Sessions and Fees
I offer appointments for one-to-one counselling and psychotherapy with individual adults (18 and over). Sessions may be in-person or remotely via secure online video conferencing and telephone call. I am based in Sheffield and work with people across the UK. Please contact me to book your first therapy session.
The arrangements I normally work to are outlined below. We’ll go through these in the first session. Also, when you book, I’ll email you a copy of my Working Agreement which sets these arrangements out in detail. I’ll be happy to answer any questions or provide clarification.
Please note: where you book my counselling and psychotherapy services through a third party platform, other arrangements may apply.
Confidentiality
Your attendance and what you share with me are highly confidential, with some limits to support safe, ethical and legal practice.
Your attendance at therapy and content of sessions is kept private and not shared with third-parties, except in a limited number of situations. These include compliance with the law, prevention of serious harm to yourself or others, and supervision. I attend regular supervision to support, monitor and improve my practice. All supervision arrangements meet the same level of confidentiality and ethical practice as I provide.
Please see my privacy policy for further details about how I use, store and protect your data.
Session Length and Frequency
Sessions are usually for 50 minutes at the same day and time each week.
Therapy is generally more effective with weekly sessions, especially at the beginning when we’re getting to know each other and understand the issues you’re bringing. However, I recognise that these arrangements may not be suitable for everybody. If your personal circumstances mean that other arrangements would make attending therapy more accessible to you, please let me know. I’m happy to discuss to see whether I can accommodate your needs.
Counselling Hours
I offer sessions Monday to Thursday, daytime from 11am through to the early evening.
We can work to a regular schedule with sessions at the same day and time each week, or agree something more flexible if that better suits your needs. I keep Friday as an admin day where I’m available to answer emails, phone calls and offer therapy sessions on an occasional basis for times when you can’t make your regular slot.
Fees
My standard session fee is £50 per 50 minute session.
The session fee is due in advance. I accept payment by bank transfer, bank card or PayPal. Details will be provided on booking. The session fee is the same whether we work in-person, online or by telephone. Receipts are available on request.
Cancellation Policy
I have a 48 hour cancellation policy. Sessions cancelled or rearranged with at least 48 hours notice will not be charged.
I understand that life happens and things crop up meaning you need to cancel or reschedule your session. For sessions cancelled with at least 48 hours notice, a refund will be issued or the amount can be transferred to your next session. If requested, and where possible, I’ll reschedule your session for another day or time the same week, depending on availability. I have the following scale for sessions cancelled with less than 48 hours notice:
- For sessions cancelled with less than 48 hours notice, 50% of the standard session fee will be due.
- For missed sessions, with no advance notice, the full fee will be due.
To cancel or rearrange, please contact me before your session by email, text or phone.
Holidays and Illness
There is no charge for any session where I am unavailable.
I’ll give you as much notice as possible of holidays, usually at least two weeks. In the unlikely event I have to cancel your session due to my illness or an emergency, I’ll contact you as soon as possible to let you know. Where appropriate, I’ll offer an alternative appointment as soon as possible.
Contact Between Sessions
I aim to respond to phone, text and email contact within 24 hours, except for weekends and holidays.
To protect your confidentiality and privacy I won’t engage in contact about our work together through social media, networking sites or forums.
I’m unable to offer emergency support. However if required, based on individual need, we will agree a crisis plan. This will set out sources of support that may be available to you. It may include how and when I may be contacted in the event of a crisis.
Duration of Therapy
The number of sessions will depend on your goals and the nature of what you bring.
I offer both short term and long term open ended therapy. Short term work is usually 6 to 12 sessions. We might focus on one or two issues. Longer term work may last for several months or years. In this case, we would look more in-depth at your life experiences and how these impact you now. When we meet, we can discuss what might be right for you. We will review the work as we go along.
Ending Therapy
You have the right to end therapy at any time.
While the end of therapy would normally be agreed between us, you have the right to end counselling at any time. Please note: It is generally helpful to have time to reflect on the work you’ve done and your feelings about ending. Counselling can be painful and it is usually better to explore this rather than just stop.
There may be rare circumstances where I need to end our work together before you feel it’s complete. Where this is planned, I will give at least two months notice. I will also end our work together in the event I’m unable to provide a safe, ethical service. Where I end, I’ll explain the reasons and, where appropriate, endeavour to assist you with a referral to other sources of support.