FAQ

Therapy

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1. What is therapy?

Being listened to by a person who is only there for your benefit and is trained to understand the source of distress (psychological disruption) and help you find that source and solutions that work for you. 

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2. How do I know that I need therapy?

You feel ready to make changes in your life and to accept someone else’s help to identify the change needed and work out how to make those changes.

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3. Are the discussions confidential?

The content of the sessions you have with your therapist is confidential within certain constraints.  The constraints are there to keep people safe.  Your therapist will discuss these constraints with you in your first session.

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4. Should the therapy be continuous?

Therapy is usually continuous for a period but may, if thought beneficial, be sporadic or ad hoc in the longer term.  The length and frequency of therapy will be worked out in collaboration with your therapist and may take a few sessions to decide. 

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5. Can I stop the therapy sessions whenever I want?

You are free to choose to end the therapy at any time.  Usually, your therapist will require payment if you fail to turn up to an appointment or don’t give enough notice of an ending.  However, if you feel it is time to end, it can be helpful to discuss this with your therapist.  Endings are often full of potential growth if they are well managed.

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6. Are therapy sessions depressing?

The content of any session can be very sad or upsetting.  Your therapist will help you to manage the flow and speed of a session to try to make it more bearable.  Often it is through addressing painful experiences that we can make them less fearful and minimize their ongoing impact on your life.  Ultimately, therapy usually leads to less depression and sadness as the causes are addressed. 

 

7. How soon do I see a change in my mood?

The speed of change can vary dramatically between clients.  Some clients get very stuck in an emotional response.  Others move much more quickly and dramatically through the changes.  If you feel stuck in a particularly difficult mood or emotion, it is helpful to let your therapist know and to explore things that may be causing the ‘stuckness’.

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8. Is therapy disturbing?

I would suggest that it is more disturbing in life to resist working on things that trouble you.  It is more painful to continue to manage difficult emotions rather than to go through the process of therapy.  This is my experience in my own life. A skilled therapist will carefully manage the speed of the therapy to minimise disruption and distress, but therapy is hard work and can be distressing at times. 

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9. Can I have free therapy sessions?

You can get free therapy through the NHS and IAPT services if you meet their criteria.  https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/mental-health/find-an-nhs-talking-therapies-service There are waiting lists which vary according to timing and location.  You won’t be able to choose how many sessions or how soon you get help.  They have some helpful information, and you can access resources that help with specific symptoms https://www.mindwell-leeds.org.uk/ . You may also be able to access therapy through charities that address the specific circumstances that you are in, for example, bereavement, information is often available online. 

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10. How often are therapy sessions?

I recommend weekly sessions, especially at the start of therapy because the frequency helps the relationship to get to a therapeutic level quicker.  Some people then benefit from moving to fortnightly sessions.  It is not a big problem to start fortnightly, it just makes the process slower initially.  I don’t usually work on a monthly basis as I find that this makes it difficult to make progress.

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11. I have suicidal thoughts, does therapy help?

Good therapy will help you to manage and recover from suicidal thoughts.  It is important to tell someone that you are having thoughts of suicide.  Your therapist is trained to know how to help you.  If you are having suicidal thoughts now and need help, please contact The Samaritans on 116 123 or text SHOUT to 85258.  People who are BAME can contact Dial House on 0808 800 1212

 

12. Can therapy help with depression?

Depression is the coping mechanism that the brain uses to protect you from painful emotions.  Therapy can help alleviate depression by safely addressing the causes so that your brain can feel safe and reduce the need for a coping mechanism.

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13. What preparation do I need to do for the first therapy session?

If you want to prepare for the first session, it is helpful to let your therapist know why you have sought therapy at this time.  You might also note any questions that you have about therapy as often when you get there your mind goes blank and you remember later what you intended to ask. If this happens then I would be happy for you to email questions that haven’t been addressed or bring them to the following session.

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14. Do you do couple and family therapy?

I don’t provide couple or family therapy.  I have decided to focus on individual therapy.  However, a lot of people use individual therapy to address their own responses to their relationships and circumstances.  Nobody lives in a vacuum and addressing your own issues will impact others around you.

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15. Can therapy help with self-esteem?

Self-esteem and your own self-concept will change during therapy.  You will grow in your awareness of who you are and feel more able to be in control of how you want to ‘be’ in this world.  This will directly impact your self-esteem and it will improve. 

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16. Can therapy help with anxiety?

Anxiety is a response to past difficulties or thoughts that make us feel unsafe in the world.  Therapy will help to address past events and current thoughts to help you feel more in control and able to manage life.  This will reduce anxiety. 

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17. Can therapy help with weight loss?

Food, eating and exercise can be laden with emotional responses depending on the behaviours and opinions of those around us.  Weight gain and the desire to lose weight can have a big impact on people’s self-worth and motivation.  Understanding your relationship to food and exercise and how they developed will give you more control over your responses to food consumption and less resistance to exercise if you want it.  You might even realise that you feel comfortable as you are and decide not to put that pressure on yourself.  A safe place to discuss these things with no judgment and to work through the implications will be very helpful.

 

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Supervision

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1. What is Supervision?

Supervision is a protected relationship where you can meet regularly to look at your work and its impact.  For therapists, it is an ethical requirement to identify your impact on the client and anything out of your awareness that could be affecting progress or even causing harm. 

