What happens in an assessment?

Our assessments are a simple way for us to meet with you and identify ways we can help you and / or your family. It’s an informal meeting where we talk through our qualifications and working practices and give you an idea of the therapy process and the practicalities of it. We will listen to both parent and child (where applicable) to see if our service is suitable for you, and give you a safe and confidential space to talk about what help you need and what to expect from us.

After the assessment, if we feel our service is right for you, you will be emailed with an offer of an ongoing appointment with a therapist and a start date.

Can you tell me how many sessions I / my child will need?

At Evergreen our therapy is always open-ended, as it’s impossible to predict how many sessions a person will benefit from. We are client-led and feedback at regular intervals to see how the client feels therapy is progressing and whether they want to consider an ending. Some clients feel they’ve gotten all they need in 6 months, some will need a bit longer; it’s all down to the individual. The most important thing for us is to offer a safe, confidential, non-judgmental space for you or your child to speak and not feel rushed.

What can therapy help with?

At Evergreen all our therapists are psychodynamically trained, and also draw on other types of therapy, such as CBT, to help their clients. Using this approach we're able to help with a wide range of mental health concerns, from school avoidance and anxiety to self-harm and suicidal thoughts and everything in between. Before your assessment we’ll ask you to note down what your concerns are so they can be discussed, and the early stages of therapy are all about building the therapeutic relationship so that these worries can be discussed in a safe space.

What information do I need to give you?

Before attending your assessment we will ask for basic contact information and some background information to adhere to our safeguarding policy and in case of emergency.

Before your first session we will ask for more complete contact information which is stored in your client file. This is in line with our confidentiality policy and details are not shared with third parties, and no one is contacted without express written permission.

How do I pay for sessions?

We accept bank transfer, card payments and cash. An invoice will be emailed to you 24 hours prior to your session with bank details at the bottom.

What happens if I miss or cancel an appointment?

In line with our terms and conditions, missed or cancelled sessions must still be paid in full. When you sign up for our service you acknowledge that therapy occurs weekly and that all sessions must be paid for in full or risk termination of said services. Our full cancellation policy is clearly displayed on the website in our terms and conditions and will be explained to you during assessment. Our counselling contract also covers this fully.

Do I / my child have to attend every week?

The short answer is, yes! Please bear this in mind when considering our services. We understand that life happens and some missed sessions are unavoidable, but for therapy to be most effective, and to build a good therapeutic relationship and keep the benefits of it going, weekly is most effective. We offer remote sessions where needed, such as illness or being on holiday, the full breakdown of which can be found in our terms and conditions and will be explained to you during assessment.

Weekly sessions also enable us to safeguard children properly, as outlined in our policy here.

Can I be in the therapy room with my child?

If you or your child feel they need you for a few minutes to get settled at the start of an appointment, absolutely. We recommend a quick goodbye and then leave them to it, as a parent being in the room is not typically beneficial for 1-2-1 therapy.