Psychological therapy starts with an assessment in the first session – discussing the difficulties you have had or are experiencing. This will enable me to establish which psychological approach would be best suited, as well as the number of sessions you might find helpful in treating your difficulty.
In practice, the first assessment session allows you the space and time to communicate your difficulties. This is normally done through guided questioning. The assessment has a dual purpose: to give me an overall understanding of the difficulties while enabling you to assess if you felt heard and understood. At the end of the initial assessment, you will receive a generalised summary of my clinical impressions. At this point it will be determined if this service is suited to your needs or not. Should the therapy be continued, an initial number of sessions will be contracted, commencing the therapeutic intervention.