on holiday provided you’ve given the required 48 hours notice of non attendance to an appointment.

You can provide me with an update should you wish to. However, please be mindful that anything you share with me, I will share with the young person. This ensures that the therapeutic relationship between client and therapist remains foremost, maintains the integrity of the work, fosters a climate of openness and honesty and builds trust. It’s also worth noting that if time is spent during a session sharing the contents of any updates, this may reduce the time a young person has to focus upon what is most important for them to share within the session

Step one will be for me to speak directly to your young person in a meet and greet with yourselves and together we will ascertain readiness and consent for therapy. However, sometimes when the time comes to attend a young person has changed their mind or is unsure about starting. It’s important that the young person is willing and consenting to counselling in order for it to be safe, ethical and effective. Often, entering counselling, particularly for the first time, can be daunting. Sometimes attending a first full appointment will give the young person a clearer picture as to whether this is the right intervention at the right time. However, sometimes a young person will make it very clear that they no longer wish to attend at which point they are withdrawing their consent and it would not be safe nor ethical to start/continue.

Ideally sessions happen at the same time, on the same day each week, but life happens and things change. If you need to amend the time/day of an appointment I may be able to accommodate this but it will depend upon my availability and there may be a wait for your preferred time/day to become available. Equally, I may need to approach you should our planned day/time no longer be available on an ongoing basis.

Usually, the only contact we have between sessions is to arrange or rearrange appointments. Should your young person require additional support between sessions, for example if they are in crisis, they would need to access a crisis service such as Childline (0800 1111, childline.org.uk), PAPYRUS HOPELINE247 on 0800 068 4141, Shout - 24/7 text service Text 85258, NHS 111, contact your GP or attend A&E.

Your young person can end therapy at any time and we can discuss this together in our session. Often it’s best if this is a planned ending so we may work towards it as it approaches. However, sometimes that isn’t possible. Ideally, I would suggest at least a week’s notice to end sessions. I will undertake regular reviews with your young person, in our sessions, and together we may decide that the time is right to end.

Quite simply - YES! I welcome all from various walks of life