What
are your opening hours?
We are open from 9.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on
a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and from 9.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m.
on a Thursday.
The Butterflies
project for children and young people is open between 4pm and
8pm on a Thursday and from 2pm to 8pm on a Friday.
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How
long do I have to wait for an appointment?
Waiting
lists for reflective listening are minimal. However, depending
on the type of session you are waiting for, the average wait
for counselling is between 12 and 20 weeks.
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What
is the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy?
The
British
Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
sets, promotes and maintains standards for the profession. The
Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling
and Psychotherapy, with its
Professional Conduct Procedure,
ensures that members of the BACP
abide by an accepted and approved code of conduct and accountability.
This completely revised Framework was introduced in April 2002
and provides a core frame of reference for members to use in
their relations with clients, colleagues, fellow members and
the wider community. It safeguards both practitioners and members
of the public alike.
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What
is accreditation?
The Service Accreditation
Scheme helps the public and practitioners
identify services providing a high standard of counselling/psychotherapy.
It sets the standard to which all counselling and psychotherapy
services can aspire and encompasses the whole range of providers
from the small local voluntary group to major commercial Employee
Assistance Programme providers. Listening Ear
has joined BACP's
established and well-respected schemes for the accreditation
of individual practitioners, supervisors and training courses.
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Will
I see the same counsellor all the time?
You will be allocated a counsellor, reflective
listener, or Butterflies
support worker when you are given your first appointment, and
you will work with them throughout your time at Listening
Ear.
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How
long do my sessions last?
Each
session will last no longer than an hour and you normally attend
once a week.
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What
exceptions do you have for confidentiality?
There are three exceptions:
| 1 |
Where
the member of staff has the express consent of the client
to disclose the information.
|
| 2 |
Where
the disclosure is required for the purpose of any legal
proceedings. |
| 3 |
Where
the member of staff believes the client or a third party
is in serious danger. |
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What
are the different counselling approaches you offer?
Our Counsellors and Psychotherapists
work from a variety of Theoretical Approaches, the main ones
being:
Person
Centred Counselling
Devised
by Carl Rogers and also called 'client-centred' or 'Rogerian'
counselling, this is based on the assumption that an individual
(the client), seeking help in the resolution of a problem he
or she is experiencing, can enter into a relationship with another
individual (a counsellor) who is sufficiently accepting and
permissive to allow the client to freely express emotions and
feelings. This will enable the client to come to terms with
negative feelings, which may have caused emotional problems,
and develop inner resources. The objective is for the client
to become able to perceive himself as a person, with the power
and freedom to change, rather than as an object.
Psychodynamic
Psychotherapy/Counselling
This
approach stresses the importance of the unconscious and past
experience in determining current behaviour. The client is encouraged
to talk about childhood relationships with parents and other
significant people and the therapist focuses on the client/therapist
relationship (the dynamics) and in particular on the transference.
Transference is when the client projects onto the therapist
feelings experienced in previous significant relationships.
The psychodynamic approach is derived from Psychoanalysis but
usually provides a quicker solution to emotional problems.
Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy
This combines Cognitive and Behavioural techniques. Clients
are taught ways to change thoughts and expectations and relaxation
techniques are used. It has been effective for stress-related
ailments, phobias, obsessions, eating disorders and (along with
medication) major depression.
Integrative
Counselling
This
is when several distinct models of counselling and psychotherapy
are used together in a converging way rather than in separate
pieces.
Gestalt
Therapy
This
name is derived from the German for 'organised whole'. Developed
by Fritz Perls, it is based on his belief that the human response
to experience is summed up in a person’s thoughts, feelings
and actions. The client gains self-awareness by analysing behaviour
and body language and giving expression to repressed feelings.
Treatment often includes acting out scenarios and dream recall.
Eye
Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
This therapy is only offered by therapists
who have been officially trained with the EMDR institute.
EMDR
is a psychotherapeutic procedure that was originated and developed
by Dr Francine Shapiro in the US in 1987.
EMDR
was originally designed to treat traumatic or 'unhelpful' memories
and experiences and their psychological consequences. The procedure
has mainly been used in the treatment of Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD).
However, more recently it is also being successfully used for
the treatment of anxiety based problems.
Trauma
can arise from any event, experienced or witnessed
by a person, that involves life-endangering components and during
which, the person experienced extreme fear, helplessness or
horror can be considered to be a traumatic event.
A
phobia
is when specific feared objects or situations cause intense
anxiety and avoidance.
Most
of the components in EMDR
are recognisable from other well known therapies although they
are arranged in a specific order. However, one unique element
in EMDR
is bilateral stimulation in the form of eye movements, sound
(music), or tactile stimulation.
It
is believed that the bilateral movements induced in EMDR
mirror the natural eye movement process that occurs in the REM
(Rapid Eye Movement)
phase of sleep, during which information is processed naturally.
As such, there is a great deal of evidence that bilateral stimulation
speeds up the reprocessing of disturbing emotional material
and, at the same time, you are making contact with the memories
in a safe way.
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