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Frequently Asked Questions

  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Who is The Big Chair CBT intended for?

Anybody that has:

- been struggling to cope with mood difficulties similar to those listed on the Home page;

- is aged 18+;

- can understand spoken and written English (clients will need to arrange their own interpreter if needed);

- has access to Microsoft Teams with a stable internet connection;

- can commit to regular, weekly timeslots

- is able to recognise clear, tangible goals for therapy

- is prepared to dedicate some time outside of sessions to try out some new approaches to their difficulties

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  • What can I expect from therapy?​

It goes without saying that all clients will be treated with the utmost respect, and their personal information will be stored privately and securely.  Once you decide that you would like to make changes in your life and reach out for my support, ​we can arrange a free consultation call at a convenient time for you to discuss what you hope to get out of therapy, answer any questions or concerns that you might have, and then we can plan to get started with treatment.​

When therapy gets underway, we will begin by carrying out a full assessment of your main problems, and together we will devise a treatment plan, which we will review regularly together.  As mentioned previously, CBT is not merely just talking about the problem, but also doing something about the problem, and so sessions will not simply be asking "how has your week been?", but rather we will explore a wide range of techniques, learn how to identify and challenge negative thoughts, evaluate certain unhelpful, "deeper" beliefs, and to commit to a plan of developing regular "experiments" to test out, both in- and out of session.

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  • How much will it cost?

All sessions are priced at £50 each, paid no later than 24 hours before the session start time.

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  • How many sessions will I need?

The length of therapy will depend based upon complexity of your main presenting problem.  In the NHS CBT tends to last for 8-12 sessions, sometimes up to a maximum of 16.  One of the benefits of engaging in private therapy is that we can offer a longer term course of treatment, where we will review after four sessions how you are progressing, and will do so throughout our time together.​

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  • What if I miss a session?

Whilst it is important that we regularly attend sessions to gain the maximum benefit from treatment, I understand that there will be times when cancelling or missing a session entirely will be out of your control.  I urge people to contact me as soon as possible if they know they will be unable to make a session, and any session cancelled within 24 hours of the appointment (or missed entirely) will still be charged at the full session rate (£50).  We will not be able to proceed with further sessions until this has been paid.​

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  • How long will it take until I can start therapy?

We can arrange for a free consultation call within 24 hours, and then subject to my availability we can start treatment within a matter of days​.

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