You may already have experienced counsellors offering assistance for a long list of problems and issues. Having been on the counselling journey myself for over ten years, I have realised that if a counsellor has a list of say twenty things for which they can offer assistance, you would probably be wise to question when they last actually had a client with each of those specific problems. Or when then last completed some Continuous Professional Development focussing on that specific problem.
For me, this is where the initial free fifteen minutes of speaking to you online becomes really important. As you begin to explain your situation, I can quickly assess whether I think we can work together on the issue. If I don’t think I am best placed to assist you, I will be honest with you and suggest you may need more specialist assistance or to continue searching for another counsellor who may be better suited to working with you.
A phrase sometimes used in counselling is the ‘presenting problem’. It probably won’t surprise you that the problem you come to counselling to address, the ‘presenting problem’, is sometimes only a small part of what is going on. At the heart of the integrative model I use, we will be working together to understand exactly what is going on for you, the whole of you, as part of a holistic approach. An approach that seeks not only to address the ‘presenting problem’, but also to help you make connections, become more self-aware and develop skills which reduce the chances of the problem returning.
I can’t answer that question, mainly because I don’t know you and your unique situation.
However, I can tell you that my ethos at the outset is, ‘Who is it that you will be speaking to about these things when you are no longer talking to me?’ Sounds odd, but this means we are preparing to finish working together from the beginning.
To give you a range, the shortest time I have worked with a client is seven sessions, when the presenting problem was a traumatic bereavement. The longest time working with a client is over one hundred sessions, when the presenting problem was depression. The average would be between ten and fifteen sessions, with presenting problems that include anxiety, relationship problems and porn addiction.
As a starting point, I usually suggest we review how we are progressing after five sessions. To encourage you to consider that as a milestone in your counselling, if you are willing to pay for the first five sessions upfront, the sixth session is free.
Please remember, it is entirely your choice when you finish counselling.
Counselling is of course about you and counsellors traditionally struggle to know what to ‘self-disclose’ to you about themselves. Counselling practice suggests that the less you know about the counsellor, the more professional the service you receive and some would suggest, the more likely for the counselling outcomes to be successful.
Having explained that, it might give you more confidence in working with me if you knew a few things about me:
· As you probably observed from the picture, I have over fifty years of life experience, thirty of those years in public service and started to study and practice counselling in 2013.
· As part of my BA (Hons) counselling degree, in my counselling literature review I explored ‘how’ the therapeutic relationship influences a client’s healing process. It then examined what part their spirituality might play in that. Please ask me about it if you are interested.
· I have accrued well over one thousand hours of counselling experience.
· Having got married in 1992 (Maths test), I am still married and fortunate to have three grown up daughters.
· Whilst my Christian faith is important to me, like all other issues, we would only discuss faith in counselling if you want to. Most important to me is that you feel safe to discuss anything and everything free from judgment, fear or shame.
· Alongside counselling, I also work part time and voluntarily at my local church. For over three years I have led the pastoral team. This means I am quite used to talking to people whose experience of church is negative.
· Part of my motivation for counselling men is to play my part in reducing our genders tragically high suicide rate.
· Just to be clear, I have made many mistakes in my life so please don’t read this and think I have got it sorted, I haven’t, just ask my wife. What I have learnt is, when life isn’t going so well, it helps to talk about it.
