Frequency Asked Questions

Counselling/therapy provides a safe and confidential space for you to talk to a trained professional about your issues and concerns. Your therapist will help you explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviours so you can develop a better understanding of yourself and of others.

A counsellor will not give you their opinions or advice or prescribe medication. They will help you find your own solutions – whether that’s making effective changes in your life or finding ways of coping with your problems. (BACP 2018)

Solution-Focused Brief therapy (SFBT) is a future-oriented, goal-directed approach to solving human problems of living. Initially developed as a rebellion against the traditional psychotherapy approach which is driven by the therapist/expert deciding what might be the best possible solution for those who seek help, SFBT aims to work collaboratively with the client who understands his own circumstances the best in order to arrive at a solution that is pragmatic and realistic to fit his needs. The result is a respectful, brief therapy with workable solutions that the client can actually carry out by making needed changes. (https://www.solutions-centre.org/what-is-the-solution-focused-approach/)

We do not try to persuade people that they need any kind of talking therapy. Each person is the expert in the own lives. If it is not working then we discuss this very quickly and try to help you find what might be more helpful and, if we can, point you in the right direction.

Yes, we have a male therapist and 2 female therapists on staff here at WCG. If you would like to request you see a specific therapist, please let our office manager know when booking an appointment.

Yes, completely confidential. We take minimal notes, these are more so we can refresh our memory before each appointment and are not passed on to any third party. There are specific rules around breaking confidentiality and these are in regards to harming yourself or harming of others.

1. In the first instance to our management team.
2. If you are not comfortable with that then there a range of options including the British Psychological Society, The British Association for Cognitive and Behahttps://www.solutions-centre.org/what-is-the-solution-focused-approach/vioral Psychotherapies, The professional Standards Agency. We will help you with the details for these organisations.

We aim to respond to booking enquiries within 48 hours and we try to book a first appointment in within 2 weeks of you contacting us.

A session is 50 minutes long.

We will ask you a series of questions that are based upon Solution Focused Practice that will help determine what it is you are seeking help with (where you are now), what it would look like had we been successful in meeting your hopes for our work together (outcome, or where you want to get to) and what you are already achieving and how you are coping with your difficulties already (your abilities, skills and qualities).

That depends on you, we do not “prescribe” a certain amount of sessions as one size does not fit all. Instead, we allow you to take control of that and decide when you are at a place to either have sessions less frequently or stop all together. The average for those who have completed therapy and are happy with their progress had an average of 5 sessions.

That is entirely up to you and what you are hoping to achieve. Most clients opt to have weekly sessions at first that then become less frequent the more they progress towards their goal.

We offer sessions via Zoom or other video platform. We can do telephone appointments if requested.

You can make an appointment either by calling our office on 0151 706 8163 or emailing our office manager at kate@workingconversationsgroup.org.

Of course you can, therapy can be a scary prospect and we will accommodate your needs as best we can so that your experience is as comfortable and rewarding as possible.

Our success rates are based on clients telling us that they no longer need therapy as they are pleased with their progress. Currently our success rate is 87%. Of course, some clients decide that therapy is not for them or that WCG is not for them. Everyone is different and we understand that.

We are a not-for-profit company and we do offer some pro bono work. We generally offer several options to clients who are facing difficult financial times and this may be a series of free sessions. However, we do rely on paying clients so that we can help those who are struggling financially.

Payment can be made at the time in cash, by cheque (with a bank card), bank transfer or by responding to an invoice emailed to you.