Susannah Newell Therapy
Other FAQs
How to Begin
I know from my own experiences of being in therapy that it can sometimes feel daunting, so I offer a free 10-minute telephone call to hear what’s troubling you and to arrange meeting for a first session. Please contact me by phone or via email.
In Person or Online
I offer both according to individual preferences and circumstances.
Professional Competence
As my profession isn’t regulated, anyone can call themselves a therapist or counsellor and do serious harm without the proper training and experience. Whether you decide to see me or another therapist, do check for membership of the UKCP or BACP. This means an approved training has been completed and a Code of Ethics is followed. Membership of the UKCP, which I have, means the therapist has undergone a training to postgraduate level and had hundreds of hours of longterm personal therapy.
First Session
We explore what brings you to therapy and what you hope to get from it. I listen to your story and answer any questions or concerns you have about the process. It is very much an opportunity for us to get a sense of whether we feel we would work well together. At the end of the first session, we shall decide together the way forward. If you decide to continue seeing me, we agree a weekly meeting time, which becomes yours from that moment onwards.
It is absolutely fine if you need time to reflect before committing to a weekly time slot with me and, if necessary, I offer further exploratory sessions for us to get to know each other better before you feel ready to commit to weekly therapy. This does, however, mean that time slots which we discuss as being potentially available may fill up. Where I have no availability left, I offer a waitlist.
Weekly Sessions
Each session lasts the “therapeutic hour” which is 50, not 60, minutes long, thanks to Freud. The time we agree becomes your weekly slot for as long as we work together. It’s important to come weekly to maintain momentum. Everyone needs a holiday though and so I don’t charge for dates when you can’t make your slot if you provide at least a week's notice. I do charge for missed sessions with less notice given in order for you to keep your weekly space reserved. Face to face therapy is more effective but if you occasionally can’t make it to me, I’m happy to have our booked slot remotely via Skype or What’s App.
How Long will the Therapy Last?
I work with clients for as long as they need me. This can range from long-term to short-term, which is usually a minimum of 10 sessions, depending on what a client wants to work on. Short-term therapy can be enough for those bringing a specific problem like bereavement. Such short-term support is often referred to as "counselling" in the mental health field and can only go so deep in this limited time-frame. It can, however, bring about meaningful change for life events like bereavement. More deep-seated problems, like relationship problems, issues from childhood and unhealthy behaviours or thought patterns, take longer to work through. Longer-term support is known as "psychotherapy" in the field and involves weekly support for at least a year.
I offer both counselling and psychotherapy, and the difference is not always clear for the client and is much debated within my profession. What is far more important for the client, is getting the support you need, which involves the development of a trusting relationship with me. How long this takes varies according to different clients but you can get a good sense of how we gel at our first meeting. We discuss possible duration and what you'd like to get out of therapy at our initial consultation.
One of the benefits of private therapy is that its duration is based purely on your needs rather than the economic limitations of the state or charitable organisations. I don’t believe in keeping clients on longer than necessary but trust can take a while to build up and people respond to therapy at different rates. I am therefore here for as long as you feel the benefit.
Confidentiality
Everything you tell me is confidential according to the terms of the UKCP & BACP Code of Ethics, which I explain at our first meeting.
Flexibility
If lack of childcare would prevent you from accessing therapy, you are welcome to bring non-mobile babies along. It can also be a useful opportunity to explore mother-child bonding if that is a concern of yours.
