Of consultation and therapy

It is important to feel safe and comfortable with the person that you choose to speak to about anything that is personal and troubling. Most people need to make contact with a therapist just to assess this. I am happy to speak to you on the telephone so that we can decide whether it is useful to meet. Then we will meet for an hour to discuss how you have made the decision, what you want to achieve and to agree what will be most helpful to you.

If we decide that we will work together we will make arrangements to meet again and if not I will make suggestions about what might be helpful for you to consider. When we meet for the second time we will agree what the focus of the work will be. We could focus on:

  • your relationships and habits in dealing with others
  • your role in the family
  • your experience of work and how you achieve what you want
  • your intense feelings and how you manage those
  • your use of addicitve behaviours
  • your relationship to what you eat and drink
  • your sexual identity
  • your spiritual identitiy                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Of supervision

Supervision is a vital part of healthy and safe practice. Just as with therapy, it is important to feel safe and comfortable with your supervisor and to be able to trust them to listen and reflect on your work in ways that are contructive and sensitive.

I view the purpose of supervision as: enhancing the effectiveness of the practitioner. Within this there is a need to contract carefully and negotiate the boundaries as explicitly as possible. It will be important to think about my experience and how this relates to your area of work and the setting in which you work. It is also important to think about who employs you to do your work and how the support structures within that organisation view your need for supervision. Essentially, why are you approaching me and who sees the need?