FAQs
What happens in a first session?
A first session is an opportunity for you to see whether I am the right therapist for where you are at right now. There is no pressure to book a second session.
Our initial session will involve me gathering some information about yourself through an informal conversation, but I will advise you not to feel you have to share everything at once. Only what you feel comfortable with in the moment.
Some people know exactly what they want to start discussing in their sessions and I am happy to give them space to do so. For others starting off can feel overwhelming. In these cases I am equally happy to help.
Some prompting questions I may ask to help start you off include:
what has brought you to therapy?
what are you hoping to get out of your experience?
is there anything important you’d like me to know and understand about you?
In a first session I will also share with you how I work as a therapist and discuss confidentiality so you are fully informed if you decide to proceed.
Do you offer telehealth sessions?
Absolutely. At this stage I am conducting telehealth sessions only. Hopefully soon I will be able to offer an in-person space as well.
Telehealth can look like:
phone sessions
Zoom sessions
How long do I need to commit to therapy?
There is no set number of sessions I subscribe to, in fact I encourage everyone to step in and out of therapy as it suits them. I can work with people on a short-term or long-term basis and am flexible in terms of frequency of sessions which can be anything from weekly to fortnightly to monthly.
I think it is wonderful when people can decide their own pace of therapy that suits them best.
Do I offer a rebate?
At this stage, counsellors in Australia cannot offer a rebate. However, often a single counselling sessions can be of equal amount to a single psychology session with a rebate. Please see my prices here.
Also, if you have an NDIS self-managed plan, or have private health insurance, you may be reimbursed fully, depending on your plans stipulations.
What happens if I cannot afford a lot of sessions?
I really empathise with this situation as it is one I have been in myself as a client. Therapy can be hard to afford even without competing expenses.
This information is very helpful for me to know as a therapist and we can use this to enhance the care you receive.
For example:
we can plan the number of sessions in advance and focus on targeting specific concerns so you can get the most out of our time together.
we place sessions at times that suit your pay schedule.
I can refer you onto other clinicians if needed.
options like Victim Services or NDIS services can be considered and discussed.
It will by no means reduce my availability or the quality of care I offer.
I want to talk to someone but I’m scared of being judged
Starting therapy can be a daunting process, and understandably so as we may be sharing painful, confusing or distressing stories about ourselves for the first time. Some of us may have had past unpleasant experiences of therapy or of opening up to others.
For this reason I only ask clients to share and trust as much as they feel comfortable. Trust is earned, it is not a given. Therapy should feel like getting to know someone, not confession!
I do not need to know every single past traumatic event in your life in order to help you create safety in your present day.
Discussions around trust and safety are ongoing throughout therapy and any ruptures in trust can be addressed with compassion, curiosity and understanding.
Furthermore, as a therapist I personally tend to lean away from pathologising. As far as I am concerned there is no such thing as “weird” or “abnormal” and you won’t find a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V) on my bookshelves.
I am only interested in what is helpful towards building a life worth living, and what is less helpful or damaging.
I personally know what it is like to be judged, and this is partly why I have become passionate about providing judgement free opportunities for people to heal.
Why did I become a therapist?
I decided to become a therapist for a number of reasons and factors. I was torn between pursuing further study to become a nurse, or to enter the world of communications/public relations.
Strangely enough, I found that counselling was a beautiful blend of both of these worlds. It offers the healing, care and practical support of nursing, with the problem-solving, conceptual thinking and communication skills of public relations.
Furthermore, I have extensive lived experience of seeing how my own personal therapy has enhanced my confidence, resilience, wellbeing and healing.
I believe very strongly that all humans have the right to respite from suffering, and while I cannot heal all suffering I find it very meaningful to witness others achieve some relief internally.
How do I know what “modality” will be most useful for me?
A modality is a fancy word for “approach.” In other words it’s a style of counselling that involves concepts, skills and its own language. Modalities can include: DBT, CBT, narrative, IFS, etc.
There is no perfect formula for identifying which modality will fit which individual, and part of therapy is our shared journey as we work out which modalities are most helpful for you. In my experience, most clients benefit from collating a tool box that is comprised of skills from a range of different modalities.
And as an integrative therapist, helping clients to collect a diverse and resilient set of tools is what I specialise in.
Upon meeting you, hearing your concerns and ways of thinking I will quite likely have some recommendations about what could be helpful. If however, you have previous experiences of certain modalities not being very helpful, please to let me know! This is important information and can really help us move towards getting positive outcomes faster.
Also, I will check in with you throughout sessions regarding your experience of the therapy as a whole, and whether something isn’t working for you.
What measures do you take to ensure the quality of your practice?
I have a clinical supervisor with whom I have regular sessions whilst practicing as a counsellor. I also tend to increase these sessions depending on the nature of the work and my own needs.
I am also a genuine student at heart, pursuing professional development several times a year to enhance my skills and broaden my awareness of the latest evidence-based treatments.
I have my own therapist that I see as well to deepen my own self-knowledge and self-compassion. These sessions are really helpful in constantly reminding me what it is like to be a client working through life’s challenges.
Do you offer support in between sessions, for example if I am experiencing a crisis?
There is single answer to this as it would depend entirely on the clients individual circumstances. Part of my work with any client is to help resource them with a range of supports and skills that can balance out my own role in their life and empower them to manage their distress during crises.
However, should a call in between sessions be established by both of us to be therapeutically purposeful then this would be negotiated and managed via ongoing discussions between us.