Therapy FAQs

What’s your fee?

Therapy sessions cost £80 (online) or £90 (London) and last for 50 minutes.

Writers’ Process Therapy sessions are £90.

I have a limited number of lower cost slots which become available from time to time. Don’t hesitate to ask about this.

I am happy to offer a complimentary phone call of up to 15 minutes ahead of arranging to meet for an initial session.

How often will we meet?

Sessions are weekly and at a regular time. When we’ve met for the first time, we will find a time that works for both of us. That then becomes your slot for the duration of your therapy. I have found that less regular therapy is less effective, and I therefore do not offer it.

I have a contract that sets out fees, timing, holidays and cancellation notice policy, all of which we can discuss in the first session. Feel free to ask me about my terms and conditions when you get in touch.

I’ve never had therapy before. How do I start?

It can feel like a huge step to make your first therapy appointment, but hopefully it will lead to a sense of relief. If you get in touch, we can book an initial exploratory session, during which we can discuss what’s making you consider having some therapy. That first session is a bit more directed by me than other sessions would be: I’ll need to ask some questions about what’s bringing you to therapy, your life and your past so that I can get a fuller sense of what might be happening and whether I think I can help. Then together we’ll discuss whether we think therapy with me would work for you and make a plan. There’s no obligation to continue after that initial session, and if you’d like to dip your toe in but you’re unsure about a long-term commitment, we can discuss a trial period.

What’s the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?

There’s no official or fully agreed distinction between counselling and psychotherapy, but I tend to think of counselling as shorter-term and focusing on more specific problems or issues. Psychotherapy tends to be longer-term, process-led work, which allows you to explore your life more wholly and in greater depth.

How long will I need to come to therapy for?

It’s not really possible to say until we’ve had a chance to explore why you want or need to come to therapy, and had a chance for the relationship between us to develop. Usually, short-term work is for a minimum of three months, but often people like to explore themselves more deeply, leading to longer-term therapy over several years. We would explore your expectations during an initial session and ensure regular reviews. A trial period is often a good idea if you’re nervous about a larger commitment. It’s important to be upfront about your expectations so that we can keep the work safe.

What sort of things do people come to therapy with?

All sorts — and there’s no wrong answer. Mostly I’ve worked with people with anxiety, depression, stress, low self-esteem, creative blocks, and relationship problems. Sometimes people come because they want to explore and know themselves more fully.

If you think therapy might be for you, the best thing would be for us to meet to explore why you’re coming and whether we could work well together. If either of us don’t feel we could work well together, I’d be happy to refer you to someone else or suggest another healing approach.

How do I know what sort of therapy I should have?

Therapy is an industry littered with jargon: CBT, psychoanalysis, humanistic, psychodynamic, existential, Jungian, person-centred, Gestalt, transactional analysis, EMDR, EFT, DBT … the list seems endless, and I haven’t even mentioned Freud yet.

I’m trained in Integrative Transpersonal psychotherapy. That means that I draw on different techniques to work in the way that’s best for you, because I don’t think that one size fits all. I believe it’s important to find out where you’ve come from (the childhood stuff) and also to hold the potential of what’s trying to unfold. I believe that everyone is born with a unique set of qualities that often get covered up by experience, but which are ready to unfold under the right conditions. You can call that a true/authentic self or soul, or whatever rings true for you. The Transpersonal means beyond the personal (or persona), and invites us to explore the persona we show to the world, the qualities of the person behind it, and everything that gets in the way of expressing these qualities.

How long until I’ll feel better? I heard that sometimes therapy makes you feel worse…

Psychotherapy isn’t a quick fix, and healing doesn’t happen in a straight upward line. It can be a relief for people just to share what’s been happening for them and I always aim to help my clients build an initial set of tools and inner resources to ease immediate suffering. However, for deeper healing, sometimes when we start to look at the root cause of whatever the problem is, there can also be a sense of going backwards or feeling worse for a while, while difficult past feelings and experiences rise to the surface to be processed — really, this is feelings that already exist, but they’re becoming conscious so that they can be healed rather than remaining in the unconscious and causing all sorts of other problems. All of this should at your pace.

Is it confidential?

YES, with a few very standard exceptions. First, I take my work to regular clinical supervision, and that in itself is another confidential setting. This is to ensure I’m working with you in the best way possible, and all ethically-practising therapists have supervision. However, I endeavour to protect your identity in this process. The second exception is if you are at serious risk of harming yourself or others. In this circumstance, I will do everything possible to talk to you first. The final exception is in a court of law.

Why talk to a therapist and not a friend? Friends know me better…

Some friends are great listeners and can often give good advice, but they can never be objective, and sometimes we can even overburden friends and family. Therapists are trained with the skills needed to work safely with emotional and mental health. They’re separate to the rest of your life in order to make the therapeutic space secure and safe, and to be able to offer confidential, non-judgemental, unbiased support. A therapist doesn’t have their own motives or agenda. The added bonus is that the space is just for you — the hour is yours, and unlike in friendship, there’s no danger of your therapist feeling burdened by your problems, or rejecting you, no matter what you say.

What about all the childhood stuff?

It’s a cliche of therapy that I’ll ask you about your childhood. There are good reasons for it, though. We have all been impacted by our origins. Early life is when we learn about love and relationships, and get our first impressions of how safe we feel in the world, how safe it is to be ourselves, and we create a script about how the world works and how we fit into it. How we’re treated as small children sets up our levels of self-worth and self-esteem — and ultimately, how we’re treated then is how we treat ourselves now. While many people get “good enough” first experiences of life, meaning they’re able to deal with life’s difficulties with resilience and maintain relationships, for many, many people, that’s not the case. Sometimes that’s because of obvious trauma, abuse or neglect, and often it’s more subtle.

Imagine a little acorn, destined to be a magnificent oak tree. But either it doesn’t get the water or light or nutrients it needs, so it grows weak, or someone says, “Hey, don’t be an oak tree, be a cherry tree instead, because cherries are delicious and no one wants to eat acorn pie.” So the acorn spends all its time trying to be something its not, ultimately forgetting its roots, and ending up feeling lost and confused when it fails to grow cherries, unaware of its original, perfect nature.

I believe that we’re born with a unique set of potential qualities and characteristics, and then life happens imperfectly. In order to figure out who you’re truly meant to be, we need to look at where you’ve come from, and how that’s impacting the way you’re feeling and living today.

Working with the past requires a strong foundation of trust and safety, and we will only go there when you’re ready.

What are your qualifications?

I’m a fully registered psychotherapist. I trained for five years at postgraduate level at CCPE in London on a BACP and UKCP-accredited course, which included 900+ teaching hours, 650+ clinical hours, and hundreds of hours of my own personal therapy. I’ve since completed a diploma in Advanced Psychotherapy at CCPE and am a member of the teaching staff at the organisation. I’m registered by UKCP (UK Council for Psychotherapy). UKCP is one of the country’s leading accrediting bodies for psychotherapists, and upholds the highest standards for the profession. I abide by their code of ethics. I undertake regular on-going training/CPD.

I also hold a BA in English Literature from the University of Warwick, and have studied publishing at postgraduate level at Columbia University in New York.