What is on your mind today

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Reception open today until 19:00
Wren Street · Harlow Vale

An hour that belongs only to you

A small practice for talking therapy. Two rooms, two chairs, and as much time as a thought needs. Nothing here is urgent except how you feel about it.

50 minone session
$60first conversation
2practitioners
Since 2014on Wren Street
How we work

We do not fix people. We sit with them while things settle.

Therapy here is a conversation with structure: you bring what is heavy, we look at it together, and you decide what to do with it. Progress is usually quiet and hard to notice from the inside, so we name it out loud as it happens.

Individual work, work for couples, and short focused blocks. Evening appointments on Tuesday and Thursday; online sessions at the same fee.
  • You set the pace

    Nothing has to be said before you are ready to say it. A session where you talk about the weather for twenty minutes is still a session that counts.

  • Methods, named plainly

    We mostly work with cognitive behavioural therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and systemic work for couples. We will tell you which one we are using and why, in ordinary words.

  • A plan you can see

    After the first two meetings we write down what we are working on and how we will know it is moving. You get a copy. It can be rewritten at any point.

  • An end, not an open tab

    Most people come for eight to sixteen sessions. We talk about finishing from the beginning, and you are welcome to stop whenever it feels right.

What this practice is not

We are psychologists and counsellors, not medical doctors. We do not diagnose physical illness, we do not prescribe medication, and we do not provide emergency or crisis care.

If something you tell us needs medical attention, we will say so and help you find the right place for it. Many people see us alongside their own doctor, and that works well.

Harlow Vale · practice since 2014
Ways of working

Sessions and fees

One fee, stated before you come. No package is required, and the five-session block can be started at any point and paused if life gets in the way.

Payment after the session by card or transfer. Cancelling is free up to 24 hours before; later than that we ask for half the fee.

First conversationstart here

50 minutesin person or onlineno commitment

A meeting to see whether this is the right room for you. You describe what brings you here, we describe how we would work with it, and you go home and think about it. If we are not the right fit, we will say so and suggest where else to look.

$60per meeting

Individual session

50 minutesweekly or fortnightlyevening slots

The regular hour: anxiety, low mood, sleep, work pressure, grief, or a decision that will not settle. Usually weekly at first, then spaced further apart as things steady.

$95per session

Session for two

80 minutescouples or family pairboth present

For partners, or for a parent and an adult child. Longer, because two people need room to be heard in the same hour. We keep the conversation balanced and stop it becoming a courtroom.

$140per session

Block of five sessions

5 × 50 minutesvalid 6 monthsone practitioner

The usual first stretch of work, paid in one go and slightly lower per hour. Unused sessions are refunded if you decide to stop early, without questions.

$430for five
Students and pensioners — $75 per individual session, please mention it when booking.
Online sessions — same fee, same length, video link sent the morning before.
What happens

How a session goes

So that the first visit holds no surprises. This is the shape of an ordinary hour here, from the doorbell to the door.

The waiting room has tea, a window and no reception desk. If you arrive early, nobody will rush you or ask why you are here.
  1. You arrive

    Ring the bell at 14 Wren Street and come up one floor. Tea and water are in the waiting room; sessions start on the hour, not before.

    Five minutes early is plenty
  2. We start where you are

    The first question is usually just what the week has been like. There is no form to fill in during the session and no notebook between us.

    First 10 minutes
  3. We work on one thing

    Out of everything you bring, we choose one thread and follow it properly, rather than touching six lightly. Sometimes that means an exercise, sometimes just talking.

    Middle 30 minutes
  1. We land it

    The last minutes are for coming back to ordinary life: what you take with you, what you might try before the next meeting, what to do if the week gets hard.

    Last 10 minutes
  2. You leave with a plan, not homework

    Anything we suggest between sessions is small and optional. Nothing is graded and nothing is checked.

    After the hour
  3. Notes stay here

    Short notes are kept locked and are not shared with anyone without your written consent, apart from the narrow legal exceptions we explain at the first meeting.

    Always
A small exercise

Attention on the breath, for one minute

A bowl of water that moves with a slow breathing rhythm: in for four counts, hold for four, out for six. Follow it with your own breath if you like, or just watch it. It is a way to rest attention, not a treatment.

Touch the water, or drag across it, to disturb it and watch it settle. If breathing exercises make you feel worse rather than calmer, stop — that happens to some people, and it is worth mentioning in a session.
Breathe in4
Cycle 0 · 4–4–6

Why we keep this on the website

People often arrive at a first session saying they have no idea how to slow down. This is the simplest thing we know that works in a waiting room, on a train, or five minutes before a difficult conversation.

The breath out is longer than the breath in on purpose. You do not need to force it — if six counts is too long, use four and let the rhythm find its own length.

