A Clinical Psychologist (CP) is a highly trained healthcare professional whose role is to help people to reduce mental distress and improve psychological wellbeing. They will have completed at least 7 years of training and hold a Doctorate of Clinical Psychology. This is a rigorous academic programme that trains CPs in research and analytic skills as well as therapeutic skills, allowing them to keep up to date with and contribute to the emerging evidence base of new and updated therapeutic interventions. Many have additional post-doctoral qualifications and training in various psychological therapies and techniques, or specialise in working with certain issues or populations of people. A CP can adopt many roles and ways of working e.g. with individuals, families, groups; consulting with systems; supervising the practice of others; but the most relevant role to my current practice is as a one-to-one psychological therapist. In this role, a CP is trained to work with people to help identify psychological and emotional issues and work towards resolving them through talking therapy.
This one is really tricky to answer as everyone's experience will be different. Most people find that it is a lot easier and more comfortable to talk about their issues than they think. Often people find that therapy is the first time they are able to talk openly and honestly about their difficulties, and respond with relief when they are listened to without judgement. That said, difficulties are difficult for a reason and so can be difficult to talk about, and developing self-awareness can feel uncomfortable; so therapy is not supposed to be 'easy'. Most people experience therapy as both a challenge and a relief simultaneously. These mixed feelings are to be expected and something that I am trained to support you with. I work hard to create a safe and trusting environment where you can talk about your fears and expectations of therapy, and this is something that we continue to check in on throughout the course of the work we do. We will work together to find a pace that feels like it works for you whereby you both feel safe and like progress is being made. That pace will be different for every individual.
What I can be definitive on is that there is no couch to lie on; we both sit in matching chairs as an equal partnership to address the issues and goals that you come to therapy with. You should not expect a magic fix or me to 'do something to you', or copious amounts of advice. You can expect to be listened to, your feelings be validated and understood, to learn new things about yourself and to have an ally in helping you use this new knowledge to work towards a resolution to your difficulties.
Again, this will depend a little bit on why you are coming to therapy but there will be some common things that you can expect. There are multiple purposes to the initial session: to start getting to know each other and building a trusting therapeutic relationship; for you to decide if you wish to be in therapy, and if you do, if you feel like we are a good fit; for us to both begin to get a shared understanding of your goals for therapy; for you to leave feeling clear that you know what subsequent sessions are likely to entail. All sessions last 50 minutes including the initial session.
My preferred way of working stays away from a stark linear structure of: assessment - formulation of difficulty - intervention/treatment. Instead we work with what emerges throughout the period of time that we contract to work together towards a commonly understood goal. I find this way of working better as it allows for us to work more in partnership, with us both organically noticing and learning new things about the issue and its resolution as we go along; rather than me being placed in an expert position having assessed you and then telling you how things are and how treatment will create change. However, despite there being no delineated assessment and treatment phases of therapy, you should expect to be asked several questions on the first session as we both need to create a bit of a shared understanding and plan for how to go forward with sessions. There are no right or wrong answers to any questions, and it is very common for the answers to change over time, or for you to wish to tell me additional or different things further down the line as therapy progresses.
Yes, confidentiality is taken very seriously and would be discussed with you in your first session. All that is discussed in the session and all associated written material will be kept confidential, with a few exceptions. There are times when sharing information with other healthcare professionals or social agencies may be useful, and if this is the case it would discussed and only shared if the client agreed. There are limits to confidentiality if someone is to disclose something that indicates they may be at serious risk to themselves or others, and in which case, I would be required to pass this information on. Finally, it is a requirement for all psychological therapists to have regular Clinical Supervision in which they discuss their work in a safe confidential space with an equally or more experienced colleague. All work that is discussed in these sessions is completely anonymised.
That depends on many factors, in particular what issues you want to address/what you therapy goal is. I would say, on average people tend to find between 8-20 sessions sufficient to make the changes that they wish. However, some people may wish for a very short (2-3) session targeted intervention, and some people may prefer to do some longer term work. This would be something we would discuss in the initial consultation and session; and would then continue to review on an ongoing basis.
Serenity Psychology is not equipped to provide a crisis service or any support out of hours. If you are feeling like you may be at risk to either yourself or others, it is important you get the help you need in a timely manner. I would recommend calling the Medical Centre/Health centre which will be answered 24/7, or if appropriate the SBA emergency services number.
