Free Initial Telephone Consultation

​I am able to offer a free initial 15 minute telephone consultation during which time we can think about what sort of help you require and answer any queries you have. 

​We can also use this time to find a convenient time for the initial assessment session.

Your Assessment Appointment

Parents

​An initial assessment session can last up to 90 minutes. 
 
The assessment is an opportunity for us to meet, for me to explain my role as a psychologist, to discuss confidentiality and risk and to think about any questions you may have.
 
During the assessment we can think about the presenting difficulties in more detail, as well as starting to think about how you would like things
to be different. 
 
A thorough assessment enables me to develop a clear understanding and formulation of the current presenting difficulties.  This will then assist me to develop a suitable and individual intervention for you. 
 
Towards the end of the assessment we will leave time to think together about what goals you may have for therapy.  At this point we can agree how many sessions would be helpful to initially book in, as well as the regularity and frequency of these sessions. 

Therapy Sessions

Each therapy session is 50 minutes and it is usual to meet weekly or fortnightly.  As progress is made, the frequency of sessions can be discussed and reviewed. 

Part of my role is to guide the treatment session - I'll ask questions, suggest ideas and share or explain psychological information.  Depending on the work we are doing, there will often be recommendations and suggestions of strategies, exploratory exercises and alternative behaviours you can try and you will be encouraged to continue these in between sessions.   
A significant aim of therapy is for you to develop a clear understanding of your difficulties and to feel confident in managing them in a safe and helpful way.  

If you are seeking psychology support for a very young child, it can sometimes be useful to have a parent-only assessment.  Whilst I would need to meet your child also, I recognise that at first in may be easier to talk more openly without them there, more so with very young children.
 
It may be that we have a joint session, where, if practical, your child joins us for part of the assessment, or we can have a second assessment session which they join. 
 
It is usual for me to take a full developmental history and, where appropriate, a full medical history, which will contribute to my understanding of the difficulties and enable the intervention to be tailored for you and your child.
 
We will leave time to think through what goals you and your child may have for therapy.