FAQ

Therapy takes place in a confidential and judgement-free space with therapists who are qualified, registered with professional bodies, and passionate about helping people. It is an opportunity to navigate through difficulties and understand more about yourself and your situation while finding ways to cope, gain understanding, knowledge and tools, and improve the way you feel over time.

Our therapists use a pluralistic/integrative approach, so have a toolkit of theories, strategies and therapeutic approaches to draw on to help you. of Talking to, and sharing your thoughts and feelings with a therapist, can help to make more sense of what is happening, and together find a way to work through it.

The first session is an opportunity to discuss what is bringing you to therapy, your hopes and goals. Your therapist will usually work through an assessment/history taking with you to understand more about your situation and background – this is an important part of the therapy so that they have a fuller picture to plan on how best to support you when you start working together.

Research suggests that higher session frequency in the first 3 months of therapy is associated with faster improvement. Where this is possible, you may benefit from attending weekly sessions to begin with, reducing the frequency to fortnightly when you and your therapist feel it is a good time to. Finances, life and work schedules may not allow for weekly sessions so rest assured that our therapists do also provide fortnightly sessions and will tailor the sessions to account for the longer periods in-between.

All of the therapy sessions offered on The Therapy Yard site are 50 minutes as standard. Some therapists also offer a 75-minute appointment, and longer sessions are available on request. We understand that longer sessions may be preferable for couples or when working through a crisis.

It is hard to put a number on this as everyone, and what they bring to therapy, is different. The number of sessions that people have varies depending on what they want to work on, the underlying factors behind the issues and the client’s receptiveness to therapy and commitment to working on issues between sessions. Some people are keen to have a short-term or time-limited therapy plan and it’s really helpful to share with your therapist if that is the case so they can plan accordingly. Others may choose to see how they feel as the therapy progresses, while others may seek longer-term therapy, so it’s very much a case of personal choice.

You can stop therapy at any point as you only pay for therapy on a session-by-session basis. We always recommend an ending session which allows you and the therapist to bring your work to a close and discuss any onward plans.

This can vary from person to person depending on what you are bringing to therapy. You are encouraged to explore your hopes and goals with your therapist so they can give you an idea of the work you can do together. Therapy is a journey of understanding yourself and your situation and working towards your goals. Some people may start to see progress after a few sessions, while for others it’s a longer journey as they gain understanding, confidence and tools.

Typically you would start with regular weekly appointments and can then move to fortnightly sessions to support you to transfer your treatment into everyday life before therapy fully ends.

It is worth noting that even after you have finished your therapy, you can get in touch if you wish to restart. This may not always be with the same therapist, depending on their availability, but we will work with you to find the best fit if they are not.

Research suggests that higher session frequency in the first 3 months of therapy is associated with faster improvement. Where this is possible, you may benefit from attending weekly sessions to begin with, reducing the frequency to fortnightly when you and your therapist feel it is a good time to. Finances, life and work schedules may not allow for weekly sessions so rest assured that our therapists do also provide fortnightly sessions and will tailor the sessions to account for the longer periods in-between.

Yes, we do not have any minimum or maximum number of sessions. It’s important to recognise that the initial sessions will involve the assessment/history taking, and for you and the therapist to gain a great understanding of the issues being explored. Short-term therapy is regarded as 6-8 sessions. Do let us and your therapist know if you are looking for short-term therapy.

No, you are not tied to a minimum number of sessions. We feel it is important to understand that therapy is a journey and that short-term therapy is regarded as 6-8 sessions.

Couples/partner therapists are working with the relationship, and each person is involved equally, so personal therapy would be with a separate therapist. Some therapists may do a small number of individual sessions under the umbrella of couples therapy where they agree that it would be beneficial to the couples/partners therapy, but this varies according to the therapist and their therapeutic approach.

Our Psychosexual and Relationship Therapists have completed postgraduate contemporary training which incorporates a range of approaches and theories. The majority use what is referred to as an integrative or pluralistic approach, whereby they encompass a variety of approaches, theories and tools, tailoring the therapy appropriately to each client. Psychosexual Therapy tends to involve more tools and exercises to take away and try. Further information about the approach each therapist uses can be found on their profile.

Psychosexual therapy, also known as sex therapy, is the umbrella term for talking therapy that addresses sexual issues. Psychosexual therapy incorporates a wide range of themes, including helping clients’ to understand more about their sexuality and interests, sexual difficulties including issues with sexual function, confidence,  and helping people enhance their sex lives and relationships.

We work affirmatively with diversity including gender, sexual and relationship diversity (GSRD) including LGBTQIA+, culture, religion, and neurodiversity. We work with all relationship styles including monogamy, consensual non-monogamy and polyamory, and work with BDSM, Kink and fetishes. We work with compulsive and problematic sexual behaviours.

Our therapists have all completed specialist training in order to be qualified to assist clients with the psychological and emotional causes of sexual difficulties. Our therapists help clients overcome difficulties such as erectile dysfunction, vaginismus and desire discrepancy. Common themes our therapists work with include:

• Gender and sexuality
• Sex education and confidence
• Desire and arousal issues
• Problems with sexual function including E.D., Rapid Ejaculation, Vaginismus and sex-related pain
• Kink, fetishes
• Compulsive sexual behaviours
• Ethincal Non-Monogamy
• Issues relating to hormones, health, ageing and fertility
• Loss
• Trauma

A relationship therapist helps people work through a wide range of issues they may be experiencing in their relationship. They also help to work on enhancing relationships, explore dating and relationship styles, including understanding more about what someone might like from a relationship or making sense of feelings and behaviours that a present within them. Relationship therapy (sometimes referred to as couples counselling or marriage counselling) is available for individuals, their partners and couples in all relationship configurations, and of all sexual orientations.

Relationship difficulties can be very distressing, and people often struggle with how to resolve them. Navigating them involves understanding where they are coming from, looking at different perspectives, values and behaviours and identifying ways that the needs of each can be met while considering both relationship and personal contentment.

As with psychosexual therapy, relationship therapy can help people understand where issues originate and facilitate discussion and exploration to identify solutions in a safe, impartial, non-judgemental and confidential environment.

We have a number of therapists who specialise in working with neurodivergence including ADHD, Austism Spectrum, Brain Injury and illness.

Due to the nature of court proceedings, we wait until court proceedings have been completed before starting therapy.