What is therapy
Therapy is a place where we can explore your feelings and any difficulties that are troubling you. In confidential meetings we work together to look to understand what is happening, and why you are affected by certain things. Through understanding what is going on in your mind, therapy can help you access new skills, options and abilities.
Therapy is a creative process involving exploration, discovery and finding out what is most useful for you. It works best when if feels ‘alive’, which helps us to give a sense that change is possible.
The first meeting
The first consultation is an opportunity to look at what is causing you difficulties or concerns, and work out what kind of help is most useful for you. It’s also a chance to get to know each other, and a first opportunity to ask questions and speak about any concerns you may have about therapy. There is no obligation to continue with therapy after the first meeting, and sometimes it’s best to arrange a second meeting before deciding whether to commence regular therapy.
How therapy works
During therapy we expect to understand more about what is happening in your life, including your feelings, beliefs and patterns of experience. The relationship with the therapist can also be a place where events and feelings from the past can resurface, and this can allow a different type of understanding to emerge, perhaps for the first time. These processes can involve an unconscious process, and it is possible to experience unsettling feelings within the therapy; sometimes this may not be expected, and can include feelings of anger and disappointment amongst others. These types of thoughts and feelings can be important, and it can be very helpful to talk about them with the therapist, even though this can also feel difficult at times.
The ending of therapy is also an important part of the process, for similar reasons. If you are thinking of ending therapy, it is nearly always most helpful to try to speak about this in advance.
Cancellation and breaks
In general therapy works best with weekly sessions,. We try to arrange regular sessions at the same time each week, in order to best support the process, and usually a specific time is set aside for you for the duration of the therapy. There may be times where you are not able to attend, and if this happens we can try to rearrange a cancelled session within the same calendar month, as long as 48 hours notice is given of any change. The cost of any missed session will need to be paid for, if it is not possible to rearrange it within the same calendar month, apart from in exceptional circumstances.
Therapy sessions are not held on bank holidays, and I would normally take a break during several weeks in the summer, as well as a shorter break at Easter and over the December holiday. Notice of breaks in sessions will be given in advance, and in the unlikely event that I have to cancel a session, no charge applies.
Please feel free to ask if you have any questions about this.
Contact
(+44) 07931 707635
Adam Sandelson Counselling and Psychotherapy 