Clients
At Hammock, we understand that life’s journey can often feel overwhelming, leaving you feeling anxious, sad, lost, or stuck.
Connecting with Hammock is about giving yourself time and space to be yourself, and find yourself, and where your commitment to self-discovery is recognised and respected. Here, you’ll find the empathy, support and space you need to untangle the thoughts and feelings that hold you back.
At Hammock, you’ll be supported in your exploration of the “why” behind your feelings and experiences. Together with your therapist, you’ll piece together a path that leads to a more fulfilling, peaceful life—one where you feel understood, held, and ready to embrace the next chapter.
Working with a quality therapist is an exciting and transformative opportunity. Let’s begin the journey, where the investment you make in yourself today will help create a better now and tomorrow.
If you are in crisis and need immediate help please see our urgent help page for support.
At Hammock we offer
low cost therapy
online sessions
professional therapists
compassionate relationships
waiting list
Initial assessment
The initial assessment is the first step in accessing Hammock’s services.
This will be a chance for you to meet with one of our experienced and friendly assessors. Our assessors are all experienced qualified counsellors or clinical supervisors, and will work with you to ensure Hammock can meet your needs.
During the initial assessment, you will have an opportunity to share more about what’s going on for you so that we can get a better understanding of your needs and be able to match you with one of our therapists. It will also give you a chance to ask any questions you might have about our service.
The initial assessment lasts around 45-60 minutes and costs £45.
It will take place either online or via telephone.
How to get started
1.
Choose a convenient time for your initial assessment through our secure booking system.
You’ve taken the first step; well done!
2.
Create an account (or use your existing Google account) and fill in our quick, online self referral form.
3.
Meet with one of our friendly and qualified assessors who will get to know a bit more about you.
Learn more about the kinds of questions we will cover.
4.
We will send you our terms and conditions for you to read through and sign.
5.
Then the exciting part; your supportive Hammock therapist will contact you to introduce themselves and to arrange your first weekly counselling session.
What will the initial assessment cover?
As well as gaining some insight to your life story, these are some questions we may also ask you:
- How are you generally feeling at the moment?
- How are you coping with day to day activities?
- Have you had therapy before? If so, what did you find useful/unhelpful?
- Do you have any history of suicidal thoughts and/or self harm?
- Do you have any psychiatric in-patient history?
- Do you have any current and historical addictions?
- Were you in the care system as a child?
- Is there anything that makes you a vulnerable adult?
- Are you on any medication?
- Have you had recent thoughts of harming yourself?
- What do you hope to get from counselling?
- Do you have any preferences, e.g. regarding your counsellor’s gender, sexual orientation?
- On which days and at what times are you available for counselling?
What if I don’t want to talk about certain things?
It is useful if you can be as open as possible to help us determine the suitability of our service. However, it’s important that you feel in control. Therefore, what you choose to talk about, or not, is completely up to you.
You are welcome to ask any questions or raise any concerns you may have.
It may be that, during your initial assessment, your assessor feels that an alternative service is better suited to meet your needs. If this is the case, your assessor will help signpost you to find a more suitable counsellor or service outside of Hammock, who will be able to work with you.