I offer one-to one counselling to clients from all walks of life
and ethnic
backgrounds. I endeavour to provide you, as my client, with a
non-judgemental,
space in which you can explore your life or situation and find
solutions to your problems.
I will neither tell you what to do nor offer advice. The unique
relationship between client
and counsellor will be the foundation of our work. This
relationship is created specifically in
your service, to facilitate and support your efforts to find
solutions to your problems.
My first session is without fee. This is because I believe it is
important for us to meet and decide whether or not to work
together before there has been any financial commitment.
During the first session
we will talk about the practicalities of working together, such
as how often we would meet, how long the sessions would last and
what my fee would be. Most of my clients come for one hour, once
a week. Some prefer to come for shorter or longer sessions, more
or less frequently. I am happy and normally I am able to be
flexible on both issues. My fee is also negotiated during the
first session, according to your ability to pay, up to a maximum
of £40 for 60 minutes. I firmly believe in the usefulness of
counselling and so want to be available to you, in a way that
suits you and whether you are able to pay my full fee or not.
Confidentiality is an important aspect of counselling, and this too will be discussed during the first session. Counselling remains at all times confidential but there may be rare occasions when I would want to break the confidentiality I offer. This would only happen if I thought that you were in serious and imminent danger to yourself or to another, or in the very rare situation when I would be legally bound to do so. I would always discuss this with you, and would encourage you to seek further help yourself; only in an extreme case would I consider breaking confidentiality myself. I am, of course, willing to discuss this further if you wish.
