If you are in a mental health crisis and require urgent help:

·      contact NHS 111 - option 2, or click https://111.nhs.uk/triage/check-your-mental-health-symptoms

·      Nottinghamshire Mental Health Crisis Service on 0808 196 3779

·      Call 999

·      Call the Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org or Phone 116123 for free

·      If you need immediate support at a place of safety, please attend your nearest Accident and Emergency Department

·      Please click HERE if you are in the UK. If outside the UK please contact a Mental Health Crisis service

Please note I do not offer emergency or urgent mental health support. Usually within a week or two of an enquiry sessions can be arranged, rarely immediately.

You can contact me by phone, email or message.

matlemare@hotmail.com

07983728572

I guarantee to reply to you within 24 hours.

You can contact me to talk about you or someone else who is thinking about starting therapy.  I’m always happy to answer any queries you might have.

In the initial meeting we get to know each other a bit more by phone.

You can ask me any further questions you have, and we can talk in more depth about your needs and the best interventions to meet those needs.

We can also talk about practicalities like the room the therapy will take place in, or for online or telephone sessions, the space you will base yourself in for sessions.

We can also discuss the frequency of sessions, cost and payments and set up an initial therapeutic contract.

Usually, I recommend between 4 and 12 initial sessions, after which we can decide whether to continue longer term. We will discuss this at the initial meeting, but you will never be put on the spot and can go away and think about everything before we take the next step.

As part of the therapy, we also regularly review how things are going, so you should always feel that sessions are beneficial.

This is something that we agree together, usually during our initial meeting. Some people want weekly sessions, whilst others might prefer every other week or some other frequency. Usually, people begin with weekly sessions, and I suggest between 4 and 12 sessions to start with.

I work out of the Bay Therapy Centre, a 2 minute walk from Lady Bay Bridge and a 15 minute walk from West Bridgford Town Centre. There is limited free car parking directly outside the Bay Centre, and plenty of free on-street parking in the surrounding residential area of Lady Bay. The number 11 bus from the city centre also stops just outside the Bay Therapy Centre. For full information, including accessibility, please click on the LOCATION button below which takes you to the Centre’s website.

I also provide an online therapy service and phone counselling. To get the most from either of these options you will need access to a safe and private space for the duration of the sessions. Some people prefer working in this way, finding it more accessible and easier to fit into their busy lives. NB Session costs can be lowered for online and phone therapy services.

·      In-Person Face to Face therapy sessions - £75 - one hour

·      Online therapy sessions - £65 - one hour

·      Initial therapy assessment (optional) - £100 - one and a half hours

·      Group Psychoeducation – FREE

·      Supervision sessions – Online £65 - In-Person Face to Face £75 - one hour

·      Trainee therapy, Training, Music Interaction, CPD, Workshops -Negotiated fee

My fee is negotiated - I offer therapy tailored to individual needs and aims. I have a Sliding Scale policy were I consider personal circumstances and will charge less for longer term work.

How you pay can be negotiated. I will use your contact details to invoice monthly.

A therapeutic contract is a short-written document that sets out the terms of the therapy. It includes information about what you can expect from me in terms of professional boundaries and any aims or agreements we make around working together. Don’t worry about this, you will only sign what you fully agree to, and it is reviewed.

Professional boundaries are set by professional therapy organisations and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). It means that you can expect to be dealt with thoughtfully and respectfully and anything you share to be kept fully confidential.

Part of working to professional standards means that anything you say in therapy is kept private. This means that as your therapist I will never share your information or what is disclosed in therapy with anyone else except my own supervisor - who is also bound by rules of confidentiality. The only exception to this is if I feel you or someone you have talked about is in immediate danger. I am then required by law to inform safeguarding services.

As part of your therapy, I will keep notes of sessions, but these will always be stored securely on a password protected drive.

Music Therapy provides an opportunity for you to work with what you bring to pcychotherapy in a more creative way. Sometimes putting what we are experiencing or feeling into words can be problematic. Music allows us to feel and process emotions without necessarily trying to make logical sense of what is going on. Sometimes expressing something through the lyrics of a song, or the sound and feel of a rhythm or beat is far easier than trying to explain it.

As your therapist I support you to explore through music what is important to you. Music Therapy is quite dynamic and may involve working seated, standing, or sitting on the floor. It can involve listening to and creating music and will always contain an element of reflection on the musical experience. This can be through words and or visual responses (see Supported Imagery in Music (SIM)).

Individual sessions last an hour, but I will always give you a time check five minutes before we are due to finish. I provide and maintain all instruments and equipment needed for safe music therapy practice. This includes acoustic, electric and digital instruments and equipment.

