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Phone Counselling - How Does it Work?

I work from Tuesday to Friday each week,

and from 1 pm to 9 pm on those days.

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Simply contact me via the contact form on this website, or the email provided on the same page, and I will get back to you as soon as I'm able with available times.

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We then agree to an initial consultation which takes 50 minutes and is charged at the same rate as a regular session.  At this stage, I will send you the phone number to call.  If we're both happy with the consultation we agree to work together at the same time each week (for more on terms & conditions see the "Services/Fees" page on this website).

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Apart from extraordinary circumstances, the client will call the counsellor.  This avoids the counsellor calling the client when they are not ready.  Therapeutically, it also represents the client "coming to the session" as it were, which is of tremendous value.

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I very much look forward to hearing from you, every blessing.

Why Phone Counselling and not Face-to-Face?

This may well be a question you'd like to ask so I felt it would be helpful to answer it in advance.  Ever since I started counselling back in 2007 I have counselled face-to-face, so why the change so many years later?

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When COVID-19 hit the UK in 2020 and our Government imposed a lockdown and restrictions on travel and social contact, I was forced to fall back on to telephone counselling (or leave my clients without support for an unknown length of time).  I moved to phone counselling sceptical of its efficacy, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the results that the Lord has granted in His mercy.  Clients have also testified that they have largely not suffered by the enforced change (some, in fact, reporting that they have advanced more rapidly).

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So, below I have listed a number of the benefits of phone counselling and why I have decided to move to the phones for the foreseeable future, though I will be reviewing this decision periodically.  I hope you will see that the positives of phone counselling make it an attractive option.

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  • Many clients have reported that they feel more able to open up in the familiar surroundings of their own home.

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  • Phone counselling eradicates the need to travel, saving both the client and the counsellor valuable time, expense, and effort.

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  • Not having to travel means that vulnerable clients are not asked to return home after a late session in the dark (especially during the winter months)

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  • Clients can also keep a valued session if they are too sick to travel but not too sick to talk (perhaps the flu or a strained back).  The counsellor too can deliver sessions if he is too sick to travel but after careful evaluation feels well enough to minister.

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  • Without the expense of travel and office hire, I am able to keep the counselling fee down to an affordable level for most, if I returned to face-to-face meetings the fee would almost certainly have to rise by a considerable amount.

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  • I have received enquiries in the past from up and down the country which, frustratingly, I could not help.  With phone counselling, geography is not a stumbling block to receiving biblical counsel.

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  • Also, with phone counselling, you the client can choose where you have your session.  I have delivered sessions to clients as they walk along a deserted beach at sunset, or sit in a garden in the sunshine, or walk in the beauty of the countryside.  You choose the venue for your counselling.

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  • There is also more scope to move your session if you have an important meeting at work or a medical appointment, I've been able to provide the occasional morning session for clients (though it is recommended that you stick with your regular slot as much as is possible for therapeutic reasons)

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Testimonials

"I have recently finished 18 months of counselling with Dean, and he has been fantastic!  The process has radically changed my life for the better - when I arrived at my first session, I had severe PTSD and trust issues, Dean offered a willing ear and wise advice. I have moved from being unable to open my bible or talk about or to God (despite growing up in church) to reading my bible regularly and helping in my church while having a discipleship group I am growing with. I was very cynical when I started this process, but I would wholeheartedly recommend Dean to anyone looking for wisdom, gentleness in character, and a very safe space to process your emotions and experiences. Thank you for everything, Dean, my counselling journey with you has been a huge blessing and radically changed the course of my life for the better!" ~ Helen*

"I had been suffering with depression and anxiety for at least a couple of years before I started seeing Dean. It was after a particularly mixed time in my life. Dean has helped me to see more of who I am in Christ, gently listening, challenging and encouraging this weary soul. He has reminded me that reeds can be bruised, but will not be broken. I can see light now, though I feel we’re not finished yet, Dean has been worth every penny, and more! I would commend this brother to you!" ~ Steve*

"Thank you so much for your help. It has been immensely helpful. I now find myself in a place of much greater clarity and capacity with everything we have talked about. Most importantly, I have seen a deepening of trust with God, and in that sense, this has been a real part of my Christian discipleship" ~ Gary*

"I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to speak to a wise Christian father so regularly and doubly so because the conversations were so expertly tailored to my needs" ~ Philip*

"I recently finished a year of counselling with Dean, and I cannot rate him more highly.  I arrived with issues of anxiety which Dean quickly realised was caused by my perfectionist thinking, which he helped me to work through. I can confidently say that seeing Dean has helped me make huge progress, and my anxiety has abated with the Lord's help. During every session, Dean would help me to identify thinking errors, and help me remember God's truth and how to apply this to my anxiety and how to change my thinking. Dean's manner and character is such that you feel very quickly at ease, which enabled the best space to work through the issues I had. I am now much more confident in who I am in Christ and feel 100% better. I would wholeheartedly recommend Dean to others and hope that others can be blessed by his work" ~ Mark*

* Names changed to stay in line with client confidentiality

© 2018 Dean Foley

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