More Information
Please note: I will be taking a sabbatical year in Australia from September 2024. During this period I will be working in AEDT and AEST timezones, coaching and offering therapy and supervision online.
I may be offering outdoor face to face sessions in Melbourne during 2025. Some of the information below (particularly the 'Where') will not be relevant during this period!
What should I expect from therapy?
The first couple of sessions provide an opportunity to see if we both feel we can work well together. In these sessions I will be interested in what has brought you and we will look at what you aim to get from therapy and see if we both feel the way I work will suit you.
It is likely that therapy will involve some exploration of your childhood experiences, along with your current circumstances and any issues in the present which may have brought you. As well as being interested in your thoughts and feelings, I will also draw your attention to what is happening in your body. Our nervous system is inextricably linked to our mental state so I am always curious about the information held in the body. Therapy can be a very creative process, and I often use visualisations, imagery and metaphor to help deepen the work.
How? Hybrid working: face to face, online and outdoors...
Since the Coronavirus pandemic I have adopted a hybrid approach to working. In addition to face-to-face and online sessions I also offer sessions outdoors, walking and talking (or sometimes sitting in the sunshine when the weather permits). There is a physicality to this work which is very different from the usual format of therapy and this way of working is proving to be very popular - here is a description of outdoor work from someone I have worked with for some time now:
'Having sessions outside began – for me at least – as a pragmatic response to the Covid pandemic: an opportunity to meet in person rather than on screen. However, it was clear as soon as we started that Claire had been thinking about it for some time as having its own set of possibilities, and I have found it to be profoundly significant and revealing as a practice. There is something about it – perhaps the rhythms of walking and speaking; the sense of openness and landscape; being mainly alongside one another rather than face-to-face; and even the changing weather – which generates a very embodied kind of reflection and insight. It also feels like a natural extension of Claire’s approach, which always pays deep attention to the felt nature of thoughts and experiences. I was concerned at first about the challenges: what about being overheard, or being upset in public? Claire addressed these with typical care and thoughtfulness, however, and they have not proved to be problematic or inhibiting at all. This move to therapy in the open air has been and continues to be of immense and particular value to me, yielding understanding and offering resources for hope even when things have felt dark. I am so grateful to Claire for suggesting it.'
I have worked online for a number of years so am comfortable providing therapy in this way, and find there can be many benefits to it – not least allowing people to continue to benefit from the work if they move away.
How long?
Therapy and supervision sessions last fifty minutes. With therapy, meeting weekly - ideally at the same time - creates a sense of continuity and helps get the best from the therapy by building on what has already been covered. I encourage this regularity, particularly at the start of our work together. I build in regular reviews to all my work.
Coaching sessions may vary in length and we can discuss this before we start.
How much?
I charge £80 per session for both therapy and supervision, payable in advance of each session. I have a limited number of discounted rates available for those in genuine need – please ask when you contact me.
Where?
My practice is located on Sturton Street in central Cambridge, fifteen minutes’ walk from the train station and the city centre. There are pay-and-display parking bays nearby on Sturton Street, or non-restricted parking is available on nearby streets (York St or Abbey Walk are closest). There is plenty of parking in the nearby Beehive Centre which is a five minute walk away.
Outdoor sessions are held nearby on Coldham's Common. Online sessions are on Zoom.
Contact
07967 826 196