Short term Outcome-focused Therapy
One of the first questions clients ask me is, “can you help me?” The second one is “how much is it going to cost?” This generally leads to the third question of how many sessions will it take. Debate rages among therapists about how these questions should be answered but it seems to me that they MUST be answered. It is totally logical that a client wants to know whether the time and money they invest (how much time? how much money?) will lead somewhere they wish to go – to healing or change or whatever it is they wish to achieve.
This is why I think STOFT is a great idea especially for these times when most of us are desperately wanting help but also equally desperately worried about money and delegation of time. So here is my answer.
Yes I can help you and yes I can tell you how much it is going to cost and yes I can give you an idea of how long it is going to take. The idea behind STOFT is that we work on a set of defined issues with realistic plans, discussed outcomes. It could be around work or relationships, emotional difficulties or current issues or past issues. It might be about family or friends, children or partners. But the main concept is that, together, we name the issues you wish to work on and we then plan for the desired outcome. This way we stay focused, dynamic, contained and, most importantly, we work in the short term.
At the moment people are feeling anxious. They are not sure of their future. Maybe it is enough to try and hold everything together. In circumstances such as this, deep longterm therapeutic work can feel just too challenging. Therapy can dig deep and unleash painful tricky feelings. Whilst this may be what some longterm clients wish to do, it is not for everyone. This is where short term focused therapy comes in. We can look at issues together over a short period of time. If you decide you wish for longer term therapy then of course that is fine but I am offering a new approach to open therapy up to people who fear sinking in to an abyss that might feel hard to get out of.
What you, the client, needs to know; we will have an initial telephone conversation of 20 to 30 minutes to talk about STOFT to see if it is the therapy you are looking for. I can explain how it works and you, the client, can tell me a bit about yourself and what you might be looking for. We then have an initial meeting of an hour in which we will focus on the issues you are bringing to therapy and the outcomes you desire. We agree on these and we agree on the work that we will do together and the structure of the sessions. EG if something big does come up, will we go there or will we agree now is not the time and stick to our plan.
We will then have nine more sessions, one every week or every two weeks depending on availability. We will have a review in week five to check that we are working in a way that feels positive and is in line with expectations.
CONTACT ME to book a call and discuss STOFT
This is why I think STOFT is a great idea especially for these times when most of us are desperately wanting help but also equally desperately worried about money and delegation of time. So here is my answer.
Yes I can help you and yes I can tell you how much it is going to cost and yes I can give you an idea of how long it is going to take. The idea behind STOFT is that we work on a set of defined issues with realistic plans, discussed outcomes. It could be around work or relationships, emotional difficulties or current issues or past issues. It might be about family or friends, children or partners. But the main concept is that, together, we name the issues you wish to work on and we then plan for the desired outcome. This way we stay focused, dynamic, contained and, most importantly, we work in the short term.
At the moment people are feeling anxious. They are not sure of their future. Maybe it is enough to try and hold everything together. In circumstances such as this, deep longterm therapeutic work can feel just too challenging. Therapy can dig deep and unleash painful tricky feelings. Whilst this may be what some longterm clients wish to do, it is not for everyone. This is where short term focused therapy comes in. We can look at issues together over a short period of time. If you decide you wish for longer term therapy then of course that is fine but I am offering a new approach to open therapy up to people who fear sinking in to an abyss that might feel hard to get out of.
What you, the client, needs to know; we will have an initial telephone conversation of 20 to 30 minutes to talk about STOFT to see if it is the therapy you are looking for. I can explain how it works and you, the client, can tell me a bit about yourself and what you might be looking for. We then have an initial meeting of an hour in which we will focus on the issues you are bringing to therapy and the outcomes you desire. We agree on these and we agree on the work that we will do together and the structure of the sessions. EG if something big does come up, will we go there or will we agree now is not the time and stick to our plan.
We will then have nine more sessions, one every week or every two weeks depending on availability. We will have a review in week five to check that we are working in a way that feels positive and is in line with expectations.
CONTACT ME to book a call and discuss STOFT