Alternatively there are a number of helplines that can offer support including:
- SANEline is a national out-of-hours mental health helpline offering specialist emotional support, guidance and information to anyone affected by mental illness, including family, friends and carers. They are open every day of the year from 4.30pm to 10.30pm on +44 (0)300 304 7000.
- Samaritans is a 24/7 helpline for people to access a confidential listening ear at times of distress. Contrary to popular thought, you do not need to feel suicidal to call and talk with a listener. Unfortunately, their freephone number does not work in Cyprus but you can still call their old number of +44 (0)8457 90 90 90
When in therapy, personal safety and risk is something that we talk about and plan for in relation to coping with difficult thoughts or feelings that might arise as part of the process, however all clients are ultimately responsible to themselves regarding their own personal safety whilst in therapy.
That is a very real concern. In an ideal world back home you would choose a therapist who you had little to no chance of crossing paths with outside the therapy room. Here in the forces community most of us become fairly used to being treated by those who we may see out and about. There are unique potential issues regarding knowing your therapist personally or knowing of them, or vice versa; or become
known to the therapist in a different capacity either during or after therapy. It is also acknowledged that you might know the family of your therapist who also work and reside within this small community. This can introduce different dynamics to the therapeutic relationship as well
as potential dynamics outside the therapy room. These issues and how they can
be managed can be discussed in the initial telephone consultation, and will be
discussed on an ongoing basis if a potential client decides to engage in
therapy. There may be occasions depending on relationship and nature of the
work where a decision is made that the client should be referred to someone else
in order to receive effective and ethical care.
Please get in contact to let me know as soon as you need to cancel. If cancellations are made at least 48 hours before the session time there will be no charge. Cancellations that are made after this time will still be charged at a reduced rate. If appointments are missed without any notice given, they will be charged at full rate.
At this time one-to-one therapy sessions are offered on some weekday evenings and there are also limited weekend appointments. Please get in touch for further information about session availability.
Payment for the initial session is to be made using cash on the day. For subsequent sessions clients have the following choices regarding how they wish to make payment:
· Cash payment with cash at a regular interval on the day of session (i.e. weekly if a weekly session)
· UK Bank transfer of an equivalent price in UK Pounds which is invoiced one month in arrears
Payment details for workshops will be explained on promotional material for the individual workshop.
Privacy Statement
On 25 May 2018 the law changed with regard to how organisations have to protect your ‘data’ (personal details and records) and this is called the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR. The following summary highlights how GDPR is being implemented by Serenity Psychology, by explaining why confidential information is held and how this is protected. Please see https://ico.org.uk for more details.
Keeping records is an essential component of healthcare, which helps in understanding how best to help. Your personal data includes records of your engagement with the service, and also your contact details in order to make contact, and financial details for invoicing purposes
§ Confidentiality is maintained at all times (i.e. your information is not shared) unless there are exceptional circumstances such as risk to yourself or others, when other services such as your GP or police may be contacted without your consent as this is a professional obligation. Non-identifying information about you will also be discussed in ‘Clinical Supervision’ as described in the above FAQ reference ‘confidentiality’.
§ Consultation notes and questionnaires will be held for varying lengths of time depending on the content (and then carefully disposed of)
§ Some records may be held indefinitely if there were any issues of concern that could lead to police investigation in the future
§ Mental health records are subject to special legislation e.g. adult records are kept for 8 years after the last contact with the service www.gov.uk/government/publications/records-management-code-of-practice-for-health-and-social-care. This benchmark will be applied to all clinical records made in the process of engagement with Serenity Psychology
§ Contact information (including email address) and financial information will be kept for one year after final contact
§ All information recorded on paper will be securely stored in a locked filing cabinet
§ Confidential digital information will be stored on a password protected laptop computer
§ Confidential information sent by the psychologist via email will be encrypted and password protected, with the password sent separately by text
§ Letters sent to professionals such as GP’s, by surface mail, will be clearly marked Confidential
§ All electronic devices (e.g. computer, laptop and phone) and used to access stored information will themselves be password protected
§ Right of access; a ‘subject access request’ or SAR can be made for copies of records but there may be an admin charge and these will be provided within 1 calendar month of the request being made
It is assumed that by engaging with the service you are consenting to records being kept
If you want any further information please get in contact with me. All details of how to get in touch are on the contact page. Therapy means very different things to different people so there are no silly questions.