Most sessions are weekly, on the same day and time, to establish continuity and build trust. Weekly sessions allow your therapist to know you know increasingly well and gain more insights about how to optimise the treatment. Weekly sessions also allow the momentum to increase which increases the possibility of creating a shift more quickly.
10. What happens if I have to miss a session due to sickness or holiday?
We encourage you to book therapy sessions when you don’t have an imminent holiday booked as this disrupts the momentum and slows up the change process. If you are sick or are unable to attend your usual slot we encourage you to contact admin and book for an alternative day and time.
11. What happens if I don't like my therapist or feel therapy isn't working?
We always encourage you in the first instance to discuss this with your therapist. It is usual to feel anxious about therapy, especially in the beginning stages, as difficult topics are discussed and challenging feelings can get stirred up. This is in fact a good sign as it means a change is taking place which will eventually lead to feeling better. Therapists are trained to receive feedback and take your concerns seriously so if you have any questions or doubts about the therapy or the therapist, please discuss with them in the first instance and most likely you will be able to resolve the concern. After discussing, should you decide to end therapy then we can suggest other therapists for you.
12. What is therapy and how does it work?
Therapy is a collaborative process where you work with your therapist to gain awareness of your issue and the contributing factors to it. Some of the factors will be obvious and others will not be in your awareness. Your therapist supports you to recognise these such as negative beliefs and unhelpful thought processes and behaviours. They also support you to make changes. This may be in the form of being given tools/exercises to try in and out of the session. It might be in the form of bi-lateral processing in the form of EMDR for example. The aim is to create a sustainable change so that you not only have short-term relief from symptoms but gain long-term increased emotional wellbeing. Doing therapy can give you the awareness and the tools so that you are less likely to need mental health interventions in the future.
13. How do I know if therapy is right for me?
If you are open to self-reflection, willing to engage in the process, and motivated to make changes, therapy can be highly beneficial.
Please contact our patient care team if you have any further questions.
14. How do I choose the right therapy modality?
The best modality for you depends on many factors, including:
- Short-, mid-, or long-term therapy
- Focus on the past, present, or future
- Problem-focused vs. solution-focused approaches
- Highly structured vs. flexible therapy styles
- Cognitive, emotional, or somatic-based methods
These are just a few examples—your preferences, personality, and specific challenges will also play a role in determining the best therapeutic approach for you.
15. What can I expect during a typical session?
A session usually starts with a check-in, where you discuss how you’ve been feeling since your last session. You and your therapist then decide what to focus on for that session. Therapy can involve reflection, discussion, skill-building, or structured exercises. The last few minutes are used to reflect on key insights and any next steps.
16. What kind of results should I expect from therapy?
The aim of therapy is to get you feeling better than before you started therapy. This is through increased awareness of the issue and how to shift it. It must be stressed that therapy works most effectively when it is seen as a collaborative approach. Your therapist has expertise due to their training however you are the expert on yourself. Therefore the more engaged you are in the process the more you get out of it. Therapy is not an instant fix. Although you may feel some instant relief as soon as you start sessions. The change you desire will usually require a new way of thinking or doing and this will include some neural rewiring. Positive changes made will take some time to become embedded. Doing ‘homework’ in between sessions can help speed up this process.
Sometimes we can experience ‘resistance’ where parts of us do now want to change because as bad as we feel, it feels more familiar then stepping out of our comfort zone. Your therapist will help you explore these fears so that you feel safer to try out new ways of being. At times therapy can feel like we are circling around or re-visiting the same issues. However this can be likened to the image of a spiral. It does not mean we are not making progress, it just means we are revisiting issues we have made progress on to dive even deeper. It therefore sometimes feels as if we have to go back before we can take even larger steps forward.