Contacting A Counsellor
It can feel like a big step to contact a counsellor and arrange a first counselling session. You may have thought about doing so for a long time but felt put off, and lacked the confidence to go through with contacting someone.
When you do make contact, at all stages you should be guided by your sense of how well you feel your counsellor understands and is responding to you. One of the biggest factors in whether counselling works for you will be determined by how well you feel your counsellor relates to you. A large part of this work hinges on developing a counselling relationship; I think you should take what you notice about meeting and working with your counsellor seriously.
Scheduling Your First Counselling Session
Arranging your first counselling session should be straightforward. You want to feel that you are dealing with someone who is professional and experienced in what they do. You should find a time that works for you, don’t rush to get a date in the diary at a time that you know you won’t be able to keep. The directions to finding the counsellors’ location should be clear, and ideally you should find the counselling session taking place in a comfortable and private setting. Everything about this initial process of contact should give you some confidence that you have met a counsellor who is experienced and serious about their work. You should have a sense that your counsellor is interested in you and your situation, that he is open-minded and non-judgmental.
Having got to the first counselling session it may be hard to know where to begin. You should have a sense that your counsellor is experienced and knows how to help you open up the questions that have brought you. You will be the best judge of whether it feels like you are speaking about the things you need to. It should be clear that this is a confidential conversation and that your counsellor works to an ethical code.
Working With Me
In terms of working with me, you are under no obligations to have further counselling sessions after the first session unless you feel you want to. In my experience I have found that it is often a good idea to arrange a second session a week after the first, so that you have some time to let the experience of the first counselling session settle in your mind, and that you have time to digest the experience. Then, all being well you may find that you would like to go back and pursue the things that brought you to the first session.
If you would like to contact me to discuss counselling sessions I will respond to your email or telephone call promptly. We will have a conversation to arrange a mutually convenient time to meet, which I will follow up by sending you precise directions to find me. I work in a comfortable consulting room in my garden. It is a peaceful and confidential setting and there is ample room for parking.
