Straight Answers
Clear answers about counselling: what it costs, what it can offer, where its limits lie and how to decide whether working with me is right for you.
What to know before choosing counselling
Choosing counselling involves questions about trust, money, expectations and whether the person you speak with can help.
Here I explain what I offer, where its limits lie and what to consider before deciding. These answers may also help you assess another therapist or a different form of support.
Is my counselling suitable for you?
I work with individuals and couples who want help addressing relationship difficulties, deciding whether to continue together, or finding their footing after separation.
You do not need to be considering a breakup. Recurring arguments, communication difficulties, betrayal, and conflicting priorities are also reasons to seek help.
My contribution is an outside perspective and experienced guidance. We examine what is happening, what each person needs and what might realistically change.
If a medical issue or condition is affecting behaviour, we would need to consider whether medical assessment or specialist support should take priority. If another professional is already working with you on the same concerns, please mention this when enquiring. We need to establish whether my involvement would be useful and how the roles would fit together.
What can counselling change?
Counselling offers a way to examine difficulties with someone outside the relationship, discuss matters that have become hard to address and consider possible next steps.
For couples, this may involve understanding recurring disagreements, rebuilding trust, and making clearer agreements about what needs to change. Individual work may focus on making sense of the relationship, considering a decision or managing the effects of separation.
What happens between sessions matters too. Understanding a problem does not ensure that either person will respond differently.
Counselling cannot guarantee reconciliation, make a partner willing to participate or remove the consequences of a difficult decision. I cannot promise a particular outcome.
What does it cost?
Sessions cost €185 for 60 minutes, for individuals or couples. Meetings take place online through Doxy.me.
The total cost depends on how many sessions you attend. If you'd like to meet more often, we can discuss the purpose, frequency, and cost before you decide.
If this fee is beyond your budget, you are welcome to use the freely available articles and guides on Anxiety Master. They may support reflection, although they cannot offer an individual assessment. Lower-cost counselling or other services may also be worth exploring.
Do you need to attend together?
You can enquire individually or as a couple.
If you attend alone, we can examine your experience, your choices and how you respond to what is happening. Our understanding will be based on what you bring to the conversation. I cannot assess an absent partner or speak for them.
If you both attend, we can hear each person’s account and work directly with the difficulties between you.
How will you know whether the work is useful?
We need a clear understanding of what you want help with, so there is something meaningful to review.
Depending on the purpose of the work, useful changes might include being able to discuss a previously avoided subject, following through on an agreement, or clarifying a decision and its consequences.
You are welcome to ask what we are working towards, why I am suggesting a particular approach and whether further sessions are worthwhile.
What if something does not feel right?
Please tell me if I have misunderstood, if a question feels unhelpful or if the work seems to be going in the wrong direction. You do not need to agree with my interpretation.
We can revisit what happened, clarify the purpose of the work and consider whether a different approach or another practitioner would be more useful.
You are also free to pause or stop. Raising a concern does not commit you to continuing.
Further reading
Should a therapist share their personal life with clients?
An examination of personal disclosure, whose needs it serves and what happens when attention shifts away from the client.
How can a therapist’s own experience affect their understanding?
A reflection on empathy, assumptions and the importance of hearing someone’s circumstances accurately.
What happens if you enquire?
Use the form on my Work with me page to tell me briefly what you would like help with and whether you are enquiring individually or as a couple. You do not need to send a detailed personal history.
We can then clarify whether my offer is appropriate and discuss a possible appointment. Making an enquiry carries no obligation to book.