Rosie Driffill

People seek therapy for all kinds of reasons. There really isn’t a ‘right’ reason to go for therapy; some people have specific relationship challenges they want to explore and overcome, others might want to use the space for personal development, or to find purpose, while some might not know exactly what they want other than to generally feel better, or to understand a part of themselves that is making them feel bad.

Whatever your reason, I think it takes a real degree of courage, so respect to you for starting your journey here. I really hope I can help.

I imagine that if you find yourself on this page, it's because things aren't how they ought to be, right now, or because things have become too difficult to bear without the option of having someone to share things with.

Though no two people's experiences are ever the same, I also have a sense of how this feels, and how lonely it can be, at times, to try and soldier on by yourself.

If we worked together, I would aim to create a comfortable and relaxed environment (with you as my guide to what you need) to enable you to explore what has brought you to therapy, and to earn your trust. This can take time, and my hope is to keep an open dialogue with you about how I can help you to feel safe and supported; this can look and feel different to everyone, and you are the expert on you and your needs. 

If you have had therapy before, because therapists work in different ways, previous experience may have felt different to how you and I might work together. I hope what I have written here helps you get a sense of what I can offer you.

I am an integrative therapist, which essentially means that, when you share with me what you hope to get out of therapy, I’ll probably draw on different theories and perspectives to help you get there. In other words, I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all theory or way of working that suits everyone. Because I don’t view myself as the ‘expert’ on you and your needs, I’ll try my best to honour what works for you, and what doesn’t. First and foremost, my hope is that you feel safe with me, not judged by me, and that it is OK for you to tell me what does and doesn’t feel OK in our sessions. 

How I work:

As I mentioned, it’s a really common thing to not to know exactly what you want from counselling; you might just want to feel better, and not quite know how to get there. In my experience, most people feel like this, at first! Very broadly speaking, I sort of regard what I offer as either or both of the following approaches; we can ask ‘what is troubling you right now?’ and/or, ‘why are things as they are?’ 

In other words, some people come to counselling because things feel really difficult in that moment, and they might want to learn how to try and get a handle on certain thoughts or feelings, how to survive them, even, before even thinking about doing anything else. Some people want to spend longer looking at why they feel, think, act or relate in certain ways, in order to gain a new perspective on, and hopefully compassion for, why things have come to be as they are. Some want to do both.

I suppose the thing that longer term therapy can offer is the chance to accept more of ourselves; having been through therapy, lots of people report being able to relate more authentically, and to have more of a choice over things, whereas before, they might have been pushing themselves to do things that weren't right for them, feeling like they 'should.' People often talk about having a safer relationship with certain feelings, feelings they didn't feel they could even acknowledge before, let alone bear. In order to get here, I feel like therapy can be a space where we can first understand why we have become distant from ourselves, and what the cost might have once been for us to be truly authentic; my hope is that if you and I work towards that understanding, that can be a really good start; only with a sounder understanding of ourselves can we feel able to make new choices.

Relationships are central in all our lives, with ourselves and others, and if we worked together, it's likely that you will use the space to reflect on one or more important relationships, past or present. With your permission, I might sometimes offer what I notice about how you relate to yourself and others, in order that we might both gain even more insight into why things are as they are. For example, some people relate in a way that keeps them very safe, which would have been necessary for them at some point in their past. My perspective is merely an offering, however, not an answer or fact; just because I am a therapist, it doesn’t mean what I say is ‘right,’ or more important than how you see things, and my sharing what I notice is dependent on your trust and consent (something we would revisit and check in with regularly). 

Session fees

I charge £50 for a 55 minute session. I offer a 20 minute, free of charge, no obligation phone call, in order that you get a chance to reflect on whether I am the right fit for you, and for me to gauge if I am the right therapist to meet your needs.

I have put together a short document that goes into more detail about the therapy I offer, and what to expect; I would be glad to send you a copy, if you wanted to understand a bit more about how I work prior to setting anything up.

Reviews 

It’s really important that we go at your pace, and for some people, that can be weeks, months, years – even – of forming a relationship in therapy. But it feels important to share that the therapy I offer is about facilitating some kind of shift, even if that’s tiny, at first; it isn’t ethical of me to just offer support, and this is why I offer regular reviews, or check-ins, if that feels like a better term. Like I said earlier, this doesn’t mean I expect you to make any great changes in your life in order to validate our work, but I’d hope that, in time, you’ll come to learn something new about yourself, for example … or simply that you’ll come a little bit closer to being kind to yourself! Reviews are also a chance for us to reflect on whether or not you’re getting what you need from therapy, and for me to find out how I can address this, if necessary. 

It is ok if you want to say… 

I really hope that you feel safe enough to share how you feel about your work with me. If I say something that you don’t feel comfortable with, or you’re not sure why I’m asking you something, I’d really welcome your sharing that with me. I might not always get it right, but I’d really value the chance to explain what I meant by something if it didn’t feel right with you, to learn more about how best to help you … and to learn from my mistakes!​

Professional experience

I have experience of working therapeutically with people with eating disorders, and their families, and have run workshops and self-help groups for families affected by eating disorders based on the Maudsley Method on behalf of charities Beat, Student Minds and the Retreat hospital in York. I have also run staff development courses for therapists working with people with chronic illnesses, and have a lot of experience of working with clients with long-term illnesses; I know from personal experience what a uniquely lonely place this can be, at times.