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Our assessment – and yours of us - starts from the moment we first speak to you. We know the importance of speaking with all our prospective clients on the phone or by email to get to know them a little and understand what has prompted them to seek help. Our aim is to start by getting a pretty good idea of what approach, or combination of approaches, are most likely to help them. This will enable us to identify the most expert therapist for their particular situation. Choosing a therapist should not be pot luck.
Once we’ve linked you up with great match from our team, we set you up with access to them using the HelloSelf platform. You’re able to create a secure account for yourself on there which will help you to manage your therapy. The platform enables you to see your appointments and leave messages for your therapist, but critically also means your therapist can use some exciting tools with you as your assessment and therapy progresses. Setting up a secure log-in is quick and easy and your therapist will guide you along the way. Once you’re set up, therapy itself starts with a detailed assessment of the difficulty in the context of your life and wider circumstances. We will ask you various questions and may also ask you to complete one or more standardised questionnaires.
Assessment usually takes between one and two sessions. At the end of the assessment session(s), having established your needs and goals, we will draw up a formulation of the difficulty and discuss whether therapy would be helpful. We'll then explore options for treatment with you and give you an idea of how long it is likely to last.
Therapy sessions occur on a weekly basis where possible and last for 50 minutes. Your therapist will guide the treatment and format of the sessions, asking questions, presenting ideas and psychological knowledge. We will also introduce exploratory exercises and often encourage you to continue these outside our sessions. The platform will store all of these for you and help you record notes, and even recordings of your sessions if you’d find that helpful. Our approach is always bespoke and always collaborative – we might have the training and experience in the therapies, but you are the expert on you – effective therapy is about putting the two together.
Progress towards the goals of therapy is monitored continually and openly shared. The ultimate aim is for you to become the expert at understanding and managing your own psychology, both now and for the future.
Our therapists adhere to strict codes of ethics as outlined by our various professional bodies. We therefore aim to offer as few sessions as necessary in order for you to reach your treatment goals.
The decision of when and how to end therapy, however, will always be taken jointly with you. We will of course take your funding circumstances into account.
Monday - Saturday
(by appointment only)
23 Prospect Street, Caversham,
Reading, Berkshire, RG4 8JB
