Frequently Asked Questions
If you don't find your answer here, please reach out!
We're happy to answer any questions you have.
Your specialty is unconventional relationships, do you provide more general counselling as well?
Definitely. It’s very important to us to be flexible to our clients' needs. Self-esteem, goal setting, family of origin, relationships, depression, anxiety, and life transitions are other areas in which we have experience. If we ever felt that we were unable to provide you the best support, we would suggest a referral to someone with more experience in your area of concern.
What is your confidentiality policy?
All of the information disclosed in our sessions will be kept confidential, with the following exceptions:
(a) Duty to Warn (Intent of harm to self or others)
(b) Court Subpoenas
(c) Consultation (Occasionally with my supervisor in order to provide you the best possible service)
In addition, your identity will be kept confidential unless you choose to reveal it (If we see each other in public, we won’t initiate contact or acknowledge that we know you in a therapeutic context unless you do so first).
We are very willing to talk about these exceptions to confidentiality, and in as many cases as possible we will be transparent with you about our thought process and the duty to report.
(a) Duty to Warn (Intent of harm to self or others)
(b) Court Subpoenas
(c) Consultation (Occasionally with my supervisor in order to provide you the best possible service)
In addition, your identity will be kept confidential unless you choose to reveal it (If we see each other in public, we won’t initiate contact or acknowledge that we know you in a therapeutic context unless you do so first).
We are very willing to talk about these exceptions to confidentiality, and in as many cases as possible we will be transparent with you about our thought process and the duty to report.
What will our first session look like?
If you’d like a free 30 minute consultation, we can sit down and chat. We will tell you a little bit about our practice perspectives, ask a few questions about you, and answer any questions you have for us as best as we can. It’s a good idea to brush the surface of what’s troubling you in this session, and get some background information out of the way. You’re not required to agree to future sessions during this time, but if you’d like to, we can book our next session. If you’d like to start off with your first session, that’s fine too – sometimes it’s more comfortable to dive in when struggles are feeling fresh or urgent and it’s an even better way to get a sense of whether we’re a good fit.
What is counselling like?
Counselling and the success you find with counselling can vary greatly depending on the counsellor, the client, and the topics brought to each session. A therapeutic setting is unique to other relationships and day-to-day interactions. Counselling may evoke strong emotions, difficult memories, changes in self-awareness or different ways of relating to others. In addition, counselling may assist you to gain new insights, learn new ways to cope with or solve problems, and change unwanted behaviors. We will do our best to assist you with navigating these risks and experiencing at least some of these benefits.
What is your counselling style?
Since counselling is entirely for your benefit, we encourage you to direct the session and will help you reflect on the thought patterns we witness. We’ll ask you what you think will help you best and offer some suggestions of ways we can meet your goals. We may not reveal much about ourselves because we want our relationship to be unique from the other relationships in your life and give you lots of space to focus on yourself. We will ask you questions, not for our benefit of knowing, but instead to stimulate your thought process. We will encourage you to listen to yourself and access your feelings. We believe that rapport between the therapist and the client creates an environment where effective change is able to occur, and that is why it is so important to us that you feel comfortable and we fit well.
