When I first did some decorating, I was really shocked at how long the preparation took!

I went out to buy my paint thinking that the next step would be painting.

Boy was I wrong!

It took a whole day and more to cover things in dust sheets, put up masking tape and sand down walls.

In fact, once I got to painting itself, I was surprised at how fast that part was. Then came the clean up, and once again, it took ages.

A therapy appointment is a bit like this.

A good therapist puts the time in before an appointment to attend necessary training, discuss the case in supervision, prepare the room and the games, read the notes from the previous session, make new resources and more.

Then the session takes place. It’s where the crucial stuff goes on that makes the difference, but if the prep hadn’t happened, the therapy wouldn’t be delivered to a fantastic and professional standard.

After the appointment, we write up notes – a legal and practical necessity – have discussions with colleagues, tidy up the room, write referrals and liaise with other professionals involved and wipe down equipment.

It’s all part of what makes the therapy appointment go so well.

At The Expressive Child, we limit how many children each therapist sees in a day to ensure that there is plenty of time around the appointment for the ‘preparation’ and ‘clean up’.

It might mean we are not the cheapest option around, but fitting in nine appointments per day does not allow us to achieve clinical excellence, and that is something we won’t compromise on.