FAQs

Why use Counselling and Psychotherapy?

Talking through your problems with a trained professional can help you get to the root cause of your difficulties, enabling you to re-evaluate your life and become open to the possibility of change.

How will therapy help me?

Throughout our therapeutic journey together, it’s my aim to help you get to know yourself more intimately, revealing any thoughts, feelings or behaviour patterns that may be affecting you. We will look at the relationship you have with yourself, others, and in life generally. We might also explore the history of these patterns, and carefully, empathically, and tentatively delve deeper into your past experiences and memories formed in childhood or adolescence to understand how these experiences may have affected your current views, assumptions, moods, fears, fantasies and desires and unhelpful behaviours. However, for therapy to truly work, it is vital that you feel a certain level of trust as you share such challenging and often terrifying thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It is my job, as your therapist to build this trust with you, always show compassion, and listen in a way that helps you feel no judgement ever towards you or anything that you share. I will be open, receptive and validate your emotions and thoughts, and take you on your therapeutic journey that is at your pace. In time, as the relationship strengthens, I will help you by challenging your thoughts, views, and beliefs, and help you see things from different perspectives. I will always be open, frank, and honest with you, whilst always showing respect and compassion. 

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” – Anne Lamott

What is CBT?

Cognitive Behavioural therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that looks at your thoughts, feelings and behaviours and helps to change some of these to manage your problems.

A key part of this is identifying the negative thinking patterns that you may feel trapped in, helping you to break free from these and to feel better.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which provides guidance for the treatment of mental ill health in the NHS, recommends CBT for anxiety, depression, panic attacks, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), health anxiety and schizophrenia. There are also CBT interventions for people who are struggling with anger issues, sleep problems, chronic fatigue and other long-term health conditions, such as diabetes, chronic pain and cancer.

 CBT starts by looking at your negative automatic thoughts, then as therapy continues, behavioural experiments will help to test out longstanding assumptions that you may hold about yourself. CBT also works on your core beliefs that may have developed since early childhood.

What is Person-centred Therapy?

Person-centred counselling is one of the ‘humanistic’ methods of counselling and psychotherapy. It was founded in the 1940s by the American psychologist Carl Rogers who believed that, given the right conditions, a person can reach their full potential and become their true self, which he termed ‘self-actualisation’. This actualisation process is innate and accessible to everyone.

During our sessions I will help you to explore your issues, feelings, beliefs, behaviours, and views you may have towards yourself, others and your worldview, so you can become more self-aware and achieve greater independence.

I will treat you as the expert on yourself, as no-one else knows exactly what it’s like to be you. I will not judge you, no matter what you bring to the session. This helps build a trustworthy relationship in which you can feel free and supported to disclose whatever is troubling you. Eventually it will lead you to discover your own abilities and autonomy, so that you can cope with current and future problems.

What is Attachment Theory?

Attachment theory is used as form of counselling and psychotherapy and can be used to treat mood disorders, anxiety disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), personality disorders, unresolved childhood traumas, and relationship issues, such as co-dependency and avoidant behaviours.

This approach works as part of a deeper and longer-term therapy, during which careful use of empathy and compassion can help an individual to address and resolve their past traumas and attachment wounds, stemming from childhood. It is my strong belief that many client issues from attachment wounds formed in childhood are usually a strong part of the root cause of many common psychological issues and relationship problems.

With adults, it often involves an exploration of a client’s early memories from childhood through the lens of attachment theory, identifying a client’s unmet childhood needs, and helping them draw on their inner and outer resources and as with the aim of meeting those needs in adulthood now.

How long will it take?

I offer short term (6-12 weeks) and long-term therapy, depending on your reasons for seeking help. As everyone is unique and no two clients will have the same experience of therapy, I tailor each session according to your issues, fears, desires, needs, and goals and will support you in resolving or achieving them. 

Will it work?

Talking therapies (Counselling and Psychotherapy) have been shown to be effective in assisting with many common psychological problems including depression, anxiety, relationship problems, low self-esteem, bereavement and loss, stress, work-related issues, trauma, and abuse.