NB. The Bay Therapy Centre is not always an appropriate space for Music Therapy, so face-to-face sessions with be arranged in a mutually convenient and appropriate space.

For more about Music Therapy click here

A Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) session gives you the opportunity to work with anything you want to bring to therapy, using the key understandings that inform this approach.

A CFT approach starts by examining useful ways of thinking about what you bring. This is referred to as Psychoeducation and introduces several useful models or lenses through which to see your current situation and concerns. This is designed to help you re-frame what you’re experiencing and make it more manageable.

You will then be taught several scientifically based practical techniques that help you to put into practice the new ways of thinking about and caring for yourself.

Finally, you will be supported to fine tune your responses as you apply the techniques in your life and how you think about situations.

CFT is a talking based therapy but utilises practical therapeutic exercises alongside deep listening and reflection. A session will last an hour, but I will always give you a time check five minutes before we are due to finish.

For more about CFT click here

A Psychotherapy session gives you the opportunity to share anything that is going on for you. Whatever you want to share, I will listen to and help you reflect on.

The session will be at your pace and follow your agenda.

The session will last an hour, but I will always give you a time check five minutes before we are due to finish.

The psychotherapy that I offer is predominantly a talking therapy, but I will have paper and pens available if you want to explore any issues visually or through notetaking. If working online it would be useful if you had access to these – if you felt this would be helpful.

For more about Psychotherapy click here

If you have in-person face-to-face sessions at the Bay Therapy centre, you will report to reception and then wait in a designated reception area. At the time of your session, I will collect you from here and take you to the room where we will be working. This will be a quiet, private and safe space. We will usually be seated opposite each other on comfortable armchairs, and a variety of teas, coffee or water will be available for you if desired.

For more information about the Bay Therapy Centre facilities click here.

If you are having online or telephone sessions, I will call you at the session time or open the online meeting space. I use Zoom, or Teams and will send you a meeting link before we are due to meet.

I will be working in a private and confidential space during the session. As with in-person face-to-face sessions, I will give you a time check five minutes before we are due to finish. It is helpful if you are also calling or dialling in from a quiet and private space.

NB. The Bay Therapy Centre is not always an appropriate space for Music Therapy, so face-to-face sessions with be arranged in a mutually convenient and appropriate space.

I have extensive experience working with people who have received diagnoses and can adapt the way I work accordingly. You just let me know what you need. These diagnoses include:

Depression, Anxiety, Trauma, Neurodivergence, Autism, Dementia, Stroke, Post Traumatic Stress, Complex Trauma, Obsessive Compulsive, Bipolar, Complex Health Needs, Cancer …

Yes, that’s fine. We can structure the therapy around whatever you need. Here are some of the common things I have helped people with: Trauma, Shame, Self-criticism, Depression , Anxiety, Grief and Loss, Acquired Brain Injury, Autism, Neurodivergence, Dementia, Complex Trauma, Stroke, Chronic illness, Mental Health issues, Relationship issues, Post Traumatic Stress, Obsessive Compulsive, Issues around Identity, Low Mood, Self-esteem, Lack of Self Confidence, Bereavement, Sexual Abuse, Emotional Abuse , Physical Abuse, Neglect, Dissociation, Bipolar, Self-harming, Attachment Wounds, Anger Management, Complex Health Needs, Life-limiting illness, Palliative Care, Self care, Stress, Parenting, Domestic Abuse, Cancer, Adoption, Addiction Recovery, Chronic Pain, Eating Issues, Shyness, Child Development.

If you need to cancel a session just let me know. This could be via email, telephone or message. I will need 24 hours’ notice of a cancellation or the session will be charged.

Yes, this is possible.

Sometimes as part of the ongoing review process, you may feel that you want to explore something in a different way, or I might feel that a technique or insight from another therapy might be useful. This would, of course, only happen by agreement.

Yes, I have a lot of experience with working with infants, children adolescents, adults and elders.

Request an Appointment

Whether you're contacting me for the first time or returning for further support, I aim to make arranging an appointment as straightforward as possible.

You can view my availability above and request your preferred appointment time using the booking calendar.

How the booking process works

1. Choose your preferred appointment time using the booking calendar.

2. The booking system will notify me of your request. I'll then reserve a therapy room and personally confirm your appointment by email, usually within a few hours.

If I'm unable to confirm your preferred appointment time, I'll contact you as soon as possible with alternative appointment options.

If you're considering therapy with me and would like to talk things through before arranging your first appointment, you're very welcome to book a free 15-minute introductory phone conversation.

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.

A conversation can offer what a website cannot. I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

matlemare@hotmail.com
07983728572