FAQs About Therapy
What does therapy involve?
At its simplest, therapy is a conversation between the client and the therapist, where the therapist uses their training and skills to assist the client in overcoming the difficulties that have been causing them concern or distress. However, it is not a passive process: you, the client, will be required to play an active part in and between the sessions if you are going to be able to benefit from the help offered.
What will I be asked about in the sessions?
Psychologists ask clients to describe their difficulties and provide some information about their understanding of the background to these difficulties. Psychologists then use their knowledge of psychological theories and therapeutic techniques to help people to understand and cope with thoughts, feelings, and behaviours they are experiencing in relation to their difficulties.
How can therapy help?
Therapy can provide you with the tools to change your life. and can help you to recognise how what you are doing (or not doing) in reaction to the problem might be keeping you ‘stuck’ or trapped in a vicious cycle.
Therapy helps people to understand who they are and can help them make sense of their past. It can help identify patterns - are you repeating certain behaviours? Sometimes it's not until you can clearly see the patterns that you can think about change.
Therapy can help you to normalise problems. By talking to someone about your problems you come to see that a.) you aren't insane b.) lots of other people share your issues and c.) most things are fixable.
The benefits of therapy result from a number of factors, including the interaction between the therapist and client.
How many sessions will I need?
This varies according to the type of difficulty that you are experiencing and its severity. Normally, following assessment, I will be able to give you a better idea of how long therapy may take, but a reasonable estimate is between five and 15 sessions.
Sessions normally last one hour, although the initial assessment may take up to one and a half hours.
How much do sessions cost?
Most self-funded therapy sessions are charged at $210 per session, payable at the end of each session by cash, cheque or credit card. If your therapy is funded by an insurance company or other third part organisation, charges may be higher due to the need for greater administration requirements, supplementary reports, etc.
Are Sessions Confidential?
All information you provide during therapy sessions, including your name, address and the name of your family physician, and everything you discuss during therapy is totally confidential. However, the law does place upon me some limits to the confidentiality I can offer. The main exclusions to my confidentiality are if you tell me something that indicates that you are in personal danger from others or are in danger of harming yourself or somebody else, or if a child or dependent other is in need of protection. If so, I have a professional duty to break confidentiality.
Sometimes, particularly if your treatment is funded by an insurance company, I will be asked to provide a report on your progress. This will focus on the work we have done together and how you have responded to this; it will NOT go into personal details that are not relevant to what the insurance company needs to know so they can approve on-going treatment.
What does therapy involve?
At its simplest, therapy is a conversation between the client and the therapist, where the therapist uses their training and skills to assist the client in overcoming the difficulties that have been causing them concern or distress. However, it is not a passive process: you, the client, will be required to play an active part in and between the sessions if you are going to be able to benefit from the help offered.
What will I be asked about in the sessions?
Psychologists ask clients to describe their difficulties and provide some information about their understanding of the background to these difficulties. Psychologists then use their knowledge of psychological theories and therapeutic techniques to help people to understand and cope with thoughts, feelings, and behaviours they are experiencing in relation to their difficulties.
How can therapy help?
Therapy can provide you with the tools to change your life. and can help you to recognise how what you are doing (or not doing) in reaction to the problem might be keeping you ‘stuck’ or trapped in a vicious cycle.
Therapy helps people to understand who they are and can help them make sense of their past. It can help identify patterns - are you repeating certain behaviours? Sometimes it's not until you can clearly see the patterns that you can think about change.
Therapy can help you to normalise problems. By talking to someone about your problems you come to see that a.) you aren't insane b.) lots of other people share your issues and c.) most things are fixable.
The benefits of therapy result from a number of factors, including the interaction between the therapist and client.
How many sessions will I need?
This varies according to the type of difficulty that you are experiencing and its severity. Normally, following assessment, I will be able to give you a better idea of how long therapy may take, but a reasonable estimate is between five and 15 sessions.
Sessions normally last one hour, although the initial assessment may take up to one and a half hours.
How much do sessions cost?
Most self-funded therapy sessions are charged at $210 per session, payable at the end of each session by cash, cheque or credit card. If your therapy is funded by an insurance company or other third part organisation, charges may be higher due to the need for greater administration requirements, supplementary reports, etc.
Are Sessions Confidential?
All information you provide during therapy sessions, including your name, address and the name of your family physician, and everything you discuss during therapy is totally confidential. However, the law does place upon me some limits to the confidentiality I can offer. The main exclusions to my confidentiality are if you tell me something that indicates that you are in personal danger from others or are in danger of harming yourself or somebody else, or if a child or dependent other is in need of protection. If so, I have a professional duty to break confidentiality.
Sometimes, particularly if your treatment is funded by an insurance company, I will be asked to provide a report on your progress. This will focus on the work we have done together and how you have responded to this; it will NOT go into personal details that are not relevant to what the insurance company needs to know so they can approve on-going treatment.