Anna Armentano Psychologist

The best time to begin any therapeutic intervention is when you feel READY to address any issue or difficulty or challenge that life may present you (past, present or ongoing)! Another good indicator is the inability to overcome the above by yourself, therefore, that means you need someone for support to guide you through this time. You DON’T need to struggle alone, reach out for support and and let’s see how I can help you! Invest in yourself Today!

This is a million dollar question that everyone is eager to know. The reality is that I don’t know because each client arrives with a different story, presentation, difficulties and needs. My priority is to evaluate all of those together and suggest a therapeutic intervention. Generally speaking it could be anything between a few months to a year, however, this is your personal journey and I can’t put an end time to it. WHY? Simply because this would create more preassure for you – as a client – to have to achieve something within a certain time. At assessment stage you – the client – can consider: short – medium – long term goals and from there we can agree – together – how to proceed.

Yes, all sessions are confidential. However, there is a “limit to confidentiality” and this is when you – the client – make a disclosure of harm to yourself or other people (past/present/ongoing).
As a professional, I’ve a “duty of care” to share information, therefore – to breach confidentiality – should I be concerned for your safety or the safety of others. If appropriate and safe enough, I’d always discuss things with you personally before taking any action.
Please note: these are very rare occasions but it can happen, therefore, it is important to understand this process.

I’m not a family therapist as such, however, when I work with children I always work with parents and schools (and/or other agencies involved). This is a very vital role to keep working together in order to support the child in therapy. Only by using the same shared strategies, support and intervention can we maximaze results in the best interests of the child. I believe, working together  and share knowledge is vital to make progress.

Yes, you can! It’s your therapy and it has to feel right for you. However, I’d always recommend a final session to say goodbye and to evaluate the experience. Sometimes coming to an early “ending” can teach us both – the therapist and the client – something very valuable. I take every experience as unique and if you don’t feel it’s the right time or modality, we can openly discuss this and I’d be more than happy to make further recommendations if appropriate.

This is very difficult to judge at the beginning not knowing the whole history. I always recommend following medical advise on medication as I’m not a GP and I don’t have a qualification in medicine. However in consultation with your GP, it is possible to wean off medication after a period of counselling or any other therapeutic intervention if you feel it’s right for you and you have resolved the issues that brought you to therapy in the first place.

Let me begin by telling you that the definition of “normal/normality” is very personal, therefore, what’s “normal” to you might not be for someone else and viceversa. I believe, you can go back to what you were doing before – hopefully – with an increased level of awareness, resolved difficulties, better understanding of self and a wider range of “tools” to use when needed.