Many studies have concluded that the most decisive factor affecting the outcome of therapy is the quality of the relationship between therapist and client.  It is therefore important that you feel heard and understood in a safe, confidential, and non-judgmental environment and I will strive to treat you with respect, dignity, and compassion at all times.

How will my personal data be stored?

I am GDPR compliant, and any information held about you is anonymised and kept in a locked cabinet that only I have access to.

Will everything I tell you be kept confidential?

Absolutely yes! It is essential that, as a trained professional and member of the BACP I must abide by and follow their Ethical Framework and legal requirements. This means that anything that is discussed during our sessions will never be shared with anyone. The only exceptions to total confidentiality are:

  • If you give me consent to share any information with specific people.
  • If I have reason to believe that you are at serious risk of harm to yourself or someone else.
  • If you disclose any threat to national security such as act of terrorism.
  • If you disclose any knowledge of harm or potential harm to a child or vulnerable adult.
  • If you disclose any knowledge of drug trafficking or money laundering.
  • In the event of a court subpoena, I must provide evidence as required by law.
  • In my clinical supervision: It is standard ethical and professional practise that therapists regularly discuss their work with a fellow professional, a supervisor. The reason is to ensure I am always following and adhering to the BACP ethical and professional standards. However, during these times, only your issues and my work with you will ever be discussed, and will never use your surname, personal details or any information that would disclose your identity.
What can I expect during my first session?

During your initial, pre-arranged telephone 30-minute assessment, I will ask some questions around your reasons for coming to therapy and when you began to feel ‘stuck.’ I understand this first step can be very difficult. You may feel nervous, anxious, and emotional. That’s okay and perfectly normal. I will listen to you carefully and show no judgement whatsoever. People often tell me that simply hearing themselves talk to a trained professional whilst thinking about the questions I ask, has a profound impact on their ability to reflect on what has been happening in a way that is immensely helpful to them.

Following your initial assessment, we will agree a suitable day and time to meet for your first 50-minute session, during which a contract of confidentiality and safety will be signed, alongside the agreed terms and conditions of therapy. We will then focus a little deeper on the circumstances, issues, and reasons for seeking help. I may ask you about your goals you would like to achieve from therapy and discuss the ways in which you would like things to be different.

    Do I have to commit to a given number of sessions?

    No, I don’t ask you to sign up to any number of sessions. I offer a bespoke service to all clients, and I appreciate, they everyone is unique and individual, bringing with them their own experiences and goals they would like to reach from therapy. It also depends how you feel after the first few sessions, whether the relationship between us fits, which is so important for therapy to work in the long-term and overall.  

     Should your circumstances change after any number of sessions, and you no longer want, need, or are able to continue with therapy, then, of course, you may discontinue your sessions. All that I ask is that, ideally, we bring your therapeutic journey to an end with an open and clear understanding, so that your experience ends in a healthy, positive way. If you cancel a booked session with less than 24-hours’ notice, then you will still be charged the full session fee. 

    What happens during our online therapy sessions?

    As well as in person, face to face at my home in Derby, I also offer sessions remotely, via Zoom which are charged at the same rate, £50 per 50-minute session as face-to-face. However, it is extremely important to me that the conditions and settings for any online sessions are safe and confidential, so that you can feel comfortable and secure enough to explore your thoughts and feelings. In any environment, I understand how uncomfortable and difficult it can be to share something very personal, but even more frustrating if the connection drops and you’d not been heard. Therefore, it is my promise to do my best in ensuring that adequate and reliable technological conditions are met, and that you attempt to provide such conditions on your end, too. If, despite our efforts, the internet signal cannot sustain the session, I will call you and the duration of the session can be continued via phone. In the unlikely event that a session cannot continue neither via Zoom nor phone due to my technical faults, then there will be no charge for the session and will make every attempt to solve the issue and offer you an alternative appointment. If a session cannot continue via Zoom or phone due to your technical faults, charges will still be made for the session.

    “Psychotherapy guides us in a safe exploration of our early experiences and helps us create a narrative that associates these early experiences with the ways in which our brains and minds distort our current lives. In the process our symptoms come to be understood as forms of implicit memory instead of insanity, character pathology, or plain stupidity. This process can open the door to greater compassion for oneself, openness to others, and the possibility for healing.”

    LOUIS COZOLINO