Maybe you’ve been thinking about starting counselling for a while and have been carefully looking through directories trying to see who would be the right fit…
Maybe you’ve suddenly had the urge to Get. Support. Now. And you’ve contacted some counsellors that seemed to look okay in a rush of adrenaline but now have the fear... ‘What do I do if they reply, what do I say?!’
Maybe you’ve had counselling before and so this isn’t such a daunting process…
Either way, sometimes it’s just really helpful to know what to expect.
So, in this post I’ll aim to take some of the mystery out of it and let you know what the process looks like from the first point of contact to booking your first session.
1. Pop a message in the contact box with your email and phone number included. You can provide as much or as little information as you like. All communication from your first point of contact and beyond is confidential, but please don’t worry about giving too much detail at this point, there’s time for all that fun stuff later.
2. I’ll respond as soon as I’m able to, and I always aim to get back to you within 48 hours. This will usually be via email but these can sometimes go to spam/junk, so I’ll always follow up with a text message to let you know I’ve responded. If for any reason either of these methods aren’t suitable, please let me know in your message. I will never mention the words ‘therapy’ or ‘counselling’ in my text, simply my name, however my email address does contain the word ‘counselling’.
3. Once we’ve established the type of counselling you require (i.e. face to face or online) and matching availability, we’ll schedule in a free intro call.
These calls are usually around 15 minutes long and we’ll talk a little about what’s brought you to counselling at this time and what you’d like to get out of it, and I’ll be able to tell you a bit about how I work. This is also a good opportunity for you to ask any questions you might have in order for you to feel comfortable in our work together. (Don’t know what to ask? I have a post coming on that soon!)
4. Once you’ve decided you’d like to start sessions, we’ll pencil your agreed time slot in the diary and I’ll send over an online contract via DocuSign and a pre-counselling assessment form. In order to confirm your session, I do ask that the first session is paid for as soon as possible, all sessions thereafter are paid for 24hrs in advance.
5. And that’s it! You’re in. From here on in, the floor is yours.
If you have any questions before your first session is due, you’re always welcome to contact me via email and I’ll do my best to answer any queries you have.
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