Dr Victoria Williams
Frequently Asked Questions
These are the most commonly asked questions for someone considering Counselling or Psychotherapy.
If your answer is not in the list, feel welcomed to use the Contact Me page.
Will our work be confidential?
Yes, our work is confidential. This is a very important aspect of the counselling relationship.
Everything that we discuss in the counselling session is kept in the strictest confidence in accordance with the BACP ethical guidelines. There are a few exceptions to this:
If I felt that you may cause immediate significant harm to yourself or to another person once you leave the counselling room. If I were to ever need to break our confidentiality for the above reasons then I would always attempt to discuss this with you first so that you would have control over any appropriate action if needed. I am obliged by law to report and serious concerns I might have about any children at risk of harm, child trafficking, threats of terrorism, money laundering and drug trafficking.
As a Member of the BACP I am required to have regular supervision and I will need to discuss our work with my supervisor from time to time. However, you are not named and I will not disclose anything that could enable you to be identified. If you are being treated by your doctor for emotional difficulties, it is important that you inform him them about me, and vice versa. I will not confer with your doctor without your knowledge and permission.
When and where can we meet?
I am available for client sessions Monday to Friday, with daytime and evening slots available.
Currently I only offer online counselling via Zoom or Teams or telephone counselling.
I will have further availability for face-to-face counselling soon.
How long will a session last?
Sessions are 50 minutes long and usually take place once a week, at a time that is mutually agreed.
If your circumstances change and the session time is no longer suitable, I will do my best to accommodate this and offer you an alternative time.
I am open to discussing meeting for longer sessions and at a different frequency depending on what feels appropriate for you.
How often do we meet?
A lot of clients find it most helpful to meet weekly and generally it is best to get into a regular pattern of appointment times. However, it may be possible to be flexible if you are unable to come at the regular time.
You may be in a period of your life where you are experiencing severe distress, and may want to meet more than once weekly. We will discuss how often you would like to meet in our first session. You are free at any point to change the frequency of our sessions.
What will happen during our 15 minute assessment session?
I can offer you a free telephone or online session of 15 minutes so that we can discuss what has brought you to counselling.
I will explain how I work and what you can expect from therapy. This is also a chance for you to ask any questions you have of me.
I will call you at a prearranged time that works for us both. I will be in a confidential space, and request that you do also. I will explain to you that what you tell me is confidential. You will have an opportunity to tell me how you would like us to work together.
Making the decision to seek counselling or psychotherapy is often not an easy one. It's important that you work with a therapist that is right for you; someone you can feel comfortable with.
After our assessment, you will hopefully have a sense of who I am as your therapist and if we are good ‘fit’ together. I will not pressure you to commit to further sessions, and you can feel free to leave the session to think about if you would like to continue our work together.
Should we choose to work together, I will ask you to sign my counselling contract and will refer you to the Privacy Notice enabling me to keep notes about our work together.
In our first online session, we will discuss the reasons for seeking therapy and decide what the focus of our work will be. The first session is also an opportunity for you to let me know what way of working suits you best.
How many sessions will I need?
Each person who comes for therapy - and the issues that they are dealing with - are unique, so it is difficult to specify a number of sessions. Sometimes clients may only need a few sessions to feel some relief, others may continue to choose to work together for months, or years. The therapy I offer is open-ended which means there is no set timescale. I am open to both short and long term work.
We will discuss your needs during our initial session and will continue to monitor this during our work together. I normally suggest we work for six weeks initially, and then we can regularly review whether we feel there is further work to do together.
I offer regular reviews to ask you if you feel that our work together is useful, and if you would like to continue. Reviews allow us to carry out the necessary adjustments and or establish new goals.
How do I know if its working?
Unconscious and conscious changes can be subtle, but gradually you will begin to notice less “symptoms”, you will feel lighter and more comfortable with yourself.
It is difficult to predict how long counselling will last however we will review the therapy work together to ensure that you can make choices about what is right for you.
You can always choose to terminate the counselling at any time and together we will ensure you are getting your needs met.
It is important to bear in mind that painful emotions or feelings may arise during counselling which may make you doubt the benefit of the counselling. I see this as a positive sign by acknowledging and exploring these feelings and emotions that arise, which have been previously hidden or ignored, it enables a new self-awareness and an ability to change and heal.
How does therapy end?
Sometimes you may feel the counselling is not helping you. In these circumstances it is best if you can come and discuss the difficulties rather than abruptly ending the counselling. Many of us have experienced difficult and sudden endings. If this happens in counselling, this loss does not have the opportunity to be understood and resolved.
I ask that you give one week's notice before finishing so we have the chance to discuss your decision, however there will be no pressure on you to continue with counselling. You will normally know when you are ready to finish counselling and we can address this within a session.
I will not suddenly or without warning terminate our contract, except in exceptional circumstances, which would become clear in the course of our work together. We would fully discuss this at the time. It is important for you to know that it is you who has the deciding say on whether to continue.
What is the BACP Ethical Framework for Counselling and Psychotherapy?
It is a code of practice laid out by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). I am a registered counsellor within the BACP and adhere to their Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy and the codes of practice in all of my client work. Commitment to the BACP Framework ensures that I put clients first, work to professional standards, show respect, demonstrate accountability, maintain integrity and build appropriate relationships with clients.
The BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Profession can be found here.
BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions
Also, as required by the BACP code of ethics, I undertake regular supervision – where I talk about my caseload with another professional counsellor, your personal details will not be divulged to them at any time.
I also ensure I take part in continuing professional development training to keep relevant and to expand my knowledge.
Please click here for my Privacy Notice which goes into detail regarding my legal and ethical requirements of practice regarding data protection and information storage and usage.