How it All Works

I know that the thought of meeting with a Clinical Psychologist can be very unnerving, particularly if its not something that you have had experience of before. Also, if you've found your way onto my site it is likely that you're going through something of a tough time at the moment. I find that the best way to work with children and families is to do so (at least initially) in their own homes; I find that meeting families in their normal environment can really help make them feel more at ease, and can make it easier for us to see together the sorts of things that might be troubling the family (have you ever had the experience of a child behaving completely differently when going to the doctor? That's exactly what I'm talking about!).

Usually, we will meet together with any one who has a view on the issue, for around an hour and a half. This should allow everyone to have a chance to begin talking about the issue, how it affects them and how they see it affecting others. This assessment phase is a bit like being a detective - we need to work together to gather as much information about what might be going on so that we have some useful ideas of what changes we can make.

How many subsequent sessions (usually lasting an hour) we have really depends on the specific issues that we are working with, and how much time we have to do it in. Sometimes once weekly will be good, other times fortnightly might make more sense; its all individual to you and your family.