Short-term and long-term counselling and therapy

Dr Claire Mansfield offers adults both short-term therapy (8 – 20 weeks dependent on your preferences and needs) and long-term therapy (over 20 sessions and can be open-ended). Claire will ask you questions about the problems you are experiencing and your aims for therapy, in order to develop a therapeutic approach tailored to your specific difficulties and needs. Counselling and therapy enables individuals to talk about painful or difficult experiences in a safe, confidential setting. It may enable you to find new ways of coping or think about changes that you may want to make. Psychological therapy aims to identify how problems have developed and how they are being maintained, in order to offer opportunities for change.

The initial session

The aim of the first session is to give you an opportunity to meet with Claire and decide if and how you can work together. It does not obligate you to attend further sessions. You will be asked questions about what brings you to therapy and what you are hoping to get out of attending sessions. In this initial session, Claire will explain how she works and discuss confidentiality, cancellations and fees. Claire will invite any questions about her role, training and experience or about therapy in general. It may be important for you to take some time after the session to decide if you want to take it further and book subsequent sessions.

Assessment and psychological testing

Claire offers an initial assessment as part of short-term and long-term therapy. A stand alone assessment can also be requested which usually takes two sessions and for an additional charge can include a comprehensive assessment report. A full psychological assessment includes history taking and psychological testing and can be carried out for a number of purposes. Some people find the process of having an assessment empowering, enabling them to better understand themselves and more able to make changes in their lives.

Training and supervision

Claire offers clinical supervision to trainee counselling and clinical psychologists.