Who you would meet

Two practitioners, one small practice

We keep the practice small on purpose: you see the same person every time, and that person knows your history without having to read it back.

Both practitioners are registered, insured and in regular clinical supervision, as this kind of work requires.
MH

Marit Halvorsen

Clinical psychologist · founder

Works mainly with anxiety, sleep and the long tail of burnout. Direct, structured, and fond of writing things down on paper so they stop circling.

  • MSc in Clinical Psychology, Nordlund University, 2011
  • Three-year postgraduate training in cognitive behavioural therapy
  • Certificate in acceptance and commitment therapy, 2018
  • Eleven years in practice, nine of them on Wren Street
TL

Tomas Leiro

Counselling psychologist · work with couples

Sees couples and individuals working through separation, grief and family conflict. Slower in tempo, good at holding a room where two people disagree.

  • MA in Counselling Psychology, Westhaven College, 2013
  • Diploma in systemic and family therapy, four years part time
  • Further training in grief and bereavement work, 2020
  • Nine years in practice, five of them here
2014practice opened
11 yrslongest in practice
8–16usual course of sessions
2rooms, never more
In their words

What people have said afterwards

Shared with permission and published with initials only. We do not publish full names, photographs or any detail that could identify someone.

Collected in writing at the end of a course of sessions. Nothing is edited except for length.
★★★★★

“I expected to be told what was wrong with me. Instead I was asked good questions for eleven weeks and slowly answered them myself. The sleep came back somewhere around week six.”

RM
R. M.Individual sessions
★★★★★

“We came as a last attempt before separating. We did not leave as a perfect couple, but we left able to have a conversation without it turning into a fight. That was worth the whole thing.”

JA
J. & A.Sessions for two
★★★★☆

“Practical and unhurried. The plan we wrote in the second session is still on my fridge. I stopped after nine meetings and did not feel pushed to continue, which I appreciated.”

TK
T. K.Block of five, then four
Practical things

Opening hours and how to find us

One floor up, above the bookbinder. The stairwell is quiet and the door is unmarked apart from a small brass plate — that is on purpose.

Step-free access through the courtyard entrance on Fennel Lane; tell us when booking and we will meet you there.

Reception hours

Monday09:00 – 17:00
Tuesday09:00 – 20:00
Wednesday09:00 – 17:00
Thursday09:00 – 20:00
Friday09:00 – 15:00
Saturdayby arrangement
Sundayclosed

Sessions themselves run until 19:00 on Tuesday and Thursday. Messages left outside these hours are answered the next working morning — this is not a service that answers at night.

Contact

If you need help sooner than an appointment

This website and this practice do not replace medical care, and we cannot respond to emergencies. If you are in danger, if someone is at risk, or if you are thinking about harming yourself, contact your local emergency number or go to the nearest hospital.

Everything on this page is a demonstration concept: the practice, the people and the numbers here are invented.

Crisis line (demonstration number) 1-555-0199 This number is fictional and part of a demo layout. It does not connect to any service. Use the real emergency number for your country.
Booking

Ask for a first conversation

Write as little as you want. A name and a way to reach you is enough; the rest can wait until we speak.

We answer within one working day. Nothing you write here is stored or sent — this is a demo form.

Before you write

  • You do not need a referral or a diagnosis to come.
  • Tell us if you would prefer a particular practitioner — otherwise we suggest whoever fits your hours.
  • If you are already seeing a doctor or another therapist, mention it, so we can work alongside rather than across them.
  • A booked slot can be moved once at no cost, as late as the day before.
Please tell us what to call you.
Please check the email address.
Please choose one, or pick “not sure yet”.
Please check the number, or leave it empty.

Thank you — we have your request

Marit will write back within one working day with two or three possible times. If you need to change anything before then, just reply to that email.

Reference QH-0000 · nothing was sent — this is a demo concept
Questions

Asked before the first call

If your question is not here, ask it in the booking form — it costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
How many sessions will I need?
Most people come between eight and sixteen times, usually weekly at first. Some need three or four meetings to sort out one decision. We review it together every few sessions rather than booking an open-ended series.
Is what I say confidential?
Yes. Notes are short, kept locked, and not shared without your written consent. The exceptions are narrow and set by law — mainly a serious risk to your life or to someone else's. We explain exactly where that line sits at the first meeting, before you tell us anything.
Can you prescribe medication or write a diagnosis for work?
No. We are psychologists and counsellors, not medical doctors. We can write a short letter confirming that you attend sessions, and we can coordinate with your own doctor if you ask us to.
What if I need to cancel?
Cancelling or moving a session is free up to 24 hours before. After that we ask for half the fee, which we waive when something genuinely unavoidable happens. Tell us either way — a message is easier than an explanation later.