Every counsellor has their own Counselling Agreement or Counselling Contract and this is the one I would be asking you to sign up to, prior to commencing counselling:
Counselling Agreement
The purpose of this agreement
The purpose of this Counselling Agreement is to set out clearly the arrangements for counselling between you (The ‘client’) and me (The ‘counsellor’), on Zoom, WhatsApp or any other digital format. Please read, sign and return it by email to:
Commencing counselling
Each counselling session will last 60 minutes. However, if you would like to request a longer session or if you would like to come more regularly during a period of time, please let me know. We will have regular reviews to discuss the counselling process to reassess what we are working on, check whether you are feeling comfortable and giving you the opportunity for any feedback. I am contactable between sessions by:
Email: talking2tim@outlook.com
Text: 07368 648161
Financial information
We have agreed that you will pay £50 per session. Please can you pay in advance of your session by bank transfer to:
(DETAILS TO FOLLOW)
Notice period and cancellations
If you are unable to attend a session, please contact me at least 24 hours in advance to avoid having to pay the full fee. If you miss two sessions in a row without adequate communication, I will presume that the counselling has ended. Wherever possible, I will provide at least 24 hours’ notice of any change to an arranged appointment. If I believe you are under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other substances, I will be unable to continue with that particular counselling session and the full fee will be payable.
Confidentiality
As you would expect, I will treat the information you share during the counselling process as confidential and will not give that information to any other person. However, there are certain exceptions to this when I am legally required to break confidentiality and make contact, for instance, with your nominated person, GP or the Police. This might happen: if I believe there to be an imminent risk of you inflicting serious injury upon yourself or others; if I believe a child or vulnerable adult is being abused or at imminent risk of abuse; if I am required to do so in legal proceedings; if you disclose knowledge of imminent acts of terrorism.
In line with professional practice guidelines, I may discuss aspects of our work together as part of my counselling supervision and will use a code or pseudonym in order to protect your right to confidentiality.
GDPR
I will store the information you have provided as part of the application and assessment process within the terms of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): by signing this agreement you are giving your consent for me to do this.
In order to comply with guidance and aid my memory, I will make brief notes of our sessions together. These will not contain your name, address or telephone number. They will be stored securely and separately from any personal information that might identify you. You have the right to see notes and they will be kept for up to five years after counselling has ended (For professional insurance purposes), at which time they will be deleted.
Professional practice
During our sessions, I will be seeking to comply with the ethics and practice of my own professional body, the Association of Christian Counsellors. These are accessible on the ACC website using the following link:
https://www.acc-uk.org/public/docs/page-pdfs/EandPractice.pdf
As I am based in the United Kingdom, I am governed by its jurisdiction: any counselling and psychotherapy carried out remotely with clients overseas is treated as being carried out in the UK for insurance purposes.
Complaints procedure
If you have a complaint or any concerns and you feel able to, please speak to me about it in the first instance. If necessary, this could be with someone speaking on your behalf. If you are still unhappy and your complaint remains unresolved, you have the right to refer it to my professional body, the Association of Christian Counsellors.
Client process
The counselling relationship is intended to be a healing and supportive relationship. In the process of getting to know and understand yourself better, there may be times when you feel you are getting worse rather than better. If this happens, it is important that you discuss those feelings with me so that we can explore them together.
It is also important for you to understand that I cannot change your life for you and that it is your responsibility to act on the ideas that come out in the counselling sessions.
Ending counselling
A time will come when you know you are ready to finish counselling – this is time for us to discuss ‘ending the counselling’. Endings can be unsettling, so it can be helpful to work through the process of ending in advance. We are both free to cancel the ongoing sessions at any time.
Feedback survey
In order for me to reflect on and improve my practice, feedback is really important. After your final session, I may ask you to complete an anonymous online feedback survey and would really appreciate you taking the time to complete this.
Emergency Contact
In the event of an emergency during one of your sessions, please give the name and contact information for someone you would like your counsellor to contact:
Medication YES / NO
If YES - you are currently on medication, please type your medication details below:
GP (Doctor)
I agree that my counsellor can contact my GP in case of an emergency or if there are any concerns about my wellbeing during a session which I agreed the counsellor could contact them. Please type your GP’s name, address and telephone number below:
_______________________________________________
PLEASE SEND A SEPARATE E MAIL WITH YOUR FULL NAME, ADDRESS, MOBILE NUMBER AND DATE OF BIRTH TO: talking2tim@outlook.com
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