Blog Post No.160
By Dr Jim Byrne
29th December 2017
Dr Jim’s Counselling Blog: My Christmas and New Year Update
Writing counselling books, balanced life, and revised fees
Copyright (c) Jim Byrne, 2015-2017
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Introduction
So now it’s (still) Christmas – 29th December – and moving towards
the New Year marker. And it’s time to take stock, and to plan the next period ahead. 
We have recently produced an ABC Newsletter, in which we recorded that we have produced three new books in 2017, plus some new papers. And so I feel the need for a ‘fallow period’, before launching into the next writing project.
I have worked up to the present moment, and so I intend to take most of January and February off, from major writing projects, and to ‘sharpen my saw’ (to borrow a phrase from Stephen Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People).
Of course, I will continue to see counselling and therapy clients. The only change in this area will be that it’s time to put my fees up. These new fees will not apply to my current clients, until 1st April 2018, but they will apply to all new clients immediately.
See below for revised fees schedule.
The fallow period
I am hoping and planning to have a fallow period from now until perhaps early March, during which I will try to clear my desk of a huge backlog of reading. For me, reading is a relatively ‘fallow’ activity, compared with writing and editing and publishing books and papers.
At the end of that period, not only will I have rested my ‘writing/publishing muscles’, but I also have updated my knowledge base so I am all set for another nine months of active production!
Writing plans
Beginning in March 2018, I intend to write the first of three volumes of a series on How to manage effective couple relationships.
This will be a distillation of my twenty years’ experience of working with couples to help them achieve happy relationships. The material will be divided over three volumes, because it is too much to fit comfortably into one book. And, because it includes a range of new ideas and new skills, it will be more comfortable for the reader to study one volume at a time.
I also hope to begin a new book on the nature of thinking; its relationship to feelings and emotions; and the best ways for counsellors to engage with these issues when working with clients in counselling and therapy.
And if I have any time left over, I will begin working on a revised book on Counselling the Whole Person.
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Revised fees, 2018
SCHEDULE OF FEES FOR FACE-TO-FACE CLIENTS
(Sliding Scale)
For new clients, commencing after 1st January 2018, I offer a revised scale of fees, for simplicity, and to take account of the continuing atmosphere of austerity.
If you are unemployed, or on a basic state pension, I can see you for a fee of £50.00 per 45 minute session.
If you are employed, and earning less than £25,000 per year, before tax, I can see you for a fee of £60.00.
If you earn more than £25,000 per year, before tax, but less than £50,000, then I can see you for a fee of £70.00 per session.
And if you earn £50,000 or more per year, before tax, then I can see you for a fee of £80.00.
Those fees all refer to daytime appointments, on Wednesday to Friday of each week. If you want an evening or weekend appointment, the standard fee is £20 more than your weekday fee.
I now offer just four appointment slots per day – 10.00am, 11.00am; 2.00pm, and 3.00pm. This helps to ensure that I am in tip-top condition, physically and mentally, when I see you.
On alternate Saturdays I offer two appointment slots – at 11.00am and 2.00pm.
And one evening per week, I offer a late session – normally at 7.00 pm until 7.45 pm.
I therefore offer a total of 13 appointment slots during a normal working week; plus four Saturday slots per month.
Since nine or ten of my weekday slots are already routinely booked up, in advance, it is advisable to let me know immediately if you would like one of the remaining two or three slots.
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Please contact:
Dr Jim Byrne: 01422 843 629
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You can see my full Information Pack for face-to-face clients here: https://abc-counselling.org/information-about-counselling-in-hebden-bridge/
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And you can see our latest ABC Newsletter here!
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That’s all for now.
Best wishes,
Jim
Dr Jim Byrne
Doctor of Counselling
ABC Coaching and Counselling Services
01422 843 629
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