Our Approach to Individual Counselling
We use a style of psychotherapy called Transactional Analysis or TA, originated by Eric Berne, and since expanded to cover a wide range of ideas.
The basic assumptions we make about you are:
- You are OK
- You can think
- You have decided much of your destiny (usually unconsciously decisions)
- You can change your destiny by changing your decisions
You decide what to work on
Therapy isn't something that is done to you. Together we will agree a therapeutic contract about what you want to change and how you will know when you have achieved your goal.
You may not immediately know exactly what that is, which is fine. Much early work is often exploring the issues and coming to a point of clarity about what needs to be done. Plus of course, you can change your goals as our work together progresses.
Keeping Confidentiality
Confidentiality is key to the work. It is not broken under any but the most exceptional circumstances, and in almost all causes with your consent.
Ethics
Counselling can bring up some surprisingly difficult ethical questions, so we ascribe to an ethical framework which has thought through many of these questions. As part of our ethical responsibilities, both Sheila and Rob have professional insurance, and regularly see a supervisor (a highly experienced psychotherapist) for advice and guidance.
Length of Treatment
This depends on you:
- your aims in therapy - your appetite for change:
- just to feel better
- to stop helpful ways of being
- to explore your whole view of the world and change those that are not helping you
- the resources you are able to commit to therapy
- the number and extent of the problems you wish to address
Security & Protection
Edinburgh Counselling Associates is registered under the Data Protection Act by Sheila Hartley. Records are securely stored and destroyed inline with the provisions of the Data Protection Act.