Frequently Asked Questions

Call 07504 269 855 or click on email address contact@ianpittawaytherapy.uk

What happens in sessions?

It is difficult to explain in writing what a counselling or psychotherapy session is like since each session is different, and each client brings something unique. Underlying each session are the following principles:

• You and your personal experiences are distinctive to you and to be respected.
• There is therefore no ‘one size fits all’ therapy. How we proceed in sessions will depend on what you bring and what you need.
• Our role together is to sensitively uncover the roots of your difficulties, at a pace you are comfortable with.
• I will do my utmost to provide you with the conditions for personal growth and healing: non-judgemental acceptance within a confidential, safe and secure space.

What kind of therapy do you offer?

My approach is integrative. This means that I have integrated a range of different approaches, taking the best of what is available to help clients gain self-understanding. United by a belief in the importance of a warm and caring therapeutic relationship, my integration derives largely from transactional analysis, object relations and person-centred therapies, combined with research into early attachment, bereavement, trauma, and the effects of formative experiences.

I work with all presentations of emotional distress, and specialise in personal trauma, including post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression and bereavement.

What happens in the first few sessions?

First we have a telephone conversation of around 20 minutes to find out what your hopes are for therapy.

In the first and second sessions I will carry out an assessment. This means I will ask for information such as your address, medical history and family relationships, and enquire about what brings you to this point. I will also ask what you would like to achieve in therapy, and there is no problem if your answer is not completely clear, as sometimes it takes a few sessions to emerge. The rest of the sessions are shaped by the needs you bring.

What is the difference between psychology, counselling, psychotherapy, and psychiatry?

Psychology is the study of any cognitive and emotional process and its accompanying behaviour.

Counselling and psychotherapy are sometimes used interchangeably, while others wish to make a clear distinction between the two. In the latter case, the difference is that counselling is short-term and issue-based, such as wanting to work on confidence to be able to drive again after an illness or an accident, whereas psychotherapy is medium to long-term and is personality-based, such as finding it difficult to trust anyone or fearing closeness. In academic terms, psychotherapists are more highly qualified.

Psychiatry uses a medical model, and ranges from treatment for people who, for example, hallucinate vividly, through to the emotional-relational traumas of clients also seen by psychotherapists. Since psychiatry has a medical model, it therefore uses terms such as ‘disorder’ to characterise behaviour, often prescribing psychoactive drugs. There is no research which establishes a medical basis for emotional trauma.

How long are sessions? How many sessions? How often?

Sessions are 60 minutes long, starting from the agreed time. We usually meet once a week at the same time, but sessions more or less often are also possible, and I will accommodate those who work changing shift patterns. There is no set number of sessions: as few or as many as you need.

What are your working hours?

Sessions are late morning into the evening, Monday to Friday.

Do you have sessions on the phone or online?

Our first contact is on the phone to establish your needs. Sessions are then usually in person – online and telephone sessions are also available. For practical information about online and telephone sessions, click here.

How will we know when it is time to stop?

We should expect to see real personal change and a shift in self-understanding and experience over the course of our sessions. For some clients, a couple of months is sufficient, other clients still continue to benefit for much longer periods. Each person is different in this respect and the timescale is therefore personal and unpredictable. In my experience, clients always know when the work is done, as the way of thinking and feeling that troubled them has undergone a positive change.