CAN I HELP YOU?

I excel at helping people to overcome anxiety and panic attacks, depression, suicidal thoughts, phobias, addictions, anger and rage, and low self-esteem. Your problems may contribute to or be the result of life challenges such as relationship difficulties, physical or emotional trauma, abuse, bereavement and loss, career and work issues, separation and divorce, physical health issues, gender and sexuality issues. Or you may simply not know why you feel the way you do. My interest is in people rather than diagnoses, but I have a special interest in those who experience dissociation and have been/could be diagnosed with schizophrenia, psychosis, personality disorders, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and/or dissociative disorders (DDNOS, OSDD, DID, DPD).

I’ll help you identify what’s causing your issues and we’ll work together to develop new insights to strengthen your ability to tackle problems effectively and find balance and well-being so that you can:

• feel more in control
• improve communication
• manage difficult situations better
• achieve your full potential
• experience a more enjoyable, fulfilling life and happier relationships.

You’ll develop self-awareness and gain an understanding of difficult or painful emotions and acquire a solid self-confidence which will enable you to achieve meaningful changes in important areas in your life. Change can happen for you.

WHAT ARE MY FEES?

I offer an initial free telephone conversation, giving you as much time and space as you need to consider whether you’d like to come and meet me. Then, my fee for a single 1 hour session is £105 (payable by debit/credit card or bank transfer). But most of my clients choose to go for my discounted option at the end of their first session, block booking and paying for 6 sessions (to be taken within 8 weeks) for £555 (equates to £92.50 per session).

WHAT ABOUT CONFIDENTIALITY?

Your trust is important to me and maintaining your confidentiality is central to my work. As a requirement of good ethical practice, I discuss my work with my Clinical Supervisor. Generally, I do not discuss the details of our sessions with anyone else except my Supervisor, without your permission (my Supervisor does not have access to your personal details and is bound by the same rules of confidentiality as I am). The confidentiality section in my contract describes fully: what data I will keep about you, who will have access to it, under what circumstances I might need to break confidentiality, and how long I will retain your data for. My Privacy Policy reflects the requirements set out by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It explains how I will protect and manage your data in a secure way while putting you in control of what happens to it, how I use your details and when I might need to share your data with a third party. You can view my Privacy Policy here and it will be attached to your contract.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?

The number of sessions you will find most helpful depends on the length of time you have been dealing with the problem, the degree of change you want to achieve and your level of self-confidence.

I offer short, medium or open-ended contracts. All contracts are flexible and can be changed at any time. You can use counselling to address an issue, then go away and test out its effectiveness. If you find it has helped, you may want to come back for another contract to tackle another aspect of life that you want to improve. Because every individual is unique, the number of sessions that might suit one person can be very different for another, for example:

• 1-6 sessions: some people find just a few sessions enough to get a handle on a specific situation, make a decision, or gain some clarity
• 6-12 sessions: others find 6-12 sessions can be enough to get an understanding of a specific problem and establish some strategies which address the situation and relieve symptoms adequately
• 12-24 session: others find 12-24 sessions enable them to tackle several issues, gain a deeper self-understanding, remove problematic habits and get good practice in to start making significant positive changes in their lives
• 24 sessions or more: many find 24 sessions or more suit their needs much better. This length can help you really overcome and change habits which were learnt in earlier circumstances in life that were either very difficult, traumatic or complex. Your self-confidence can be rebuilt and considerable positive changes in personal well-being, success and happiness can be gained.

We’ll review our work regularly, giving you time to experience how my approach helps you and develop an idea of how long you might need to achieve the outcome you want.

WHAT DO SESSIONS ENTAIL?

Counselling sessions will involve meeting with me either at my therapy room or online via Skype to discuss your concerns. Sessions last about 1 hour and are conducted at a regular time, on a regular day, weekly. Research indicates that you can get the best results by working with a counsellor who really “gets you”. I will aim to understand the problems you’re facing by asking questions about your situation and listening to your answers. If I’m the counsellor for you, you will feel that I really understand your situation and what I say will make sense to you. You will feel that we have a clear focus on the outcomes you want and a sense that I can help you achieve them.

As your counselling progresses I’ll help you understand why and where you are getting stuck with problems or situations in your life. You will start to gain a better awareness of how your feelings, habits and thinking may be influencing your life. Things will get clearer. I will help you identify concrete steps you can take to move forward in your life, feel better and more in control. This process will continue until you have improved things in your life to a level that feels good for you and that you feel confident to maintain as you continue into your future.

WHY VIDEO SESSIONS?

Maybe you would like to access high-quality counselling, at a time and place most convenient for you. If you’re seeking help but cannot easily access counselling that either fits your busy schedule or is accessible to you (maybe you travel regularly or live abroad) then online counselling can offer the perfect solution.

Research indicates that online counselling can be as effective as face-to-face consultations. Talking to me via Skype is very secure. Skype’s video and chat services use encryption technology, which is one of the most advanced forms of internet security available. Even if a person managed to intercept a message, it would be in a complex code that they would be unable to decipher.

Benefits of Online counselling:

• You can access it conveniently from your own home, office or hotel.
• You won’t have to spend time or money on travel.
• You can organise child-care more conveniently.

THE FIRST BRAVE STEP

Call me on 07787-290434, email me at vanessa@theexetercounsellor.com or complete my contact form. I will then contact you for your initial free telephone conversation, giving you as much time and space as you need to consider whether you’d like to come and meet me. Once you book your first session, I will email you a copy of my contract which outlines fully what you can expect from me, what I expect from you, and how I work.

During your first session, I’ll listen to your concerns and explore what a good therapy outcome would be for you. I’ll give you an understanding of how I can work with you to help you address your issues. You’ll get a sense of my working style, and a chance to ask questions and clarify any queries or concerns you have about my contract. We’ll discuss how many sessions might work best for you and whether you want to set a finite number of sessions. If I think my service isn’t appropriate for you I will be pleased to recommend alternative sources of help.