Name: The Great Thriving
Address: GB
Price range: ££

Question 1

How do I book a first session?

Accepted Answer

Book a free 30-minute intro call from the Book page. There's no referral required, no waiting list, and no obligation to continue after the intro call.

Question 2

Is the intro call really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes — genuinely free. It lasts 30 minutes, is held by private video, and exists so we can meet and decide together whether this is a good fit before you spend anything.

Question 3

Do I need to know exactly what I want to work on?

Accepted Answer

No. Plenty of clients arrive with 'something's not right' rather than a diagnosis or a plan. Part of what we do in early sessions is figure out what's underneath that.

Question 4

I'm not sure therapy is for me — what should I do?

Accepted Answer

Have the free thirty-minute conversation and find out. It is not a sales call and it is not a first session; it exists so you can hear what the work would actually be like before committing anything. Plenty of men book it, decide the timing is wrong, and leave. That is a perfectly good outcome and no one follows up to persuade you otherwise. Uncertainty is a reasonable place to start from.

Question 5

How do sessions actually work?

Accepted Answer

We meet by video, at a time you have chosen. You get a link by email and open it in your browser at the appointed hour. Sessions last fifty minutes. Nothing is recorded — no video, no audio, no transcript — and nobody else is present. Most men take the session somewhere they can close a door: a spare room, a car, a hotel room between meetings. It does not need to be a study with bookshelves. It needs to be somewhere you can speak without lowering your voice.

Question 6

What happens in the first session?

Accepted Answer

You talk, and I listen properly. There is no assessment form to work through and no history to recite in order. I will ask what brought you here now, rather than what brought you here at all, and we will spend some time on what you would like to be different. Towards the end I usually say what I have understood, so you can correct me. You leave knowing whether you want to come back. That is the only decision the first session asks of you.

Question 7

How many sessions will I need?

Accepted Answer

Honestly, I do not know at the start, and anyone who tells you a number at the start is guessing. Something specific and recent often settles in six to twelve sessions. Something long-standing — a way of being in the world that has held for thirty years — usually takes longer. There is no limit here, so the work ends when you decide it has finished rather than when a quota runs out. We review it openly as we go, and you are free to stop at any point.

Question 8

What is person-centred counselling?

Accepted Answer

It means the hour follows you rather than a programme. I do not set homework, score you on a questionnaire, or work through a manual of techniques. Instead I offer steady attention, honesty, and the assumption that you are the person who knows most about your own life. What tends to happen is that things you have never said out loud get said, and hearing them said changes how they sit. It is slower than a technique-led approach and it tends to reach further down.

Question 9

Do you work with men who aren't out?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and often. A good part of this practice is men who are out nowhere, out only online, or out everywhere except at work or at home. You do not have to be planning to come out for this to be useful, and I will not steer you towards it. privacy is built in: neutral invitations, plain sender names, no marketing email. Coming out, if it comes up at all, is your decision and moves at your pace.

Question 10

How much do sessions cost?

Accepted Answer

Individual sessions are £95, and a short-notice appointment is £140. Blocks of four, twelve, or twenty-four individual sessions are available at a lower rate per session.

Question 11

Can I pay in Euros?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The site prices in Pound Sterling but you can toggle a live conversion to EUR and other major currencies. Final charges settle in GBP or EUR, and the exact amount is shown before you pay.

Question 12

How does payment work?

Accepted Answer

Intro calls are free. Paid sessions are booked and paid for at the time you choose your slot on the booking calendar.

Question 13

Why pay when free LGBTQ+ counselling is available?

Accepted Answer

Free services do excellent work and I would never talk anyone out of them. What they usually cannot offer is continuity: sessions are commonly limited, you are assigned whoever is available, and your file sits inside an organisation. Private work means the same counsellor every week, no limit on how long we take, and no third party holding your notes. There is also the plain fact of scarcity — if you are in a position to pay, the free places stay available for men who aren't.

Question 14

Why does the first booking cover two sessions?

Accepted Answer

Because one session is rarely enough to tell. The first hour is often taken up with saying things out loud for the first time, and the second is where you find out what it is like to come back to the same person and carry on. Booking the pair takes that decision out of a difficult week. After those two, everything is session by session or in blocks, entirely as you prefer. There is no rolling commitment and nothing continues automatically.

Question 15

What happens if I want to stop partway through a package?

Accepted Answer

You stop, and you are not charged for sessions you have not had. The sessions you attended are charged at the standard single-session rate of £95 and the remainder of what you paid is returned to you. No notice period, no administration fee, no conversation you have to justify yourself in. Blocks exist to make ongoing work simpler and slightly cheaper, not to hold anyone in place.

Question 16

Do you offer a sliding scale?

Accepted Answer

No. Fees are the same for everyone, published on this page, and they do not move. A sliding scale here would mean fewer of the free and low-cost places elsewhere staying open for the men who genuinely need them, and it would put a negotiation about money into a relationship that works better without one. If the fee is not workable for you at the moment, the charitable and low-cost services are a real option and worth taking.

Question 17

How long is a session?

Accepted Answer

Individual sessions are 50 minutes, short-notice appointments 50 minutes, and intro calls 30 minutes. Sessions start on the hour, with a ten-minute break after each one.

Question 18

How often should we meet?

Accepted Answer

Most therapy work benefits from weekly sessions in the first phase, with the option to space out as we go. We'll talk about pace in the intro call and revisit it as your needs change.

Question 19

What if my internet drops mid-session?

Accepted Answer

Reconnect once — I'll wait. If the connection can't be restored within 10 minutes we finish by phone or reschedule the remainder at no extra cost.

