Preparing For Your First Session

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This page will help to guide you through preparing for your first session in-person or online.

(It can help to keep this page open in your browser while I guide you through the process.)

You will need 'Phone and Online via Zoom' on the 'Helpful Documents' page.

This will give you the Zoom details for videoing-in to my virtual waiting room, and preparing your environment to feel safe and available for our session together, before I invite you in.

- If you can avoid scheduling work, social, or family events within (a minimum of) 15 minutes of our online sessions, then this will help you gain the most from them.

- I also suggest that you do not come to online therapy 'back to back' after meetings, and place your tablet or laptop in a location that you do not normally associate with work.

- Many people choose to take a thoughtful 15 minute break or walk before and after online sessions, just as if they were travelling for us to meet in-person in my consulting room.

I work ethically, so I believe in professional fully informed consent for your whole therapy process. A safe, ethical, framework gives you even more freedom to explore in your process.

As part of this, I ask that you read and sign these two documents before we meet for the first time. They give you the details of how we will work together, keep you ethically safe, and protect your confidentiality, as well as leaving us much more time in our first session for you:

- The first, 'Privacy Policy' lets you know how I store and keep your data.

- The second, 'Agreeing to Work Together' covers our joint responsibilities.

You'll find downloadable copies of them here on the 'Helpful Documents' page.

Once you have confirmed your first session, I will send them to you for e-signing via separate email from SignNow. Or, if you prefer, you can download them, and email me signed copies.

n.b. If you e-sign using SignNow then you do not need to send me copies.

You will probably find  'Working as a Couple'  useful on the 'Helpful Documents' page.

This will help you understand and prepare for how you can both feel safe and confident to bring whatever you need to our sessions together.

(You might also like to review your choices by reading 'Individual or Couple Therapy?')

If you still need to pay for your session (a gentle reminder that all sessions are pre-paid, with the full fee due for cancellations of less than 1 week's notice) then you'll find all your Payment Options here. 

I will usually wait for you to turn up for 20 minutes from the beginning of your session, and will be holding you in mind meanwhile. After that, I'll assume that you cannot make it, unless I hear from you otherwise.

So, please do let me know if you are going to be late for your session/cancelling, either via regular SMS message, voicemail, or email only.

(Ethically, I do not keep your contact details/phone number in my phone; so please make sure to identify who you are.)

If you are arriving late, then please bear in mind that our sessions must always end on time, as others will likely be waiting.

I hope you have found this guide useful, and I'm looking forward to meeting you for our first session together. 

Until then, 

Ian