In this short video, I explain how I plan a run of video sessions close together, what the breaks are for and how we make sure the work keeps going once the block is over.
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Back-to-back online psychotherapy helps you work in depth over a short span, with several 1-hour video sessions placed close together rather than one a week. Each session has 50 minutes of therapy, in English, and we plan the block around your time zone: 2 or 3 sessions in a day with breaks, consecutive days, several across one week or a weekend.
I help you stay with one theme long enough to understand the pattern, try something different and review what happened, without losing the thread between appointments. This is the concentrated branch of my online psychotherapy. There are also planned blocks for people living abroad, for EFT work and for neurodivergent adults.
To plan a block, book a free 30-minute call, see the booking calendar, read my client policy or write to me with the dates you have in mind.
Back-to-back online psychotherapy is for English-speaking adults, anywhere in the world, who need more continuity than weekly sessions allow, or whose life simply does not have a weekly gap. You may work rotations, travel constantly or have a fixed window of time off. You want concentrated work on one clear theme, planned with care and followed up afterwards.
A planned block suits some situations better than others. If one of these sounds more like you, the linked page will fit better.
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These reviews describe clients’ experiences of working with me. They come from my wider practice and do not all relate to online sessions. Each person’s experience is their own, and a review does not promise a particular outcome.
“Looking back over my 22 years of practice, I am convinced that the gap between sessions does more damage than most people realise. For many of my clients a week is long enough for the defences to rebuild, and we spend the next hour climbing back to where we were. Inside, one part asks ‘Will you still be there when I finally get to the hard part?’, while another insists ‘Give me room, I will deal with it on my own time.’ A planned block answers both. You know I am there for the whole stretch, and you know when it ends. Extra hours do not improve the work by themselves. Well-placed hours, with breaks and follow-up, usually do.”
Mark Colclough, MA, psychotherapist and EFT couples therapist
I am Mark Colclough, MA. I have practised since 2004 and offer online psychotherapy and couples therapy in English.
My training brings together your emotions, your thoughts and your relationships. My deep passion is the moment when what happens between you finally makes sense, to each of you and to each other. I have lived and worked in nine countries, so I know something of life across languages, cultures and borders.
Read about my background, or explore online psychotherapy and online couples therapy.
I meet regularly with experienced psychotherapists to reflect on my work, question my understanding and develop my skills. Supervision is part of the professional care I bring to individual and couples work, including online sessions.
My focus is thoughtful practice, integrity and responsibility.
You are welcome to ask about the kind of support you need.
Tell me where you are based and your time zone. We can then consider whether online sessions together are suitable.
Carlos is 44, from Valencia, and works 4 weeks on and 4 weeks off on a support vessel in the North Sea. Weekly therapy has never fitted. Since his father died 2 years ago he has felt numb at sea and restless on shore, and his teenage daughter in Aberdeen has started to avoid him. He has a week of leave in March and wants to use it to understand what has been happening to him.
I would plan 6 sessions over 3 days with Carlos, 2 a day with long breaks, and start with his father rather than his daughter. By the second day he would probably see that the numbness began long before the funeral, in a family where grief was something men did not show.
I have presented this clinical example as a compound of 22 years of clinical practice.
Weekly therapy has never fitted your life, or it has kept losing the thread, and you need a different shape for the work.
There is no correct format for therapy, only the one that fits your life and the work. If something feels wrong, if one theme keeps returning, or if your schedule has always shut you out of regular sessions, that is reason enough to ask. You need no diagnosis and no tidy account of the problem. In 22 years of practice I have seen that continuity often matters as much as the number of hours, and I can tell when a concentrated block will help more than spaced sessions.
I will help you define what the block should address, how much concentrated time is wise and what has to happen afterwards. These 6 questions help you check whether this format is for you.
If so, the problem may be the format, not your commitment. Rotations, shifts, constant travel or a time zone far from most English-speaking therapists can rule out a regular hour. So the difficulty waits, sometimes for years, until a free week comes along.
I would look at what windows your life actually has and how long the theme has been with you. That tells us whether a block is enough or should lead into later sessions. If you have dates in mind, book a session with me or send them to me.
Both feelings make sense. One part of you wants to finally get to the bottom of it. Another worries about being left raw on the last day, alone with what came up. So you postpone, waiting for a moment safe enough.
I do not treat either part as the problem. The cautious one is asking for a sensible plan, and it deserves one. We decide together how far to go in each session, where the breaks fall and how the block closes, so depth and safety sit side by side.
Many people know this. A week passes, you arrive guarded again, and half the hour goes on what happened since. You wonder whether the therapist still remembers what mattered, and you hold back until it feels safe to return.
Your need for continuity is legitimate. In a block, nothing has time to close over. I help you notice the pull to retreat after an opening, and we use the next session, hours rather than days later, to stay with what surfaced.
Yes, this often happens in therapy, and it can feel confusing. You reach something important at the end of an hour, then arrive next time talking about work. The closeness of being understood feels both welcome and too much.
A block lets us slow this down and see it happen, because the next session follows quickly. I help you notice the moment you pull back and what it protects. I respect why you learned it, and I will invite you, gently, to stay a little longer each time.
