The average number of times that families come to Bouverie for therapy is around 6 sessions. However, some families may come only once or twice while others may come here twelve times or more. This largely depends on the nature of the difficulties. When you ring to refer your family, the intake worker will offer you a choice between a 'Single Session' and an ordinary appointment. A Single Session lasts about ninety minutes to two hours and involves one or two therapists who will do their best to be as helpful as possible to the family within that time. A follow-up phone call is arranged, and families are able to choose at that time whether they would like to have further appointments or not. With Single Sessions, about half the families seen feel that this one contact is sufficient to help tackle their problem, and they know that there is an 'open door' if they choose to come back in the future. The other half organize more appointments according to their needs.

All families are asked to review their own progress with their therapist just prior to the sixth session. If therapist and family feel that they need more than six sessions, the therapist presents a brief summary of the issues to their peer staff group, at a progress review meeting. Families' requests for further sessions are taken seriously and most often agreed to.

Appointment times are usually spaced two to four weeks apart, but are negotiable with the therapist concerned. More detail about single sessions is available under the Single Session Therapy Team.