Ella Allen

About

A first session with me is quieter than most people brace for. There is no intake interrogation, and no expectation that you arrive with the story already in order. Mostly I follow whatever you bring and ask the occasional question. Grief does not follow the schedule everyone around you seems to be using. A widow of two years is not behind, and neither is someone still numb at six weeks. I have sat with people who could not stop talking about it and people who could not begin, and both are entirely ordinary. We go at whatever pace turns out to be yours, and I will say so plainly if it looks like you are pushing yourself faster than you need to. I started out in school and university counseling, which taught me to be useful inside a single conversation. That has stayed with me. Nothing is expected of you in the first hour beyond turning up and saying whatever you can.