For other people who work either on the frontline or as managers, it is a way of managing the responses to your work and potential stress that can otherwise affect work or even home relationships and your own well-being. 

 

2. How do I know if I need supervision?

If you are a therapist, your professional body will require that you have supervision in line with your level of experience. For other people, you feel able to accept support with the impact of your work and can see the need to have dedicated support that is not available otherwise. 

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3. How long do I need supervision?

As a therapist, you need supervision whenever you are in practice with clients.  Usually, this is monthly although occasionally it can be fortnightly.

Supervision of managers and front-line workers is optional.  Usually, people choose to meet monthly as this seems a reasonable period but it can be tailored to meet your diary and needs. 

 

4. how often do I need supervision sessions?

See above.

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5. What preparation do I need to do for the first supervision session?

In your first supervision, it is helpful to give an outline of your caseload and a brief explanation of your therapeutic approach.  If you are not a therapist, then it is helpful to bring a brief explanation of your work your role and any factors that are not immediately apparent to someone who has not done your job before. 

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Training

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1. What is training?

Training is a great way to encourage staff that you care about their wellbeing and development.  It helps to equip your staff to manage their mental health and to identify and respond to the distress of those with whom they work within their role. 

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2. How do I know that we need training?

At worst, your staff are stressed or disillusioned or you might have a high staff turnover.  The concerns your staff raise have a theme and you don’t always have an answer, or you don’t have time to keep responding to the same issue.  Or you want the staff to pull together more as a team and feel more valued in the organisation. 

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3. What do you cover in training sessions?

The content of the training is carefully negotiated with the organisation or manager who is commissioning the training.  It is based on the desired outcomes and what is thought necessary to achieve the increased well-being, productivity or quality of service that the organisation desires to offer. 

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4. How long and how often are training sessions?

Usually, training is commissioned in either half or full-day chunks.  It can also be delivered in 1.5-hour chunks but less than this seems unreasonable.  Training can be recurring to capture more staff, or it can be recurring to cover more topics and content.  This is all negotiated in light of the dynamics of the organisation and the need that has been presented. 

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5. Who in our practice/office should attend your training?

Some organisations prefer to run training for people who are in different roles and with different responsibilities at different times.  Others will decide to open the same training session to staff on all levels.  In my experience, it can be helpful for more junior staff to have training and supervision without their managers present as they feel more able to engage openly without the fear of getting it wrong alienating management or affecting their career by admitting that they struggle with some aspects of their role. 

My training sessions can be pitched at anyone from senior management to the cleaners, it is made interesting and accessible to all.

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6. Can training be one-to-one or group training?

One-to-one training is possible but may not be the most cost-effective, I would suggest that supervision is more effective on a one-to-one as it addresses concerns of the individual and resources their individual concerns. 

I find that training online is best kept to 12 students maximum as this allows time for people to speak and maximum effectiveness of the current technology.  In person, I can run training for much larger groups or give talks if this is more helpful. 

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7. Do you provide tailored content on the topics we need?

My training is highly tailored to your needs.  I work hard to make it as effective as possible to meet your needs.  The more information you provide about your context, the more effective I can be in bringing relevant material.  Every session is freshly written and then resources are reviewed and updated to make sure that they are relevant and high quality.  

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Body Therapy

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1. What is body-therapy?

Body therapy is touch therapy.  A therapist who is trained to feel the subtle patterns within the body can assist the body in using its own inherent wisdom to heal itself.    

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2. How do I know if I need body-therapy?

You want to access the well-being within you and allow the wisdom that your body holds to unfold and bring about healing. 

Most people go through life unaware of the inner world and detached from it until there is pain, discomfort, or lack of function.  With a trained therapist you can learn and be helped to address bodily patterns and symptoms and resolve or manage problems that other treatments have not been able to.  Alongside traditional medicine, it can help to bring relief and well-being. 

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3. Is body-therapy painful?

Body therapy should not be painful.  It is a non-invasive and gentle touch.

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4. What is the difference between Therapy and body therapy?

Talking therapy relies on words and emotional expression.  Body therapy relies on the therapist's touch and the experience of the inner world of the body.

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5. How quickly do I feel the impact of body-therapy?

Things can change quickly, within a session, or slowly, take several sessions.  However, there is often improvement in things that we didn’t even notice and well-being is often impacted very quickly even in one session. 

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6. What issues the body-therapy can resolve or help with?

We experience life through bodily sensations.  Our emotions are felt within our bodies.  Our nervous system is constantly responding to maintain our body and to any threat, whether from disease or injury.  Therefore, the body holds the experience of our lives.  It also has the wisdom of how to keep us well and functioning.  Therefore, body therapy that connects to this wisdom can help our bodies manage all systems and recover from all ailments and anything that is getting in the way of healing and well-being.

 

7. Is it better to take body therapy with therapy sessions or you'll offer therapy as part of body therapy?

Currently, the two therapies are relatively distinct.  Although through my training I have a respect for both body and mind in everything that I do. 

Esteemed professionals like Steve Porges who are highly experienced in addressing trauma are working on the understanding of how to bring the two together into a more coherent approach.  I am hoping to follow their work as closely as I can to understand how to understand the bringing together these therapeutic approaches.

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8. Do I need to do any preparation for my body-therapy session?

No preparation is needed, you may prefer to be in more comfortable clothes, but this is not essential.  You will not remove any clothing unless you choose to for your comfort. 

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