Question 20

Can sessions sync with my own calendar?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each confirmation carries a standard calendar invite that adds to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook or any app supporting iCal. Invites are worded neutrally and do not identify the appointment as counselling.

Question 21

What if I need to rearrange?

Accepted Answer

Use the link in your confirmation email and move the session yourself; it takes about a minute and you do not need to give a reason. Please give at least forty-eight hours where you can, since the hour is held for you and cannot usually be filled at short notice. Sessions cancelled inside forty-eight hours are charged. Lives get complicated, though — if something genuinely unavoidable happens, tell me and we will sort it out sensibly.

Question 22

What time zone are you in?

Accepted Answer

Sessions are offered across a wide span of hours, deliberately, so that men working unusual patterns or living in very different time zones can find something that fits — early mornings, evenings and weekends included. The booking calendar converts every available time into your own local time automatically, and the invitation you receive carries the correct time for you, so daylight-saving changes never cause a missed session.

Question 23

Which countries can you work with?

Accepted Answer

Sessions are held online, in English. If you are unsure whether your circumstances can be accommodated, send a short email before booking rather than assuming it is impossible — it is better to check than to arrange a session that has to be cancelled.

Question 24

What do I need for the video call?

Accepted Answer

A link, a browser, and headphones if you have them. There is no app to install, no account to create, and no password to remember. It works on a laptop or a phone. If your connection drops mid-session, reopen the same link and we carry on; if it drops entirely, I will call or email you to rearrange the remaining time.

Question 25

Will I have to explain or defend my identity?

Accepted Answer

No. Your identity, orientation, and relationship aren't things you'll need to translate or justify here. We spend the time on what you actually came for.

Question 26

Do I have to be fully out to work with you?

Accepted Answer

No. Clients arrive at every stage — fully out, partially out, or telling someone for the first time in this room. privacy is part of the service: invoices and calendar items are worded neutrally so nothing about the appointment identifies it as therapy.

Question 27

Can we do work in a language other than English?

Accepted Answer

Sessions run in English. Where clients speak English as a second language, I move at a pace that gives room for that — and I'm comfortable with clients switching to a native word or phrase when English doesn't fit.

Question 28

How is my data stored?

Accepted Answer

The Great Thriving LTD is registered with the ICO. Data is held encrypted at rest and in transit. You can request access, correction, or deletion of your data at any time via the Privacy Policy.

Question 29

Is this really confidential?

Accepted Answer

Yes. What you say stays between us. There are two long-standing exceptions, both required of every registered counsellor: a serious and immediate risk to your life or someone else's, and a small number of legal obligations such as a court order. Even then I would tell you first wherever it is possible to do so. I also discuss my work in supervision, as the BACP requires, and you are never named there.

Question 30

Do you keep notes?

Accepted Answer

Brief ones — a few lines after each session so I can hold the thread of the work from week to week. They are short, factual and not a transcript. They are stored securely, kept for as long as insurers and the BACP require, and then deleted. You are entitled to ask for a copy of anything held about you, and if there is something you would prefer was not written down, say so and it won't be.

Question 31

Will anything appear on my medical record?

Accepted Answer

No. This is private practice. Your GP is not told that you are here, no referral or diagnosis is made, and nothing is added to any NHS or insurer record. The single exception is a serious risk to life, where I may have to involve a doctor or emergency service. Nothing about attending counselling here is disclosed to an employer, a visa process, or an insurer.

Question 32

What if someone I know sees my calendar or emails?

Accepted Answer

The practice is set up on the assumption that other people see your screen. The calendar entry reads as an ordinary meeting, the sender name is plain, and subject lines never mention counselling, therapy, or anything about sexuality. There is no marketing email and no newsletter, so nothing arrives unexpectedly. If you would rather I used a particular name or wrote to a different address, tell me and I will.

Question 33

What are your qualifications?

Accepted Answer

Mark Clarke holds a BSc (Hons) in Counselling & Psychotherapy, awarded with First-Class Honours, and has three years in practice. He is a Registered Member of the BACP (MBACP, registration number 407828), insured for international online practice, and ICO-registered. The Great Thriving offers person-centred counselling only.

Question 34

Can I claim sessions on health insurance?

Accepted Answer

Some insurers reimburse counselling with a BACP-registered counsellor; policies vary widely. Bring your policy number to the first conversation and we can check what is covered.

Question 35

What if I need a psychiatrist or medication review?

Accepted Answer

Counselling and psychiatry are work together. If medication or a formal diagnosis is part of your care, I work alongside your GP or psychiatrist and can help you think through what to bring to those appointments.

Question 36

What if we're not a good fit?

Accepted Answer

Then say so, and I will not take it personally. Fit matters more in this work than any qualification does, and it is not something either of us can judge from a website. If it is not right, I would rather you found out in the first fortnight than sat politely through months of it. Where it helps, I will suggest other counsellors or services worth approaching. You owe no explanation and there is nothing to end formally.

Question 37

What if I'm in crisis right now?

Accepted Answer

This is not a crisis service and I cannot respond quickly outside session times. If you are at risk of harming yourself or someone else, please contact the emergency services on 999, call NHS 111, or speak to your GP. Samaritans are free to call on 116 123, day or night, from anywhere in the UK and Ireland. Outside those countries, your local emergency number or crisis line is the right first call. Come back here when the immediate danger has passed.

Everything you'd probably like to know.

Getting started

How the counselling works

Fees & payment

Practicalities & technology

For gay and bisexual men

Privacy & confidentiality

Credentials & suitability