Service and charges

Francesca Raymont
Psychotherapist, Counsellor and Supervisor

Charges

The fees for my counselling sessions are:

£60 per hour for individual counselling;
£60 per hour for couple counselling or £85 for an hour and a half;
£60 per hour for family counselling or £85 for an hour and a half;
£480 for 'Couples in Crisis' intensive therapy, 6 hours over two days.

I offer a free initial one hour session to all clients, which gives you the opportunity to meet with me and decide whether you would like to come for counselling with me.

I offer counselling to adults, young people, couples and families on a wide range of issues which are shown below.

Abuse

Abuse is a huge area affecting many people today. Abuse can interrupt a persons life and leave them feeling stuck and/or disconnected, experiencing difficult memories, feelings, beliefs and fixed patterns of negative and destructive behaviour, along with feelings of worthlessness and suicidal thoughts. Abuse may be something from your past or may be something you are currently struggling with. I work with any area of abuse, including: sexual, physical, emotional, psychological, neglect and domestic violence. Counselling offers the opportunity for a person to explore, in a safe space, what has happened, or is happening, to them through their abuse. This is done very gently, over time through the counselling relationship. Counselling can also help to move a person from feeling stuck by uncovering how fixed behaviour patterns are active and affecting a person’s present life. As a Therapist I would work to find new and more creative ways to help a person face their difficulties and move forward into a more positive future.

Anger

Most of us are very familiar with anger and irritation. Anger is a perfectly normal and absolutely fundamental emotion. Anger takes many forms, from mild irritation to wild rage and all points in between. Anger affects us on a basic, physiological level: blood pressure and heart rate increase, muscles become tense and we feel ‘on edge’. Anger can have play havoc with your physical health, like making a person more susceptible to heart disease and strokes. Anger has the other devastating affect of destroying our relationships at home and at work. Coming for counselling would enable a person who is experiencing anger to look at this emotion, to explore their relationship with anger, both currently and historically, to discover the triggers for their feelings of anger and to experiment with finding new solutions, tools and techniques for dealing with their anger.

Depression

We all feel low occasionally. Sadness, like happiness, is part of life. Generally, it lifts pretty quickly; but sometimes it takes root and deepens into depression. Depression can hit hard, distorting the way you feel - both physically and emotionally - the way you think and the way you behave. When a person is depressed, energy drains from their body. They feel exhausted, plagued by aches and pains and unable to concentrate on anything for very long. Making decisions becomes impossible and completing even a simple task can feel beyond them. Negative thoughts flood the mind and these negative thoughts and feelings can make a person withdraw from life and can even lead to suicidal thoughts. As a Therapist I create a supportive environment for a person to look at their current and historical situation within the safety of the counselling relationship. Together we would explore thoughts, feelings and beliefs to give the person some insights into the road they have travelled towards depression. Having gained these insights I would support the person in finding tools, techniques and the ability to move forward and become engaged in life again.

Difficulties from the Past

Most people have things in their past that they would like to forget. Sometimes this is possible but at times in life things seem to come back and feel like they are haunting us. Difficulties from the past such as difficult childhood experiences, a lost relationship, an accident, addiction etc can leave us feeling sad, fearful and full of regret. Counselling can help by giving a person an opportunity, the time and space to explore their difficulties in a safe and supportive environment. Counselling helps a person to gain insights into their past, to look at the thoughts and feelings associated with their past, and to find new, creative ways to resolve the problems or crisis that they are facing.

Identity Issues

A person’s identity is their individuality, their personality, who a person is. Identity issues come in many different forms and may include a person struggling with their sexuality or their gender, discovering they are adopted or just trying to find out who they are and how they fit into their environment. All these situations can feel overwhelming and confusing and may lead to depression or negative and destructive behaviour such as self harming, eating disorders and/or suicidal thoughts. Counselling can help a person look at who they really are and how they fit into their environment. As a Therapist I offer a safe space for this exploration to take place, without judgement, which gives a person the freedom to express their inner thoughts, feelings, beliefs and fears. I would then support the client to face their difficulties and help to find new ways of being.

Lack of Self-Esteem and low Self-Confidence

Lack of self esteem and low self confidence can have an enormous impact on a young person or adult’s life. It can leave a person feeling low, depressed, anxious and fearful. Often these feelings can result in negative and destructive patterns of behaviour such as self harm or self loathing, eating disorders, promiscuity, to name but a few things. Counselling can help an adult or young person to look at the thoughts and beliefs that lie behind their lack of self esteem or low self confidence. Counselling offers the opportunity of exploration, in a safe and supportive environment, of recent and historical events and relationships. As a Therapist I would support the adult or young person in uncovering patterns of behaviour and thoughts which have become fixed, and we would work together in new and creative ways to resolve these difficulties offering a positive way forward and an ability to be more involved in life again.

