East Finchley Counselling

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A space to help you find your way forward.

Counselling and therapy for individuals in a safe, comfortable and private setting

Hi, my name is Clare O’ Boy. I am a BACP registered and accredited therapist based in East Finchley and have been working in private practice since 2015.

I trained in the integrative approach at the Mary Ward Centre in London and for me, the quality of our relationship is of central importance. Although intrinsically person-centred I may draw from other perspectives and techniques such as transactional analysis, gestalt therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, solution focused therapy and psychodynamic theory.

Volunteer Experience

In the past, I have been a volunteer counsellor in an adult education college, an organisation supporting carers, and a community-based service for people presenting with a wide range of issues.

Professional and Educational Qualifications

I am a BACP Accredited Counsellor
I have a Diploma in therapeutic Counselling accredited by the BACP and awarded by CPCAB
I have PG Dip in Careers Guidance
I have a BA (Hons) degree in Sociology with Professional Studies (Psycho-Sociology)

Professional Background

As a careers counsellor, I worked in schools, community, university, and private settings. This allowed me to gain extensive experience working with both young people and adults.

Areas of Counselling I Work With

I specialise in working with anxiety. I appreciate that it can be expressed in a variety of ways and to greater and lesser degrees of intensity, but that each person’s experience is unique. A few ways in which it can present itself include panic attacks, uncontrollable obsessive thoughts, repetitive behaviours, trouble making decisions or concentrating and social anxiety.

relationship issues

interpersonal issues

feeling stuck

depression

abuse

loneliness

confidence

self-esteem

sexuality

work-related issues

Our Initial Meeting

During our first meeting, my goal is to help you feel at ease so that you feel safe and able to talk. This might involve me listening silently for most of the session or being more interactive, depending on your needs. I will listen to what brings you to counselling and clarify with you what you hope to achieve from our sessions. I would be professional yet human; respectful and sensitive to the knowledge that seeking or having counselling can be a frightening or humbling experience for some or seen as an opportunity and relief for others. That a crisis, an ongoing concern left to drift, or somewhere in between can lead people to come to counselling. I would be non-judgemental in the hope that you would feel free just to be you.

Developing the Therapeutic Relationship

Future sessions will be influenced by the working relationship we develop, and I acknowledge my responsibility in that. I aim to be genuine, sensitive, and respectful. Whilst I recognise there is pain in life, I also value and hold onto the principle of hope. At times, I may challenge you with care and consideration, and I am open to being challenged by you as well. If appropriate and with your agreement, I might give you homework between sessions, but it won't be the essay type!

I would get a greater understanding of you so that you might better hear or see yourself and how others experience you. We may or may not spend a significant amount of time looking at your childhood, this would simply be influenced by what arises and its relevance to you and the present. I am the kind of counsellor who will try and respond to your needs and can commit to short-term and long-term working together.

Goals and Outcomes

By the end of our time working together, I hope you will have a greater understanding of your own life narrative and how you relate and respond to both yourself and others. This self-knowledge and self-awareness may not change everything occurring in your life, but it provides a strong basis for going forward in your relationships and when facing life's challenges.

Therapy Options and Fees

I offer both long-term and short-term therapy, available in-person and online. The initial session, which lasts 1 hour, is priced at £30. I understand that counselling can be a significant financial commitment, and you may want to speak with a few therapists before deciding who you wish to see. Ongoing sessions are £70 for 1 hour and typically occur on a weekly basis. I have a limited number of spaces for those on a low income and for young people aged 16+ whose parents or guardians are paying. Please contact me to check availability.

Payment and Cancellation Policy

I usually invoice clients monthly, but I understand some people prefer to pay weekly. I accept payment by bank transfer and cash.

My cancellation policy requires full payment with less than 48 hours' notice and 50% payment with less than a week's notice. However, I will do my best to offer you an alternative session time within the same calendar week, depending on my availability.

Get in touch

Feel free to message me if you have any questions or you wish to arrange an initial assessment session. The assessment session is not only an opportunity to discuss your reasons for coming to counselling but also to see if you think we could work well together. You can also call me on +44 77540 26325 if you would prefer to leave a message or speak to me first.

All enquires are usually answered within 24 hours, and all contact is strictly confidential and uses secure phone and email services.

Frequently asked questions

I understand and appreciate that confidentiality is one of the key ingredients of successful therapy; that without it there would be no trust in our working together. There are some rare situations however in which for legal reasons I would not be able to keep confidentiality and some where I may break confidentiality. I would, if appropriate, tell you why I needed to break it and try to agree a way forward with you.

You can read a more detailed copy of my confidentiality policy here.

The answer to this is it depends very much on you and what brings you to therapy. The initial session is an opportunity for us to discuss what brings you to therapy and get a sense of each other so that we can decide if we are a good fit to work together.

It may be that what you bring can be worked through in a few sessions or it may require longer-term work. If this were the case, we can review our progress as we go along at agreed intervals. It would be unethical for me to work with you for longer than is of benefit to you and if I thought this were the case I would say so. Sometimes I suggest or people ask if they can phase out their sessions as they put their new skills or knowledge into practice; this is something I am happy to do.

Please see a copy of my Social Media Policy here.

People often use the words counsellor and therapist interchangeably and from a practice perspective it could be very difficult to differentiate between the two. Broadly speaking, counselling is often short-term and deals with current issues such as bereavement, grief and relationship issues. Therapy tends to be longer term and deals with an ongoing or recurring issue, exploring more the background story to try and make sense of its origins. But it’s important to say here that both approaches look at ways to manage the issue in the present time. I work in both modalities depending on what brings you to counselling.

I aim to reply to enquires with 24 hours and arrange an initial meeting within 1-2 weeks. (I would not agree to an initial meeting unless I felt I could offer you an ongoing appointment time). Assuming we are happy to work with each other we can then agree when sessions will begin and at what time etc. I appreciate that some people work shift patterns and I may be able to offer some flexibility around scheduling appointment times.

East Finchley Counselling

COUNSELLING IN East Finchley, North London & Online

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