Our
approach to our Clients, our Work and Therapy
Defining one’s approach to therapeutic work
can be a difficult thing to think about and communicate
to others – mainly because the approach a
therapist or clinic takes will depend on a very
mixed range of important factors.
Additional to what you might read in a brochure
or website about the work of a therapist, we feel
there are many factors that influence the approach
a therapist might emphasize in his or her work.
Some of these factors will include: the theoretical
models used by the therapists; the style of training
and qualifications of the therapists; the therapists
experience in life; the way the therapist sees
themselves and the world; the manner in which
a therapist will engage with staff, the presentation
of their clinic and rooms, and their clientele;
and the manner in which these factors influence
and inter-relate with the general running of the
practice / business.
In our view, all of these factors combine to play
a role in the quality of the client’s experience
of the effectiveness of the service they are engaging.
Our notes on “Choosing a Psychologist”
reflect this view in greater detail.
Our Approach to our Clients
and our Work
Often, making a judgment as to the suitability of
a therapist or clinic to you and your issue, will
have as much to do about the feel
of the clinic and a therapist as it will about the
therapeutic model it
declares. For example, a client seeking a “cognitive
/ behavioral” therapist is likely to find
that there are some who practice in this genre who
suit their needs – who they really “click
with” in a productive way, and others who
may not be as suitable for them.
A trend from the most recent research strongly suggests
that effective therapy has more to do with the effectiveness
of the relationship between client and therapist,
than it has to do with anything else, including
the particular style of therapy being employed.
Ellen, one of our Principal Psychologists once said
that we need to treat our clients as we would treat
a loved member of our family.
We are always pleased to note when our clients comment
on their experience of the warm, relaxed and supportive
ambience they have felt in our clinic. We have also
been pleased to be seen by many clients as a family
service, where different family members feel they
can be a part of an ongoing relationship with us
as significant challenges in their lives arise.
We are very much of the view that a private practice
will tend to thrive and survive more on the effectiveness
of its work, than any other reason. We are not in
a business that can usefully offer a “weekly
special” – or gift certificates to “improve
your life”.
We are in the business of establishing effective,
cooperative relationships with our clientele to
assist in co-creating change relevant to the particular
person we are seeing. Due to the personal, confidential,
often sensitive and vulnerable nature of the work
we do, reputations can be lost a lot more rapidly
than the time it takes for them to become established.
For these reasons, in constructing this website,
we have tried to emphasize the mood
and attitude from which we work, as
well as many of the theoretical positions that have
informed our training, strategies and techniques.
Details concerning some of the theoretical and strategic
emphases that we provide can be gleaned from the
“Treatments we offer”
section of this site.
Our Approach to Therapy
From a more clinical view, our overall approach
to therapy may become clearer through highlighting
some of the more significant and permeating ideas
that tend to guide our approach to our work.
A positive approach that
focuses on what can be done
We see that an important part of our work is to
assist in opening conversations that generate possibilities
and purpose for our clients. We tend to place a
lot less emphasis on focusing on and analyzing the
problem, than being a part of co-creating and co-discovering
ways forward with our clients.
For us, it is important to be clear on what it
is that a client would wish to happen as a result
of being in therapy. Whilst there are some problems
that may need more examination and clarification
than others, our focus will tend to emphasize
exploring what change, improvement or skill the
client is looking for – and how we might
go about learning that skill, generating that
change and designing that first (second, etc)
step that will assist in moving toward the goal.
No one therapy suits all
– designing change with and for the client
For us, it is of primary importance that therapy
needs to be relevant to each particular client.
Whilst there may be something obvious about such
a statement, the importance of this idea in our
approach means that we believe that our skill lies
in designing change with each client – with
the aim of working together as a team
on the problem and the steps
to its resolution.
We see the client as the expert on their problem
– they have all the case history and all
the experience of the difficulty. We offer expertise
in having conversations that, among other things:
explore the issues; clarify desired / preferred
outcomes; and that generate what the client experiences
as useful and productive decisions.
We see also that an important part of our role
is to clarify and explore the relevant range of
treatment options with a client, in order that
more informed goals can emerge, and strategies
can be co-designed with the therapist. In this
way, a “theory” and method of treatment
will tend to evolve that is relevant to each particular
client, and their particular situation and history.
From a therapist’s point of view, we take
the position that “the theory is sitting
in front of us”. In this way, it is the
skill of the therapist to work with that history,
that situation, and that person in an agreed manner
that is relevant to the client. Our emphasis here
is to design treatment for and with the “human
being” rather than focusing our response
purely on a “pattern of symptoms”
or “condition”.
Therapy can produce positive
results quickly
We would estimate that approximately 15% –
20% of our clients attend for a single session.
More generally, we tend to average between 3 –
6 sessions per client. Whilst we do have some
longer term clients, they are very few. Appointments
can usually be made at our clinic within a week
to ten day time frame, or sooner.
It is a policy of our practice to check with each
client at the close of each session, what they
feel would be the best plan of action in relation
to therapy. We see that our relationship and degree
of involvement with our clients needs to remain
under review and re-negotiation as therapy progresses,
and as clients begin to experience the gains they
are pursuing.
We feel that the most accurate predictor
of the length of therapy will often be the expectation
of the therapist. Since opening our practice
in 1987, our clients have taught us that change
is always eminent and often unpredictable. Whilst
change can be planned, experimented with and modified,
it is always a delightful experience to be reminded
how change tends to bring change. It is difficult
to change one thing and not produce difference
in other things. This is one the major reasons
that therapeutic goals need to be monitored and
reviewed on a regular basis, in order that therapy
does not continue unnecessarily.
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