Frequently Asked Questions

What is Counselling & Psychotherapy?

Counselling/psychotherapy is a professional relationship in which a counsellor sees a client in a private and confidential setting to explore, clarify and work towards living in a more satisfactory and resourceful way.

Counsellors/psychotherapists are professionally trained people who are skilled at listening and reflective skills enabling you to explore solutions, provide support and offer an impartial, professional helping relationship that respects the client’s autonomy, personal values, resources and capacity for choice within his or her cultural context. The counsellor/psychotherapist will assist the client by providing an empathic, non-judgemental and confidential environment where the client can discuss their problems openly. Clients may come to counselling with a variety of problems, discussing developmental issues, addressing and resolving specific problems, making decisions, coping with crisis, developing awareness and personal insight, working through feelings of inner conflict or improving relationships with others.

Counselling/psychotherapy includes work with individuals, couples or groups of people.

I aim to provide a warm, safe and confidential counselling and therapy service for clients. I will encourage you to talk freely about what troubles you and I will listen carefully to what you say. The purpose of this is to help you gain clarity about your issues, recognise possible solutions and to assist you in coming up with your own best answers.

What is the difference between Counselling & Psychotherapy?

Counselling and psychotherapy are traditionally to a larger extent identical terms. Counselling tends to deal with immediate issues that may have arisen recently, for example relationship breakdown or bereavement. Psychotherapy tends to deal with more long-term and deeper issues rooted in the past such as trauma, childhood abuse and so on.

Is there something “wrong” with me because I need counselling?

Absolutely not. Counselling/psychotherapy is for any person who is experiencing a difficulty in their life. Usually, the person is unhappy with a certain aspect of their life due to either external or internal issues, and therapy provides the space for these problems to be explored. People from all walks of life and ages come to therapy for various reasons and varying lengths of time. You will learn through therapy that you are not a problem person, just a person who at this particular time has a problem that demands some changes.

How many sessions do I need?

The number of sessions required depends upon your individual needs and the complexity of the issues disclosed. We would recommend that you attend a minimum of six sessions of counselling to benefit from the process. We will review this and our work together at the sixth session and periodically thereafter. Psychotherapy can last longer and some clients attend therapy for years. Our ultimate goal is to help you continue your life without therapy.

How often will I attend?

To best benefit from counselling/psychotherapy, a regular commitment from you is required. Therapy sessions are usually held on a weekly basis to allow for the therapeutic relationship to develop.

How long is the duration of sessions?

The duration of each therapy session is 50 minutes.  The counsellor will begin to wrap up the session after 45 minutes, and the session will be finished after 50 minutes.

How much will a session cost?

Sessions cost €65 for individual adult, online and telephone counselling, and walk & talk therapy for a 50-minute session. E-mail therapy costs €65 per e-mail. Reduced fees are available in exceptional circumstances, please agree individually with your counsellor. Couples counselling costs €80 and lasts for 60 minutes.

How can I pay for the sessions?

The client pays the agreed contribution after each session. Payments can be made by bank transfer, PayPal, Revolut or cash. Receipts are available upon request.

What happens if I need to cancel a session?

If you need to cancel your appointment due to illness or emergency, please let the counsellor know as soon as possible. In all cases, 48 hours notice is required for the cancellation of appointments. Cancellations under this time frame, or no-shows or missed sessions, will be liable for the payment of full feel by you. In the unlikely event that the counsellor needs to reschedule the session, she will also notify you within 48-hours.

What can I expect from my first counselling session?

Our first session will be slightly different from the rest of your counselling experience. I will explain the process of therapy to you and go through our working agreement, which includes explaining the nature of counselling confidentiality. We will take some time to get to know each other. I will explain a bit about myself and how I might work with you. I will ask you some personal questions, such as what brought you to counselling at this point in time and some other basic background and personal details. This will help us get a mutual understanding of where we are starting from and will enable us to discuss what are your preferences and expectations from working together. We will also look at your past and current difficulties, and the strengths and resources which you already possess. You may ask any questions that you may have at any time.

How does E-mail counselling work?

In E-mail counselling, clients can more fully relay their thoughts and feelings by writing everything down. In addition, it may serve as a beneficial ‘journalling’ experience which could lead to additional insights as you are composing your e-mails. E-mail counselling costs €60 per e-mail as the sessions commence, with the exception of an initial couple of e-mails back and forth as I try to gain an understanding of you and your situation. This will be charged as one session and would resemble the initial meeting as we would have in face to face therapy as we get to know each other. We will then agree to begin therapy and you will be notified to send your first e-mail when you are ready. You will be provided with a specific E-mail counselling agreement that explains all of the details and sets down the boundaries pertaining to our work together. For example, this will include the timeframe in which I will respond to you and the typical length of an e-mail reply.

The therapeutic relationship

Therapy relationship is a professional relationship. The relationship that you and I develop is the foundation of the work, as a good therapist-client relationship will enable us to develop a safe working space for you to talk and to be heard and to explore your problem situations. It can nurture and support your growth and healing.

What notice will I need for ending counselling?

To end therapy, we would recommend that you give the end of counselling process just as much time and respect as was with starting it when we took our time to build trust in the therapy room. We suggest a minimum of two sessions to wind down a lengthier therapy period.

How confidential is counselling?

Counselling is confidential as laid down by the Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy Code of Ethics. There are however some exceptions to confidentiality, which include: if the counsellor reasonably evaluates that you are a danger to yourself (intention of suicide) or to others; or if there is a disclosure of abuse involving a child/minor under the age of 18 currently or retrospectively, as laid out in the Children First Act, 2015.

Confidentiality will be explained and discussed at your first intake session.

How do I make an appointment?

You may contact Jane Topkin on mob: 087 6939392 or by e-mail janetopkin@gmail.com. Alternatively, please visit our Contact Me page. Please use a form of communication that best works for you.