Some information about what to expect in follow up appointments
Supporting Your Progress Each Session – The idea in therapy is that we work together to help you get the most out of our sessions. Our sessions will follow a flexible structure designed to help you get the most out of your time in therapy.
Setting a semi-structured agenda ensures we focus on what matters most to you. We’ll spend time understanding your week, building practical skills, and working through challenges together. We’ll also finish with a clear plan and a brief grounding exercise so you hopefully leave here each time feeling supported and prepared for the week ahead. This structure is collaborative and adaptable — your needs and priorities guide each session.
Beginning with a grounding skill, this helps you settle in and feel present and build a skill that will hopefully serve you well in your life outside of therapy.
1.Guided Relaxation / Grounding (5 minutes)
Why We Practice Grounding
Grounding is a simple set of techniques that help bring your attention back to the present moment, especially when emotions feel overwhelming or your mind is racing. By focusing on your breath, body, or surroundings, grounding can help reduce stress, increase a sense of control, and create space to respond more calmly rather than react automatically.
These skills are not just for therapy sessions—they are designed to be used in everyday life. With practice, you can use grounding in real-world situations such as during moments of anxiety, conflict, or distress, helping you feel more steady, focused, and able to cope effectively.
- Brief guided relaxation or grounding exercise
- Supporting you to arrive and settle into the session
- We will focus on breathing, body awareness, or present-moment attention
- Agenda Setting (5 minutes)
- We can collaboratively agree on 1–2 focus topics each appointment
- I will generally ask you: “What feels most important to focus on today?”
- I will also keep in mind your longer term goals and work with you to develop strategies that help you long-term, so part of our agenda will include some time to work on this too.
- Review of Week & Home-practice activities (10 minutes)
Why Home Practice Matters
Home practice is an important part of therapy because real, lasting change happens through what you do between sessions. Trying out new skills in your daily life helps turn them from ideas, into (hopefully lifelong) habits that feel natural and reliable. Repetition and rehearsal strengthen these skills over time, making them easier to use when you need them most—especially in stressful or challenging situations. This ongoing practice supports long-term change, helping you build confidence, stability, and a stronger sense of control in your everyday life.
- Review of homework or practice tasks
- Discuss key events from the week
- Explore coping attempts and what was helpful/unhelpful
- Mood check-in & risk assessment (as appropriate)
- Focused CBT Work (20 minutes) – as an example…At Moving Forward, we also practice a range of other evidence based approaches such as ACT, DBT, Schema Therapy and EMDR…
What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a practical, evidence-based approach that focuses on the connection between your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. It is based on the idea that the way we think about situations can influence how we feel and how we respond. In CBT, we work together to identify patterns that may be unhelpful or keeping you stuck and then develop more balanced ways of thinking and more effective ways of coping. This might include learning new skills, testing out different behaviours, and building strategies to manage challenges. The goal of CBT is not just to help you feel better in the moment, but to give you tools you can continue using in your daily life—supporting long-term change, resilience, and a greater sense of control.
- Identify and explore key situations/triggers, thoughts, emotions, and behaviours/coping responses
- Learn a range of different strategies that can support current problems linked to our agenda
- Consolidation & Coping Plan (5 minutes)
- Summarise key takeaways from session
- Identify 1–2 coping strategies to practice in the week ahead for home practice
- Grounding & Centering (5 minutes)
- End with a grounding or centering exercise
- Helps you to leave sessions feeling calm and settled and ready for what comes next!