Personal Crisis or Major Life Change

There are times in everybody’s lives when we come to a point of personal crisis. This may be due to a major life change ie. getting married, having a child, redundancy, moving house, divorce or death. Sometimes, however, there won’t be a particular event that has occurred but just a sudden realisation that our life doesn’t make much sense anymore. At these times we can feel like we are spiralling into hopeless despair and we may feel depressed, sad, angry, guilty and confused. This can have a major impact on our relationships at home and work. Counselling would offer the opportunity of exploring a person’s relationships, past history and helping them to look more clearly at what their current situation is, find out how they are part of it, and experimenting with finding new solutions or ways to face the difficulty.

Stress, Anxiety and Fear

We all go through times when life seems like a struggle. We might be trying to balance the demands of our job against the responsibilities of family life. We might be worried about our health, our relationships might be going through a difficult phase or we may be worrying about how to make ends meet. Sometimes we can ride out these stressful situations but sometimes the stress takes hold of us and can bring about depression, anxiety, fear and panic attacks. Stress is all about our response to potential problems, our ability to cope often depends on how we are feeling at the time. I work with stress, anxiety, worry, fear, panic attacks, obsessions and compulsions, all of which can take root in a persons life and can inhibit there life to a greater or lesser extent. As a Therapist I would help a person to look at the triggers for their stress/anxiety/worry/fear/panic etc in a safe, supportive and non judgemental environment. I would help the client to discover what thoughts and beliefs lie behind these feelings and assist the client in finding new ways of managing and coping with their feelings and situation.

Work Related Problems and Redundancy

People are under an enormous amount of pressure in their working life. Whether that is having a workload that feels too enormous, experiencing problems with your boss or colleagues or just feeling unfulfilled in your work. All these pressures can start to take their toll on a person causing them to feel depressed, stressed, anxious and panicky. Redundancy has become a common occurrence with today’s financial climate, but just because it is common doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. Adjusting to a new role being unemployed accompanied by looking for a new job in today’s competitive market, can also lead to feelings of depression, anxiety and fear. Counselling offers a safe and supportive environment for a person to be listened to without judgement. This enables the person to explore their thoughts, feelings and beliefs about their current situation, giving them valuable insights. As a Therapist I would support the person in experimenting with finding new solutions or ways to face their difficulty.

Couples in Crisis

“Couples in Crisis” sessions are aimed at couples that want intensive therapy usually undertaken over a weekend due to a crisis in their relationship. This may be due to the disclosure of an affair, one partner deciding the relationship is over and planning to leave or any number of reasons that leads a couple to feel that their relationship is in real danger of ending. This intensive therapy is carried out in two 3-hour blocks usually on a Saturday and a Sunday. During the 6 hours of therapy couples will be given the space to talk through the crisis they are experiencing, whilst I work to bring some clarity to the situation, aiding the discussion and working with you to sort through the problems you are experiencing helping you to find ways forward. I would want to meet with you for a 1 hour free session prior to the weekend, if this is not possible then I would need to carry out a telephone assessment so that I can take a full history of the relationship before the intensive therapy begins. My fee for this weekend is £420. If you are interested in knowing more about my “Couples in Crisis” sessions or to make a booking please give me a call or email me. Please note: If a weekend is not convenient for you to attend intensive therapy, I also have limited availability during the week for “Couples in Crisis” sessions.

Other Issues

This list of issues is not exhaustive and I am happy to work with whatever a person brings from their life experience, either a current issue or an issue from the past. Coming for counselling is an opportunity for you to work through problematic life experiences in a safe and supportive environment. Counselling may involve a few sessions or may involve a longer relationship over several months, to suit your needs. My aim as a Therapist is to create a safe space for you, and through the relationship that we develop to give you a place where you can feel safe and supported, whilst you work through the difficult issues you are currently faced with or are struggling with from your past. I would also look at helping you to find new skills and tools so that you are able to move forward in a positive way.

