This page is all about the steps involved in making your first appointment, and I’m assuming that you have read something about me(link) (David – Sue is not taking on clients at the moment), and what I have to offer, and have decided that it might help with the issues and difficulties you are facing. If you haven’t made that decision yet , and would like to read more about me, and therapy itself, then do spend as long as you need to on the other pages on this website.

Contact me by phone or text message (UK 07941-989887) or by email (link) . My reply will be mainly about date, time, how to find us (face-to-face or online), and how to pay a deposit to confirm your first appointment. I won’t want to talk about personal issues at that time – I try to respond to phone calls, texts and emails as quickly as possible, and it will often be noisy, public, and full of distractions around me – not a good environment to discuss things of importance, let alone begin a counselling relationship!

I can often offer an appointment within 24 hours. It can last up to 90 minutes. Sessions usually last around an hour, say between 50 and 70 minutes. So I have planned the typical first session to allow you (and me too) to gently relax into it. First, I will ask you to consent to a summary (a “contract”) of the terms and conditions under which I work. This covers confidentiality, and the making and cancelling of appointments. As part of that, we complete a form with your personal details, which I scan on to my computer and encrypt for data protection. Next, we fill in a questionnaire, which will help us assess how well the therapy is progressing, by giving us a starting point.  If your eyesight is not good, or if we are working online, we will fill these in together. And then we will together fill in an assessment form, where I assess whether I can help with what you have brought here, and you assess whether I am the person you feel able to work with.

The first session is where we discuss what you are bringing, how we might work with that, how long it might take, and how much it is going to cost. Some people are given an allowance of sessions which are paid for by their employer. Most clients are paying personally for each session. I advise clients to commit for six weekly sessions initially, as you are very likely to feel MUCH better in that time frame. We will discuss the fee for each session, which is between £35 and £70, based on your ability to pay. For example, at an average salary, we would be looking at £38 for a daytime appointment, and £48 for an evening or weekend appointment.  In any event, if you are not happy with what we decide, or for any reason at all, there will be no charge for the first appointment, and I will refund your deposit, and wish you well. I can also help with referrals to other therapists, if you wish.

When clients come here for the first time, they will often arrive early. I understand that completely, but for housekeeping reasons, writing up the previous client, bathroom breaks, etc., I often cannot answer the door until close to the time of your appointment. I think the best strategy is to sit in your car, or stroll around the cricket club, and you are welcome to wait on the drive if you wish. Online and telephone clients don’t have this problem!

Confirm your first appointment by paying the deposit (unless your employer is paying). I request £40 deposit for a daytime appointment, £50 deposit for an evening or weekend appointment. After the first appointment, provided you have attended in person, I am delighted to refund the deposit if either of us do not wish to continue working together.

Just to be clear, if you don’t attend the first session, or cancel giving me less than 24 hours minimum notice, I will keep the deposit as payment for that missed session.  If you still wish to try working with me, that’s fine, we just start over.

Cheques, PayPal[link] and even cash are fine as means of payment. If you wish to use a credit or debit card, you can do this using PayPal [link], as we do not take cards directly.  If you want my bank details to do an electronic transfer that way, just ask. Do bear in mind that if you use any form of payment apart from cash it will be recorded outside of my control, and others may be able to access that record.

BUPA has its own rules.  BUPA covered clients will have a “pre-auth” number, which will entitle them to a discounted price for the sessions – sometimes, depending on the particular insurance policy you have with BUPA, the session costs will be covered completely. Please ask BUPA for an accurate assessment of the amount you will be expected to pay, and they will post or email a document to you. With BUPA any sessions (including the first) missed or cancelled late will have to be paid for completely by yourself, as this is never covered by BUPA – and this is the reason I take a deposit from BUPA clients too (£50). If the main policy holder is not you, then that person will know you have attended or not attended (although the content of any sessions will remain confidential).

I have many years experience at working online, and by phone – I do think there is an advantage when choosing online therapy in engaging a therapist in your own area if you can. When working online,  we need to use good secure software so we both feel safe. VSee Messenger (link to download) is fairly easy to set up and use, and is used internationally for confidential HIPAA/telemedicine health care. It copes with both voice-only, and video calls, and there are also phone/tablet apps that work very well and can be password protected. I am also experienced with Zoom, which is a little less secure but easier to use. When working online, comfort, quiet and freedom from distractions is essential …………. or we can use the good old phone, which nowadays I think is the second-rate online solution, but has the advantage that it requires no special software at all. Either way, I use headphones, but most of my clients find it isn’t needed.