For many clients the counselling style of helping is something new for them. For those who have had counselling before working with the Person-Centred model may be something new. As such it is not at all unusual for new clients to this type of work to have many questions and reservations about what is involved. I hope I am able to answer some of your questions in this section.

I am more than happy to provide you with additional information if I haven't covered your particular query here. Please see the 'Location and Contacts Page' for information on how to do this.

An initial meeting will give us an opportunity to explore how we might best work together. No further obligation is assumed by either party as a result of attending the initial meeting. You may decide at that point that you don't want to continue any further or I may decide that the material you want to work on falls outside my areas of expertise and experience and that it might be better for you to work with someone else.

If we decide that we would want to work together we can begin to establish an initial number of sessions to commit to and build in an appropriate review so we can reflect on the process and determine how best to move the work forward.

A 'Client Information Sheet' with more details about the initial meeting is available. If you would like a copy email me or phone me

Sometimes the client's expectations about what can be achieved through counselling can be unrealistic. On occasions this might also be true of the therapist. The initial hopes of a possible solution, resolution or acceptance with regard to the presenting issue can often get dimmed in the reality of the work that will be needed to get there.

I believe positive outcomes are more likely if we share our hopes and concerns at the beginning of the process and try to determine what might be achieved in the time we have available.

During the process of the work expectations and possible outcomes may well change. I believe it is beneficial to work in a 'fluid' rather than 'rigid' way and to make adjustments as we go along in order to ensure our work remains relevant and appropriate.

I would like my services to be as accessible as possible and I am always willing to explore how I might be able to help you within any financial limitations you might have. This might include telephone or email counselling.

I am currently offering an initial session at NO CHARGE, which might last up to 60 minutes and will allow us to explore the possibility of working together.

My standard fee for individual clients attending a 50 minute session is £35. I am able to offer to trainee counsellors and clients on low income some concessionary fee places which take into account your personal financial circumstances. I charge a higher rate for corporate clients or if I am asked to invoice for my fees.

Your safety and well-being is my major concern and I will do my best to ensure that our work together remains ethical and safe.

Two of the keys features that play a part in this process are confidentiality and supervision, which are explained in more detail below.

I provide counselling work within a confidential setting. In broad terms this means that anything you share with me during a counselling session will remain private and will not be shared with anyone else. You should be aware that some details of my work is shared in supervision, although you do not have to be identified in this process. I can explain how this works in more detail when we meet

There may be rare occasions when it might be necessary for me to consider breaking the confidentiality agreement. If this was the case I would want to bring this to your attention so that we can both explore how it would be best to proceed. At our initial meeting I can negotiate our confidentiality agreement and include any specific elements that might be necessary to keep the work ethical and safe.

Regular and on-going supervision of my work is an ethical requirement of my membership of the BACP and is an activity all qualified counsellors engage in.

More information on the BACP Ethical Framework is available here

Supervision ensures that my work remains ethical and safe.

In supervision I explore my professional practice and clinical work with clients. The purpose and focus of supervision is on how work. I can do this without the need to identify you as my client.

I am delighted to be able to offer spaces to counsellors in training. Some courses require therapy as a mandatory requirement for accreditation, whilst others view this as optional.

I offer reduced fees to trainees on recognised courses. Please contact me if you are interested so we can discuss your individual requirement in more detail.

I hope you find our work together to be productive and beneficial. However, even with the best intentions sometimes things can go wrong.

During our work together I would welcome your feedback and encourage you to bring anything you are unhappy with to my attention. By doing so will enable us to explore what is going on in an open and honest way and hopefully resolve the situation that fells OK for both of us.

If you have any serious concerns about the way I work with you these can be addressed through the BACP Professional Conduct procedure. I can provide you with details of how to this. You can also find out more by following the link above.