How to find the right person to talk to:

When I was at nursery school, apparently neither I, nor any of my friends would tell our mums what we’d done each day with our teacher Mrs Edwards, and this was a source of great frustration for them (I have no idea what they thought we were getting up to aged three!).

 

That is, until my Mum made a discovery. Every night when I was having a bath Rabbit and Mousey would come and chat to me…and I would happily tell *them* what I’d be doing in the big wide world.

 

I never did realise that my Mum could hear everything and would then go back and tell all the other Mummies the highs and lows of our little lives, but I guess that didn’t really matter (and at least it was discovered that someone was stealing our break time biscuits and who exactly that was…!)

 

It doesn’t matter who you chose to talk to, just make sure you have a connection, you trust them (or believe you will be able to) and they make you feel good about being you.

Urgh. This is such an un-Brititsh thing to do, but here goes:

 

Today I thought it’s worth a reminder of the thing we all know – reviews are really important to help you decide if anything from a book to a pair of boots to a therapist is right for you. Here are a few of mine – from clients and parents. There’s more and some from corporate sessions I’ve run and group sessions on my website if working with me was something you were thinking of

 

(Thank you to the very kind people who have taken the time to write these for me)

 

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*This is just my personal opinion*, but it may be useful to you, so my next tip is to take a good look at how sessions have to be paid for.

 

…I can’t think of many worse things that signing up to see a therapist many times only to discover that you don’t really get on. It’s like a bad blind date, but a lot worse because by this stage you’ve put in time, effort and money….and now you have to keep going back.

 

That why the first session with me is booked as a standalone session, as even though we’ll have already talked on the phone and got an impression of each other, sometimes that’s not enough.

 

If you want to continue after that first session, that’s great – we then move to blocks of three sessions. Why? Because for some people that is enough to resolve their issue, but if not, it’s so we stay on track with your goals and it doesn’t become a never-ending process.

 

And if you don’t want to continue, that’s no problem at all as it really is important to me that my clients want to be in their sessions, and want them to be with me. If they don’t, it’s a bit like wading through treacle for both of us.

 

So once you:

have an idea that they work in a way that makes you feel comfortable,

have seen some reviews out there that give you a good feeling (or even better, you have a been personally recommended by someone who has seen them)

you don’t feel like you have to over-commit

you’ve seen their charges upfront

 

Then, I suggest you make sure you can have a short chat with them before you pay for a session to be as sure as you can at this stage that they could be your Rabbit and Mousey (see three posts back if that makes no sense!). Some people charge for this and take it off your first session; you’ve probably realised I don’t as I don’t assume the call will lead to your booking with me. Like I said, I want my clients to want to be there and want to be having their sessions with me.

 

 

*Reminder: This is just my personal opinion, although I hope it helps guide anyone looking for a therapist as it can be a big thing – and often its something we need to do at a time when big things feel even bigger.