©2023 Matt Lightfoot Counselling
Counselling and psychotherapy are broadly interchangeable terms and are both forms of therapeutic intervention or ‘talking therapy’ aimed at helping individuals address emotional, psychological, and behavioural issues. I choose to call myself a therapeutic counsellor, as this feels like the best fit for me and how I practice.
The process of therapy often involves an in-depth exploration of a person's thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and past experiences to address underlying psychological issues and promote long-term emotional healing and personal growth. Therapy can be short-term or long-term, depending on the complexity of the issues and your goals. I work with clients to identify patterns, beliefs, and emotions that may contribute to their distress and help them develop insight, self-awareness, and healthier ways of relating to themselves and others.
Sessions last for fifty minutes, and it is usual for them to take place on a weekly basis – particularly in the early stages. Less frequent sessions, such as fortnightly, are also possible and I would be happy to explore whether this approach would be suitable for you.
I believe that counselling has the potential to work for everyone, but it’s really important to find a counsellor who feels like the right ‘fit’ to help you achieve change – counselling with the wrong person either won’t work at all, or it can drag on for longer than it needs to. Fortunately, figuring out if you’ve found the right person needn’t be complicated: please just trust your own intuition and sense of whether the relationship feels comfortable and supportive; then see what happens during the first few weeks of counselling.
Research has shown that if counselling with a particular therapist is going to work for you, most people will see initial signs of change within the first six weeks or so, even if it takes longer than that to completely resolve your difficulties. I do not stipulate arbitrary end dates for therapy with the people who choose to work with me, and therapy can be open-ended for as long as it feels like beneficial and supportive to the client.
As part of how I practice, I will regularly review our work together to ensure you’re getting everything you need from our sessions and to check in on how we are relating to one another. My rule of the thumb is, that if the sessions are starting to feel like just ‘a bit of a chat’ then we might discuss whether therapy is still necessary and appropriate, and whether it might be worth starting to work towards an ending or reducing the frequency of sessions. I do not wish to keep people in therapy for longer than is necessary.
Sometimes, in the early weeks of therapy, you may find that you feel a bit more emotional. This is quite common and natural, and can be because both exploring and examining the issues which have brought you to counselling can be intense, and also because you are becoming more conscious of how you feel. In most cases this improves with time, so if you are finding things difficult at the start it may be helpful to remember that this can be part of the therapeutic process. If you would like to, it can be helpful to discuss any emotions you are having during our sessions together.
I am a huge believer in people’s autonomy and right to choose, and you are completely free to end counselling with me at any time. However, planning an ending in advance allows us time to review what you’ve achieved, look at your internal / external supports, and make sure you leave feeling safe and confident about the future. For some clients, endings can stir up powerful emotions. When you decide that you would like to bring our work to a close, it is generally helpful for us to work together towards a positive ending. For short-term work, this may involve just one or two sessions. For longer-term clients I would recommend a little longer, possibly with staggered sessions as we work towards a ‘good ending.’
Generally, I will not give advice about what you should or shouldn’t do in a particular situation. Where appropriate, I may occasionally make suggestions from previous experience, or signpost to other services that can provide practical support – but there is never any obligation to follow such suggestions and the choice and autonomy to do this remains yours. I generally find it helpful to carefully listen and support you in defining issues in your own terms, with a view towards finding your own solutions.
I abide by a stringent professional ethical framework, as defined by the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). A huge part of this is my commitment to the utmost confidentiality – I wholly understand and respect the need for privacy and discretion when looking at sensitive issues. It is my belief that, without confidentiality, there can be no trust and, without trust, there can be no therapeutic value within the relationship.
If you choose to work with me I will verbally discuss confidentiality (including its limits if, say, you were at risk of serious harm) at your initial assessment session. You will also receive a written shared agreement to confirm our discussion, along with a copy of my privacy notice, which outlines how I collect, store and manage person data under GDPR guidelines. I can also confirm that my practice is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under reference number ZB509125.
Once we have contracted with each other, and our shared agreement has been understood and agreed upon, I will share my bank details so that BACS payments can be made. I would kindly ask that payment is made 24 hours before each session, in order to secure the slot.
In short, yes! I have worked with many clients overseas with a good degree of success. I am based in the United Kingdom and am qualified to standards within this country. I adhere to the ethical principles and membership requirements of a British organisation - NPCS - and am governed by the law in England and Wales. I can also confirm that I'm insured to work globally. Session times will always be based on GMT / BST and can be agree together.
If you have any other questions, which are not addressed in this FAQ, please do get in touch and I will be more than happy to answer anything you wish to know about my practice, therapeutic approach, background, or anything else.