“If I approached you for some help what could I expect?”
This is a really good question if you have not been to a therapist before, it can be daunting, not knowing what to expect.
I recently did an interview with fellow therapist Iain MacKenzie about how I work with clients. It’s a good introduction to me and my way of working. (The interview is split into two parts)
This page is a brief explanation of how I work with new clients. Please note that each therapist would have their own way of working, this is the way that I use to get the best results for my clients.
As the first part of the process I send you a confidential client information form which you complete and return to me. This form gives you a chance to outline the problem situation that you want to solve and what you would want to achieve by seeing me. This information is completely confidential (If it turns out that we don’t work together it will be destroyed)
When I have recieved this form then we can arrange a free “Pre-Therapy Session” in person, or on the phone, before any therapy takes place.
The Pre-Therapy Session
The purpose of this free and confidential session is to discuss in detail where you are now (your current difficulties), where you want to be (your outcomes) and what’s getting in the way of achieving those outcomes. We would also discuss the type of therapy I offer and whether it will be appropriate for you.
Although this session is not intended to do any kind of therapy, many people find it very helpful in its own right. The value of this session is to get greater clarity on what is going on, where you want to go next and whether you working with me would be the right approach for you.
The most important part of this session is to find out what brings you to therapy and what changes you might want to make in your life.
I would be asking these kinds of questions about your situation:
- What brings you to me?
- Why now?
- What difficulties are you experiencing?
- What do you want to have instead of those difficulties?
- What would achieving those outcomes do for you?
I am especially interested in finding out what your goals and outcomes are.
Most people are very clear about what they don’t want – the problems that bring them to a therapist in the first place. Not many people have worked out what they would want instead of the problem.
Working out where you want to go is an important part of this session. This kind of therapy is designed to get you where you want to go and not as an extensive analysis of the past to explain how you got to where you are now.
For each of the problems and outcomes we would explore:
- The challenges to achieving this outcome?
- The result of overcoming these challenges?
As we go along, I will be constantly checking and reviewing to make sure that I understand what you have been telling me. I need to understand your situation and outcomes to your satisfaction so that we can agree a plan of action that works for both of us.
When we are both in agreement about what is important we can decide if we are a good fit as a therapeutic team.
It may be that I am not the right therapist for you. In that case I will do my best to refer you to someone who is better able to help you.
If we are both happy to work with each other. I would explain how I run the therapy sessions, what you can expect of me as a therapist and what I expect of you as a client.
Then we would set the date for our first appointment.
The Therapy Sessions
I arrange the therapy sessions in blocks of four. This is to give us enough time to make progress and a short enough time to reassure you that the process isn’t going to go on indefinitely. At the end of each block of four sessions, we review progress and decide how to proceed from there.
The first part of the therapy is discovering outcomes – how do you want to things to change? What do you want to achieve? Most of this was explored in the Pre-Therapy Session so we can start quickly on making the changes you want.
From the list of outcomes we created in the pre-therapy session you choose which of those outcomes would give you the most benefit in your current situation.
You decide what is important for you to work on first.
Then we work to achieve that first outcome in the sessions themselves and through homework and practice.
I use two main techniques to get the results that clients want. NLP and EFT, they are approaches that are simple and effective.
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) – everything you do, you have a way of doing it, a way of thinking, feeling and acting that gives you that result. If you like the result you think of it as a skill, if you don’t you tend to think of it as a problem. NLP is a way of finding out what you do and how you do it then changing it to get the result you want. People usually find it straightforward and rapid.
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) – EFT can be thought of as acupuncture for the emotions without using needles. By tapping on certain acupressure points on your face and body with your fingertips, you can significantly reduce the negative charge on memories, feelings and beliefs. It is surprisingly easy to learn and I use and teach it to most of my clients.
I guide you through these processes and show you how to use some of them for yourself. In my opinion it is important for you to have the ability to deal with difficulties that may arise in the future. Self reliance is simpler and certainly less expensive than therapy when dealing with difficult issues.
After we have completed each outcome we evaluate the other outcomes and work on the next most important of them. It is quite possible that your later outcomes will change based on the work we have done, we will make adjustments as we go along.
How long will this take?
This is a very common question, and it’s understandable, not many people want to commit to a lifetime of therapy sessions. Unfortunately it is impossible to answer accurately. Some difficulties are very straightforward and can be resolved in just a few sessions, other problems are more complex and take longer to unravel.
Confidentiality
Our work together is confidential.
The fact that you have approached me is confidential, anything you say to me will be confidential with four exceptions.
- I think you will hurt yourself or someone else.
- The welfare of children is at risk
- An officer of the law requests information (with a warrant)
- I may discuss your case anonymously with my supervisor.
There are some things I need your agreement to, so that you can get the best results from the work we do together.
- You need to participate fully in the therapy process. The Techniques I use are very effective, but you do need to participate fully in them to get results.
- You need to do whatever practice is recommended at the end of the sessions to help consolidate the progress you make during the session. You need to embed the changes in your day to day life. A change that only lasts as long as the session will not be of much use to you.
- You need to commit to attend each block of four sessions, you don’t have to pay for them in advance, you just need to agree to attend to give the process and yourself a fair chance.
- If you are not able to attend a session you must give 24 or more hours notice
- Sometimes progress is remarkably straightforward and simple, each session bringing you closer to that goal. Sometimes it takes more time and requires more effort and you need to understand that it might take quite a bit of effort to reach the goals that you want.
Cost
I charge £40 for each 1 hour therapy session
Contact me to discuss your needs and set up a complimentary Pre-therapy appointment to help you get clearer about your needs and what you can do to meet them.
Andy Hunt
AAMET EFT Level 3 Practitioner and Trainer
NLP Master Practitioner and Trainer
Tel: 0754 700 9116
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