Initial Assessment and what is entailed:
Before any work commences, I offer an initial assessment or consultation. The objective of the assessment is to reach an understanding of what brought a person to seek help and to then develop a formulation of what would be most useful for example, short-term therapy, longer-term therapy or a referral for a different approach or service. This initial meeting is also an opportunity for both therapist and client to decide if they wish to work together with no obligation to commit to anything further for the time being.
Occasionally the initial consultation may be enough on its own with a client then deciding they may not need to or wish to proceed with any further work. Usually however, people do want to continue at which point an agreement is made to either: proceed with a short-term contract which means a number of sessions are agreed at the outset with an option to review the work and extend if appropriate; or work can be open-ended where there is no predetermined date but also with the opportunity to review progress. Once this is decided, specific terms can then be agreed such as frequency of sessions, typically 50 minutes once a week, appointment times and fees. Clients will then be provided with a copy of a written contract and be fully informed of and provided with a copy of a “Confidentiality, Privacy and Data Policy” before any work commences.