What is involved in psychological therapy?
Treatment will very much depend on what your difficulties are and what you wish to achieve through therapy or counselling. If you are interested following a free telephone consultation to arrange an assessment appointment, we would initially meet for 1 1/2 hour to see what treatment would fit you best. If you thereafter agree to more regular 1 hour sessions , these will be arrnaged usually bi-weekly at my private clinic in Moniaive or in Dumfries, if you prefer. Often after 6 sessions roughly clients will notive a considerable change in their mood, however this is variable and depends on your situation and circumstances.
Therapy does require motivation and commitment to make changes,therefore we will set you specific practices to continue with at home, which you should increase your progress. It is important to remember that we all struggle with mood issues at times and some low mood and anxiety is normal, but when you start feeling you are getting stuck with the same issues, moods or thinking patterns and cannot get yourself unstuck with your own strategies thats probably the best time to come to treatment.
We will review your progress regularily and decide together when its best to finish treatment. Although you are always free to disontinue at any time as long you let me know.
couple or relationship counselling
I do offer Couple therapy and Relationship Counselling and the same fees apply as for an individual session which is normally £60 per hour/ session in my local therapy space in Moniaive.
In case of relationship issues it usually works best if both of you commit together to treatment and can attend sessions together. However in some cicumstances you may find it helpful to attend yourself if your partner is not ready or has less time to attend sessions regularly. In that cicumstance it would be helpful to have at least one joint session together in order for me to be aware of your couple dynamics.
Court reports for Psychological Issues
I can offer Psychological Court reports such as reports regarding queries about how an accident or potential trauma may have affected you or your client psychologically, if it has led to PTSD or Trauma symptoms , depression or anxiety. The service charges for court reports vary depending on length of assessment sessions needed e.g. 1 and 1/2 hour normally but occasionally longer and type of report required. Also a price of £40/ hour of actually putting the report together will be applied additionally. The services are usually charged to your legal insurer in this instance. Please contact myself for further information
Confidentiality and risk management issues
What you say in treatment is kept completely confidential and I do work to the ethical code and guidelines that all Psychologists follow according to the BPS ( British Psychologicla Society). This entails that I need to attend regular supervision sessions in order to keep my therapeutic praxis on track and within our professional guidelines. As part of this I will occasionally discuss cases within supervision usually without itentifyers being used. This also ensures that therapy is kept of a high standard, as supervisors are usually more senior and more experienced in the field.
Rare Exemptions of Confidentiality
I do have a legal obligation to disclose information to other services such as GP's or social services where it is clear from your reports that you are putting your own safety at risk ( e.g. severe suicidality) or where you are putting others safety at jeopardy. This is especially the case where the safety of your own or other peoples' children is concerned , as non-reporting in those cases would be leading to a criminal offence on my part and potential being struck off. I will only in these circumstances report on a need to know basis ( e.g. the risk issues at hand) and let you know in advance what will be reported.
Mindfullness based Stress Reduction Courses
I do run roughly once to twice a year an 8 week Mindfulness Based Stress reduction Course following the principles of mindfulness and of John Kabatt Zinn and Mark Williams. These are small group based coping skills courses which can be helpful if you are stressed out, have recurring depression, but are currently less severely symptomatic or have chronic health issues such as pain management issues or fatigue. Mindfullness helps you to stay more focussed in the moment and less entenched with negative throughts. The course is requiring a big commitment of yourself and apart from regular course attandence, would require you to practice mindful meditation regularily to help you stay in the moment more and find a better way to stay fulfilled. For more information I will let you know regarding course availability nearer the time and provide a leaflet.