Each session, unless specifically discussed and agreed otherwise, lasts for 50 minutes.

Counselling sessions are usually held weekly, with short breaks taken in line with school holidays and a longer break over the summer. How long the counselling process will take depends on a number of things. We will discuss in our initial session whether you are looking for short term or longer term therapy. Short term therapy may be suitable to explore a specific issue, while longer term therapy offers the opportunity to seek deeper change. Whether you are looking for short or long term therapy, we will have regular review sessions to reflect on how the counselling process is progressing.

Your appointment runs from the time we agreed to meet until 50 minutes later. If you are late I'm unfortunately not able to extend your session - this means that if you arrive 20 minutes late we will only be able to talk for 30 minutes. If you are running late it is always worth coming still though - even if we can't have a full session. You will still be charged for the full session. If you do not come to the session you have booked you will still be charged the full session fee, unless a specific agreement has been reached beforehand. As a general rule, we will agree to meet weekly during term time, and my invoices will reflect this.

Everything we talk about in our sessions is confidential. The only exceptions to this occur if I feel that you or someone else is in immediate danger, or if I am legally required to share my notes. In this rare instance I will always endeavor to talk to you first, and hopefully together we will be able to agree the best course of action. As a counsellor working within the BACP ethical framework I share details of our sessions with my supervisor. You are not identifiable within these discussions. I also keep brief factual notes about our sessions - again, you are not identifiable from these.

Unless agreed otherwise, you will be invoiced towards the end of each month. Payment is due on the 1st, and must be made by the first session of the month.

To be able to properly fulfill my responsibilities as a counsellor it is necessary for me to store some personal, and sometimes sensitive information about you. Under GDPR I need your consent in order to to this. My Privacy Statement, explaining what information I keep, why and how I keep it, and what your rights are, can be found here. I bring a copy of this statement for you to sign to our initial session, and keep a digital copy for my own records.