Susan Beaney

I have availabilty on most weekdays but my evening slots are currently limited.  Please enquire for up to date options.

I have been practising as a counsellor for over forty years and my approach has remained client centred throughout.  Experience and training has matured my view that whatever your reason for coming to therapy you are the expert on your situation.  It may be that you have a particular problem or challenging situation that you want help with, or that you want to explore the difficult questions of life in order to explore meaning and purpose.

We would normally begin with what is happening in your life now , how you are experiencing it and what choices or limits constrain you. Often this will lead to a deeper dive into your history which usually proves helpful in identifying significant events or patterns of behaviour that continue to influence your decisions today.

We explore together over as many or as few sessions as you want, the map of our journey evolving as destinations are reached, whilst others may emerge.  In the non-judgemental space I hope that you will find resilience and self-acceptance in order to confidentially make your own plans for your next steps.

I practice from home in a confidential office which is up a flight of stairs.  I do not have a waiting area so its useful if you arrive at the appointed time.  If we are working online I use the secure platform, doxy.me for which I will send you a link before the first session.

You can see details of the first session below.  After our face to face  beginning I do not take notes in the session.  Often I will write things down if we are working online.

My notes will be minimal and not identify any persons except by initials or general nouns such as "Dad".

Depending on whether we have set any particular goals or not the sessions will largely stand alone in the sense that you are free to bring whatever content you would like to address this time.  Some people offer a check in as to how they have been since the previous session, perhaps reviewing their goals, others want to begin immediately with whatever is pressing on their mind.  I will usually be guided by you unless we specifically decided to come back to something we wanted to reconnect with. 

We will usually do a review every few sessions to make sure the process is helping you.

I have a selection of toy animals and a sand tray that can be a fun way to discover unconscious feelings or thoughts but generally I don't use any other props.

We sit opposite each other and it is not appropriate to offer physical touch.  I hope you will feel the warmth of our verbal communication can offer the safety of a contained space in which you are free to talk about anything that is on your mind.

There are some limits to our confidentiality which are required by the law and the BACP ethical framework.  Very generally if I become aware of any situation in which you or another are at risk of serious harm I will need to contact the appropriate person or organisation.  You can ask me more about this if you would like.

I keep your details separate from my session notes and they are stored for six years after we conclude our relationship. 

Our first session is an opportunity for us to get to know each other.  Unlike some other therapies our relationship is the key to a successful outcome so it is important that we feel comfortable together. I therefore offer the full hour for which I charge my normal fee.  You may want to negotiate this if you feel you have a good reason for a reduction, for example you are a student or unwaged.

If you have received a diagnosis from a medical practitioner or appear to be suffering from a recognised mental health condition such as anxiety or depression, or particular trauma, I might ask you to complete an evaluation form.  This will be useful to assess if psychotherapy is appropriate, but also can serve as a baseline with which to judge how you are getting on.

I like to take notes in this session so that I can have a sense of the main characters in your life, perhaps beginning with a family history if that seems relevant at this point.  It would be useful if you can give me an idea of what has brought you to therapy right now and if there are any outcomes that you are looking for.  This isn't always possible as some people just know that something doesn't feel right and their life doesn't make sense any more.

It may be that you have a specific symptom that has become disabling or that a circumstance has unsettled you such as an identity crisis, a relationship breakdown, retirement or other transition, even a supposedly happy event that has in fact caused chaos like a new baby or a marriage.

It can be exciting to discover that even in this first session a light can shine into the dark corners and a new hope for the future emerge.