Therapy Services – How we work

Our clients’ goals are important to us and we recognize that many people seeking counselling want to achieve maximum progress in the shortest time. While our goal is always to help you do that, it’s important to remember that your progress will depend a great deal on the work you are willing to put into this process.

Our role is to walk alongside you and support you while you make the changes you want to make. Our ultimate goal is to help you make deep and lasting changes that will serve you for years to come. Therapy is more likely to be successful if we have a mutual understanding of the process.

Our practice involves counselling and psychotherapy services to individuals, couples and families who are experiencing emotional, psychological and/or behavioural problems. We also provide pre-marital counselling and group workshops in parenting and family life. We are now introducing special services for older persons.

Emotional, psychological and behavioural problems may include depression, anxiety, stress management and relaxation, self-esteem, occupational issues, identity problems, inappropriate coping skills, adjustment problems, impaired social interaction and personality disorders as well as family conflicts, marital/relationship problems and parenting.

Your goals are important to us and we want to celebrate real results with you. The greatest fulfilment is seeing a client leave a counselling session with renewed hope. We use a range of approaches including Family Systems Theory, Solution Focused Brief Therapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. We are trained in the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy, developed by Dr Ellyn Bader, in Imago Relationship Therapy, and have approved membership in Gottman Relationship Checkup, We consistently keep abreast of new research in our professional field.
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Our sessions are normally one hour long for individual therapy and one and a half hours long for couples and family therapy. The first session can last up to one and a half hours for individuals and up to two hours for couples and families. Our first session is usually a “talk” therapy session so we can get to know each other and create the therapeutic relationship, vital to good therapy. Soon after this session a treatment plan is generated and we discuss your counselling and therapy needs and decide together what would be most suitable for you.

At times counselling can be brief but if you want to explore how you can make real changes in yourself and your life, it usually takes longer, perhaps several months. Understanding you and your unique situation will be our goal in our very first session.

Counselling is most effective if we work together to help you achieve your goals. We therefore expect that you would come to your sessions on time and consistently and that you would complete any assignments we agree on. You should also do your best to talk about those concerns, thoughts and feelings that are bothering you.

In the case of couples’ therapy, it is often very useful to start by seeing each partner separately early in the process. Partners very often fail to take responsibility for their part in bringing their marriage or relationship to the point at which they have decided to seek counselling. Separate sessions provide an early opportunity to gather two perspectives on how they see their relationship and to emphasize that each partner must be committed to the process of change.

We want to work with couples who are not about blaming and shaming each other, but about living fulfilling and transformed lives. Therefore it is important to set clear early on. If either partner is unable or unwilling to take responsibility for his/her part in causing the pain and hurt in the relationship, and cannot commit to the process of change, then it’s not a good fit for therapy.