The Sessions

Monica Sala Online Counsellor and Psychotherapist
UKOC sessions last 1 hour and are conducted with or without video. While the choice is yours, video sessions are recommended in that they offer a much richer experience and are closest to face to face therapy, Clients report feeling an equally deep and meaningful working relationship from our online work as with face-to-face, and it's often hard to believe we've never physically met.

As standard, sessions take place weekly, at the same time each week and by appointment only (although a different frequency can be explored if therapeutically suitable and I'm happy to accommodate adjustments across timezones or other commitments). Therapy can last for as long or short as you wish and we can evaluate this together along the way, adjusting the depth of our work accordingly.

Therapy and Counselling are not about offering advice, but rather a collaborative process helping you come to your conclusions. In the sessions, I share with you questions or observations that your words have elicited in me and which may draw you to looking at things more deeply or differently. You may choose to consider these during and between sessions and/or ignore the ones that don't feel pertinent to you. You may also find these interventions help you reach different questions of your own for us to explore together.

As is the case with face-to-face therapy, the most therapeutic time is often the time of reflection between sessions. You may find that connecting more qualitatively with yourself at this time can lead to the most "Aha!" moments of realisation, insights and/or a different way of looking at your situation. Please feel free to share these with me if you are comfortable to - they are the richness of therapy and we can work with those too!

Signing Up

My primary aim is to help you ensure you find the right service for your needs. For this reason, before taking any payment, I ask all new clients to fill in a New Client Questionnaire, devised to help us both see at first glance if and how I might best be able to help and/or direct you accordingly to a more suitable service. I always aim to reply to your enquiry as soon as possible, and where necessary, will ask you any clarifying questions by email (at no cost) to help us reach this decision together.

All being well, we agree on a mutually convenient time to meet for an initial session and I invite you to complete the sign-up process (links provided at the time), by completing three final and quick standardised steps, required to secure a slot, our first session will then gives us both a chance to meet, expand on the questionnaire and decide if we're comfortable working together and how best to proceed. You are under no obligation to sign-up for more sessions after the initial one and subject to availability, you can take the time you need to decide.

In the event we find from either the questionnaire or our initial session that online counselling together is not suitable, I always endeavour to help you find a more suitable service for your needs.

Online Security & Confidentiality

I take every care to ensure that all and any contact via the UKOC site is confidential, from your first contact to the email platform I use.

Similarly, in adherence to online Codes of Ethics, all video sessions take place via a private and secured Zoom for its end-to-end encryption capability.

Click here for info about how I ensure the privacy of therapy sessions via Zoom

Got a question? Get in touch

Or to get the ball rolling right away, please complete the New Client Questionnaire



Please note: Web-based counselling is not suitable if you are in acute distress. In case of emergency please contact your GP, local A&E department or call The Samaritans free on 116 123 (UK & ROI) or by email jo@samaritans.org. Or for additional support services please click here