Other Issues

Children

Is your child struggling with fear, anxiety, stress, or bereavement? Are you worried that they are not coping with school, friendships and/or family relationships? Then counselling could help them… I believe that offering children counselling whilst they are young is the key to a healthy and fulfilling life. I have experience working with children from age 5 upwards in a therapeutic setting. I have worked with children who are struggling with a range of issues including bereavement, anger, anxiety, fear and stress. I have seen the positive impact that counselling has on children and how it can transform their young lives. My work with children involves firstly developing a good relationship with them, where the child feels safe to look at the issues that they are struggling with. From within this safe relationship I gently start to explore their world with them and try to understand life from their perspective, working together to enable them to express their thoughts and feelings in a safe and supportive environment. Counselling can help children by enabling them to gain self-awareness, looking at what is impacting them, exploring the thoughts and feelings that are arising and then supporting them to find new coping strategies and skills that will help them to cope with their current situation and sustain them in the coming years. Much of my work with children is done through play therapy. I use puppets, games, story telling, drama, drawing and artwork to help children express their thoughts and feelings.

Teenagers/Young Adults

I have extensive experience counselling teenagers and young adults regarding a wide range of issues, including areas such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, OCD, identity issues, sexuality and many other difficult and challenging issues that teenagers and young adults are faced with. My experience working with young people has shown me that teenagers and young adults often struggle during the transition from childhood through adolescents to becoming an adult. At a time when they are finding out who they are and how they fit in the world, they often have other pressures coming from outside including education, career choices, friendships, family problems etc and this can cause them to feel feel quite confused and overwhelmed. Coming for counselling can help a teenager/young adult to be able to work through some of the things that they might find hard to talk to a friend or family member about. Counselling offers a safe, confidential and non judgemental setting, which can provide the teenager/young adult with the opportunity of making sense of what is going on and helping them to find their own answers to the issues they are struggling with. I offer a free one hour session to any teenager/young adult interested in coming to see me for counselling and this provides an opportunity for them to meet with me to decide if they feel comfortable with me and what I can offer to them through counselling.

Adults

I work with adults from many varied situations looking at a wide range of issues. Whatever a person brings to counselling is received without judgement. My aim as a Therapist is to build a safe space for the person, to help them to see more clearly what their situation is, find out how they are part of it, and experiment with finding new solutions or ways to face the difficulty. I have worked with people with learning disabilities and I have worked with many people experiencing a variety of mental health issues. I offer one free initial session to give people the opportunity of meeting with me without any obligation, before deciding whether they would like to continue working with me as their counsellor.

Couple Counselling

I have a special interest in working with couples, having worked extensively with couples throughout my counselling career. Whether you are experiencing severe problems in your relationship or if you feel you need an MOT for your relationship, counselling can help. Couples are under a lot of pressure and often start experiencing difficulties in their relationship due to these pressures. The pressure on a couple may come from work commitments, health worries, money worries or from bringing up their children and many areas of the couple relationship can become negatively affected. Whether that is in the area of communication, priorities over family time and/or work, an affair or sexual issues etc it can feel like the love that once was felt has disappeared and been replaced by a lot of bitterness, resentment and a feeling of just functioning alongside each other. When couples come to see me, the relationship I develop with them is very important. This relationship enables the couple to feel safe to look at difficult areas of their relationship, along with looking at factors from their past which are currently having an impact on their relationship. My aim as a Therapist is to build a safe environment for the couple, to give the couple a space to talk openly and honestly, to help them explore areas that are causing conflict and then to support the couple whilst they work through their difficulties and help them to discover new skills and tools to help rebuild, replenish and restore their relationship.

Family Counselling

Family life can be a very stressful, whether that is through money or work worries, difficulties with children, divorce, death, introducing step parents and/or siblings, or a host of other issues that can have a huge impact on the family relationship. Coming for family counselling gives the whole family an opportunity to look at the issues that are currently affecting them, or issues from their past, in a safe and supportive environment. The family work I do may involve 2 or more members of a family. Sometimes individual sessions may be offered or sessions with just the parents or just the children, if this is deemed helpful to the family, during the course of the family work. The counselling relationship provides a safe space for difficulties to be looked at, explored with openness and honesty, worked through and for the family to gain new insights. As a Therapist I am happy to work with whatever issues or disputes a family brings, and my aim would be to assist the family in communicating with each other, and finding new skills and tools to enable conflicts to be resolved or faced together, which would ultimately provide a positive way forward and a reinvestment in family life.

The issues shown above is not exhaustive and I am happy to work with whatever a person brings from their life experience, either a current issue or an issue from the past.

Coming for counselling is an opportunity for you to work through problematic life experiences in a safe and supportive environment. Counselling may involve a few sessions or may involve a longer relationship over several months, to suit your needs.

My aim as a Therapist is to create a safe space for you, and through the relationship that we develop to give you a place where you can feel safe and supported, whilst you work through the difficult issues you are currently faced with or are struggling with from your past. I would also look at helping you to find new skills and tools so that you are able to move forward in a positive way.

Tel: 0784 113 1096

Psychotherapist, Counsellor and Supervisor

Click here to contact me