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Welcome to Counselling
What is counselling? Counselling
is a place for you to talk about whatever is troubling you - there are no 'no-go' areas. Few, if any of us, sail through life without any problems; as we
go along, we each develop our own ways of coping with situations. Sometimes, however, the difficulties
we hit are just too great for us to overcome without support and help from others. Or else, we do manage
to cope with all kinds of traumas, losses and misfortunes and then something happens, it may be a small thing, and it is the
‘last straw’. Counselling can be a time to stop and reflect
on what is going on in your life, a time to examine the possibilities and choices that lie before you.
You may choose to have a small number of weekly sessions (e.g. six, eight,
twelve), longer term therapy (e.g. six months, a year) or open-ended therapy (a few years). It is your decision and it will depend on many factors, including what you want to get out of it: are you looking for
help with a specific present difficulty? Are you trying to come to terms with long-standing problems?
Do you want to make major changes in your life? You can also
come for one single session to talk about your situation before deciding whether you wish to opt for counselling. Counselling sessions are fifty minutes long.
Confidentiality: Our relationship is confidential: while I may be required to say that you have attended sessions if
your employer or a management company is paying for them, the content of the sessions will remain confidential. There
are three exceptions to this: disclosures involving the Terrorism Act; disclosures of yourself as being a danger to others;
disclosures which require me to act within my duty of care under the Children Act. Even in such cases, I would
not break confidentiality without discussing the matter with you first. All counsellors
have to be in regular supervision and some of the material of the sessions would at times be discussed with my supervisor,
in an anonymous form.
Method of Work: I work from an Existential perspective – exploring
with each client what it means for them to be human and to grapple with life’s
problems. The therapeutic work is a joint endeavour between client and therapist: I focus with you on what
you bring and pay attention to what matters to you personally. Together
we can look at the values, assumptions and ways of thinking and reacting that underlie your ways of relating to others and
to the world. The aim of such an exploration is to come to terms with your limitations, with what you cannot
change in your life and to develop a greater awareness of the things that you can change and of the possibilities that are
open to you. The Existential approach to therapy is holistic in that it sees body, mind,
emotions, spirit as inseparable aspects of being, which all require our concern and care.
Training, Affiliation and Practice.
I am a UKCP (United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy) and EAP
(European Association for Psychotherapy) registered Existential psychotherapist and a supervisor. I am a senior
accredited member of BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy)
and also a member of the Society for Existential Analysis, and the Society for Psychotherapy. For any enquiries
or complaints, my organization of reference is the Universities Psychotherapy and Counselling Association (UPCA) section of
UKCP. I adhere to the UKCP and BACP Frameworks for Ethical Practice, I have regular supervision and professional
indemnity insurance. I work part-time in an NHS hospital where I run
specialized counselling services and I have a private, more general practice in South
Croydon.
Practicalities
My
fees have, for the last two years remained
at £50.00 per 50 minute session (£45.00 for trainees), payable after each session in the case of short-term counselling;
longer-term clients are invoiced monthly at the end of each month. I do not charge for the sessions when I am away; I
do however charge for sessions which you miss, unless you give me at least one week’s notice.
Transport:-If you are coming by car, you can park in the drive.
-The nearest
railway station to me is South Croydon (BR zone 5), which is approximately a ten to fifteen minute walk from here - down to
the Brighton Road, then left, past the Esso garage, to Haling Park Road which is on the other side of the road.
-East Croydon is the mainline station. You can take a 312 or a 466 bus from opposite
the station, in front of the Mondial Assistance building, and get off one stop after the Esso garage that is after the Swan
and Sugar Loaf pub. The stop is called Haling Park Road, but the bus goes just beyond it. You will need to cross the road
and walk back a little. The bus takes about ten minutes and there is a short walk at the end, some of it uphill. -I am also on the following bus routes: 60, 166, 312, 405, 407, 466, 468.
As I have no waiting-room, I'm afraid that I cannot receive you
before your appointment time.
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