Question 1

Where will my sessions take place?

Accepted Answer

I offer in person sessions in Hull and Cottingham, East Yorkshire. We will discuss which location might preferable when we undertake a consultation together.    I also specialise in online sessions and I prefer to use Zoom. I am happy to use other platforms such as WhatsApp, Facetime or Skype if necessary. Telephone therapy is possible if you are averse to technology.

Question 2

Does Coronavirus change how your services work?

Accepted Answer

Partly.   If you are concerned, and would rather conduct sessions on the phone or online that is fine by me. I find that Zoom works well.    In person sessions are still taking place and are usually in rooms where we can sit 2 metres apart. We do not wear masks in sessions together, unless you would prefer, and there are no screens between us.    I am fully vaccinated and boosted. If you are not, I am still happy to see you in person. I currently take lateral flow tests 2-3 times a week.   If either of us test positive or are showing symptoms, we agree to advise each other - and we can quickly move our sessions online.

Question 3

What is the difference between counselling, psychotherapy and coaching?"

Accepted Answer

I use the term 'talking' very broadly to describe a range of services including counselling, psychotherapy, and coaching.   If you would like to find out more about the differences, there is an article in my blog entitled "Do I need Counselling, Psychotherapy or Coaching?"   The image gives a very brief summary.

Question 4

What sort of things do people talk to you about?

Accepted Answer

Anything! My service is confidential, so you can share with me any problems. We will work together to get past them and find new paths, and new ways of thinking.    I am happy to discuss relationships, friendhsips, anxiety, addictions, career issues, finding yourself feeling stuck, sexuality, ambitions, success, happiness, problem solving, life change, childhood, retirement, grief, trauma - or anything else!

Question 5

How many sessions will I need?

Accepted Answer

This is almost impossible to answer! It very much depends on your immediate and on-going needs.   Some clients with a very specific problem or goal may only need 6 sessions.   In my experience, most clients come with a varierty of inter-related issues that will require more sessions and, very often, continued support.    This is something we can discuss when you make initial contact, and once you have started it will be constantly re-evaluated by us both.

Question 6

How can I be sure that your work is of a high standard?

Accepted Answer

Many counsellors are qualified at Level 4 - which is somewhere between an A Level and a foundation degree. They require around 100 hours to qualify.   I am currently close to qualification at Level 6 - quivalent to a degree with honours, and will be continuing to study to Level 7 - which is equivalent to a masters degree.   Any counsellor or psychotherapist acting in an ethical manner will be supervised. All of my work is supervised by one of the most experienced psychotherapy supervisors in the local area. I receive 1 hour of supervision for every 6 client hours undertaken. This helps to ensure that other perspectives are considered in the handling of your case, and that we are both kept safe in the process.

Question 7

Do you offer your service to people of all ages?

Accepted Answer

Whist I do work with teenagers in schools, my experience is mostly around working with adults. For that reason, in my private practice, I choose not to work in the with persons under the age of 16.

Question 8

Are you insured?

Accepted Answer

Yes, all of my work is fully insured for coaching, psychotherapy and counselling and I can provide proof upon request.

Question 9

Do you hold a current criminal record or DBS check?

Accepted Answer

I am checked annuallly by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). This is an enhanced criminal record check, and I have no convictions. Proof can be provided upon request.

Question 10

Are you a member of any professional organisations?

Accepted Answer

I am a trainee member of the United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapy (UKCP) and a student member of the United Kingdom Association for Transactional Analysis (UKATA). As such, I follow their ethical codes. I am also a full member of the Association for NLP (ANLP). I am a licensed practiotioner for the delivery of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). I am also registered with the Information Commissioner to ensure the safety of your data.

Question 11

Could I see your website's privacy policy?

Accepted Answer

We receive, collect and store any information you enter on our website or provide us in any other way. In addition, we collect the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet; login; e-mail address; password; computer and connection information and purchase history. We may use software tools to measure and collect session information, including page response times, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information, and methods used to browse away from the page. We also collect personally identifiable information (including name, email, password, communications); payment details (including credit card information), comments, feedback, product reviews, recommendations, and personal profile. When you conduct a transaction on our website, as part of the process, we collect personal information you give us such as your name, address and email address. Your personal information will be used for the specific reasons stated above only. We collect such Non-personal and Personal Information for the following purposes: To provide and operate the Services; To provide our Users with ongoing customer assistance and technical support; To be able to contact our Visitors and Users with general or personalized service-related notices and promotional messages; To create aggregated statistical data and other aggregated and/or inferred Non-personal Information, which we or our business partners may use to provide and improve our respective services;  To comply with any applicable laws and regulations. Our company is hosted on the Wix.com platform. Wix.com provides us with the online platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you. Your data may be stored through Wix.com’s data storage, databases and the general Wix.com applications. They store your data on secure servers behind a firewall.

All direct payment gateways offered by Wix.com and used by our company adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. PCI-DSS requirements help ensure the secure handling of credit card information by our store and its service providers. We may contact you to notify you regarding your account, to troubleshoot problems with your account, to resolve a dispute, to collect fees or monies owed, to poll your opinions through surveys or questionnaires, to send updates about our company, or as otherwise necessary to contact you to enforce our User Agreement, applicable national laws, and any agreement we may have with you. For these purposes we may contact you via email, telephone, text messages, and postal mail. If you don’t want us to process your data anymore, please contact us at chris@talkingworks.uk or send us mail to: 29 South Street, Cottingham. HU16 4AH. We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on the website. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated, so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.  If you would like to: access, correct, amend or delete any personal information we have about you, you are invited to contact us at chris@talkingworks.uk or send us mail to: 29 South Street, Cottingham. HU16 4AH.