Some important questions answered

All kinds of people have therapy and find it really supportive. At Face2Face London we only see adults (18 or over). Our clients come from many different backgrounds and come to us for many different reasons.

Time spent with a therapist can be very helpful in addressing anxiety, stress, depression, sexual problems, relationship issues, loss and bereavement, problems with addictive behaviours and many other issues. It can be used to discuss any life event or circumstance. There is no limit to what can be discussed in counselling.

Discussions in counselling and psychotherapy can be about anything. Our clients may discuss whatever they want to discuss in confidence with their non-judgemental therapist. Some people choose to talk about events from the past while others prefer to focus on whats going on in their lives at the moment. Some clients find it hard to open up at first. Please don’t worry about that – we are used to it and will help you.

Counselling only works if clients feel safe enough to speak about whatever is on their mind. So discussions in therapy are confidential. There are a few legal exceptions to this, which your therapist will discuss with you at the outset, but they are rare.

Absolutely. Therapists are trained not to judge behaviour or individual life experiences, past or present. We respect each client for their personal choices. We wouldn’t be very useful to you if we judged personal experiences or choices. That’s not what we are here for.

As psychotherapy has developed, different therapists have focused on different aspects of it and new approaches have evolved. Although there are differences between the approaches, there is also a lot of overlap. Research has shown that the most important thing in determining how effective therapy is is the relationship between you and your therapist.

If you feel comfortable with your therapist and are able to explore your thoughts and feelings with them openly, the therapy is likely to go well, regardless of which type of psychotherapy they practice. So if you are looking for a particular type of therapy, let us know, but otherwise our priority will be matching you with a therapist with whom you feel comfortable.

Therapy can be uncomfortable, depending on the issues and emotions that need addressing. We support our clients through many painful emotions. Like going to a gym, in therapy no pain can equal no gain.

Your initial consultation will be with a qualified therapist and will cost £60 for individuals or £90 for couples.

Your sessions after that will be with a carefully selected trainee therapist. This enables us to offer counselling at the reduced fee of £45 for individuals and £70 for couples. For more information, please visit Our Fees.

We can usually see new clients within two weeks of initial contact. We attempt to see clients quickly and on days and times that are convenient for them. Appointments are available from morning until late evening, and on weekends.

Appointments last 50 minutes.

You may end counselling whenever you wish. When you feel ready to conclude your therapy, please let your counsellor or psychotherapist know.

Unfortunately, no. A person cannot be ‘sent’ for counselling. Your friend or family member will need to contact us directly.

If you need to cancel your initial consultation, please let us know as soon as possible. At your first session with your therapist, they will explain our cancellation policy. As your slot is held for you each week, missed sessions are always chargeable. However, if you can’t attend at your usual time, your therapist will try to find another time for you to meet, either face-to-face or online.

Consistency is important in therapy, for therapeutic reasons as well as practical ones. So our clients are given a time slot and that time is held for them each week. That said, we recognise that coming at the same time each week is not possible for some people, such as shift workers. In these cases, we aim to offer online appointments at other times in the weeks that they are unable to make their scheduled appointment.

Trainees may have less experience, but this doesn’t mean a lower quality of counselling. We carefully select only those trainees who we consider to be knowledgeable, mature, non-judgemental and empathic. In other words, they take their work seriously!

The most important thing is the relationship between you and your therapist. We hope all therapy provided by our trainee therapists is effective and professional.

It’s important that you feel comfortable with your therapist. So use the first few sessions to get a feel for whether the fit is good for you. If it isn’t, just let us know and we will look at transferring you to a different therapist.

That’s impossible to say, sorry! It all depends on how much you want to address in therapy and how deep you want to go. We hold the appointment for you for as long as you want to come and you decide when you want to end.

You will be able to continue therapy for as long as you want after your start date, until your therapist qualifies and leaves Face2Face London.

Yes. Many of our clients choose to have some or all of their counselling sessions online. If you would like your initial consultation to be online, just let us know when you book it.

You can have couples therapy and individual therapy at the same time, just not with the same therapist. If you want to do just one, we suggest booking an initial consultation as a couple. Once your couples therapist has heard more about your circumstances at the initial consultation, they will be able to advise you on the best route forward.

If the main issue that you want to address is a sexual problem, psychosexual therapy is likely to be good for you. If you are unsure, let us know when you book your initial consultation. That way we can make sure your initial consultation is with someone who is trained in both approaches and can advise you on the best route for you.