What can I expect from therapy?
Decision
It can often feel like taking an inescapable plunge when you decide to enter a delicate process such as therapy, letting another know what’s really troubling you. However, you can take it for granted that our work will be handled smoothly and with the greatest respect.
From the outset, all communication, including the initial contact by phone or Zoom call (15-20 minutes), will be confidential (with some exceptions which I can outline when we first meet) and I abide by the UKCP Code of Ethics, so you can be assured that your therapy is treated with the utmost consideration and professionalism.
During the initial contact and after the disclosure of the limits of confidentiality, we can discuss a snapshot of what brings you to therapy, what you hope to achieve, how we might be able to work together in the most effective way, and any questions you might have for me.
Therapy
If we agree to proceed, then subsequent sessions will last for 1 hour, generally weekly, but can be adjusted depending on your needs.
My background is in a person-centred approach which means that you are the expert on your life, and we work with whatever you bring into the session in a way that best suits you. Depending on what we work with, we may utilise hypnosis and various levels of trance work, and I can integrate different psychotherapeutic approaches to best suit your needs, such as Psychodynamic, Transactional Analysis, CBT, Gestalt, and Internal Family Systems.
However, providing a list of approaches may not enable you to make an informed decision about how I can best assist you in addressing your challenges. Instead, I suggest reaching out to me directly. Let's schedule a session where we can meet, discuss the issues you'd like to work on, and proceed accordingly.
Side note:
You may have noticed that I used the terms “integrative therapist” and “hypnotherapist” to describe myself.
You might be wondering “what on Earth is the difference?”
Allow me to explain:
An integrative therapist incorporates techniques from a broad array of therapeutic modalities as discussed above in the previous section, but the key is tailoring them to a specific client: you!
A hypnotherapist utilises a trance-like state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility in order to enhance the therapeutic work.
Both integrative therapy and hypnotherapy are not mutually exclusive.
“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
— Robert Louis Stevenson