What happens in a first conversation
Most people put this off for months. Usually it isn't the money or the time — it's not knowing what they're walking into. So here it is, plainly.
It's free, and it's short
Around twenty minutes with us, on a video call, or the phone if you'd rather. Some of the team offer longer. There's no charge and you're not committing to anything by turning up.
You don't need it worked out in advance
Most people start with "I don't really know where to begin", and that's a perfectly good place to begin. You don't need a diagnosis, a tidy story, or a reason that sounds serious enough. No issue is too small or too big.
What we'll ask
Mainly what's brought you here now — not the whole history, just what made this the week rather than any of the last hundred. We may ask whether you've had therapy before and how you found it. And we may what you'd want to be different.
What we'll tell you
Honestly, whether we think therapy would help with what you've described, and whether we are the right fit for it. Sometimes the answer is someone else on our team. Sometimes it's none of us, and we may tell you where to look instead.
What it costs, if you go ahead
£100 for a fifty-minute session, usually weekly. Short-term work is around six to twelve sessions; longer work is open-ended and reviewed as we go. We hold a small number of reduced-fee places — if cost is what's stopping you, say so and we'll talk about what's workable.
One thing we'd rather say now than later
Therapy is work, it's hard, and it's painful at times. Anyone promising otherwise is describing something else. For the people who stick with it, it can change what they're able to carry — but the sticking with it is the part that does the work.
Nobody is signed up to anything
You can have the conversation and decide it isn't for you, or isn't for now. That happens, it's fine, and it costs you nothing.
We're not a crisis service. If you need to talk to someone tonight, Samaritans are on 116 123, free, any hour, or text SHOUT to 85258.