Some people do their real thinking alone. After a hard conversation you need a walk, silence or sleep before you can make sense of it. Weekly therapy can leave you processing for days with nowhere to bring it.
My view is that your need for space is part of how you work, not an obstacle. In a back-to-back block the breaks are planned, so you get the space you need and a session waiting on the other side of it. I will help you use both.
Many people carry a question for years: whether to stay or leave, who they are outside their role, what they inherited from their family. Busy lives keep pushing it aside, and the delay can leave you feeling you no longer know what you want.
A block gives the question room. I help you look at it from several sides over a few days, with direction and challenge, but without deciding the answer for you. The aim is clarity about what matters to you and what kind of life fits you.
If a concentrated block sounds right, book a free call to plan the dates, or reserve your first session if you already know the shape you want.
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Tell me briefly what kind of support you are looking for.
Include your country and time zone so we can discuss whether online work together is possible and find a suitable time.
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Closely placed sessions let us stay with the work long enough to understand it, change something and see what happens next.
A planned block will help you understand what is happening, recognise the pattern that keeps it going and make changes you can carry into your ordinary weeks. Insight that fades the moment the block ends is not enough, so we build the follow-up in from the start.
In 22 years of practice I have found that concentrated work needs a therapist who holds the structure. I plan the pace with you, tell you what I see and challenge you when an explanation keeps you stuck. The 6 questions below show what a block works towards.
Related reading: How do I tell if therapy is working this time? and How do I deal with a feeling that feels too big?.
By choosing one clear theme before we begin and keeping it in view. I help you separate the central difficulty from its symptoms and side issues, so the hours go where they matter most.
Between sessions on the same day I keep track of what has surfaced, and I offer my assessment openly. I will challenge explanations that keep you circling. When you are ready to plan, book a session with me or ask for a call first.
A block makes this easier, because the pattern often shows itself between sessions and we can look at it hours later rather than a week later. You learn the early signs: a thought, a tightening, an urge to change the subject.
I help you slow the sequence down and see what it protects. Then we practise a different response in the next session, while the moment is still fresh, so it becomes usable once the block is over.
A concentrated block has to fit your attention span, your energy and your feelings. Staying steady does not mean pushing on regardless. It means staying present enough to take in what is happening and choose what to do with it.
I plan breaks for food, rest and a walk, and I watch how you are responding. When I sense the work has stopped landing, we ease off or rearrange the day. Between sessions you also have a small task, such as a short walk or a few lines of notes, to help you settle.
Saying what you need starts with noticing it. In a block, you may feel you should keep going because the time is booked, or apologise for needing a longer break.
I will ask you regularly how the pace feels, and I expect an honest answer. If you tend to go quiet, I will notice. If you tend to push through, I will challenge that too. Learning to say “not yet” in our sessions often changes how you speak up elsewhere.
A few days of focus can clear a choice that has stayed cloudy for months. We separate fear, duty and other people’s expectations from what you actually know and value, and look at each option on its own terms.
I give you my professional view and tell you when I see you avoiding the choice, but I do not make it for you. Many people leave a block with a decision. Others leave with a clear next step and a date to review it.
Lasting change has to reach the weeks after the block: your routines, your relationships, the way you speak to yourself on an ordinary Tuesday. We plan for that before the block ends.
We decide together whether you need a follow-up session a few weeks later, regular online psychotherapy, another block, couples sessions or nothing further. The aim is not dependency. It is a clear path that fits your life and your values.
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You do not need a diagnosis, a full plan or the right words. We start by agreeing what the block is for.
Before any block, we talk about what it must address and how much concentrated time is sensible. I will not hand you a ready-made package until I know the problem, your diary and how much you can take in. We then fix dates, breaks and a follow-up.
A block is one format of my online psychotherapy, structured individual work on your inner life and your relationships. If the theme turns out to belong to the relationship, and your partner is willing, online couples therapy offers long-term relational development and healing. Because a block is planned ahead, a therapy bundle usually fits it well and lowers the cost.
I ask what brought you here now, what you want the block to change, what you have tried and how you tend to respond under pressure. I also ask how you are feeling about the days ahead. You do not need to tell me your entire history first.
By the end of that first hour I share my initial understanding and confirm or adjust the plan for the rest of the block. If you want to talk before booking, request a free 30-minute call.
An individual block fits when the focus is you: your feelings, your history, a decision, a pattern you keep repeating. Your relationships will be part of what we explore, without anyone else joining the call.
I keep the thread through every session of the block and give the work direction. If a block is not right after all, steady sessions in my online psychotherapy offer the same depth at a weekly pace.
Couples therapy fits when the relationship itself needs the work: the same conflict keeps returning, trust has been broken, or one of you pursues while the other retreats. Sorting that out alone has limits.
In couples work I help you both see the cycle between you and find safer ways of relating. Online couples therapy is long-term relational development and healing, and it can also be planned in concentrated blocks. If your partner will not join, online couples therapy alone is an option.
It depends on the theme, your capacity and the time you have. Some people do well with 2 sessions a day over 2 or 3 days. Others prefer 4 or 5 sessions spread across one week, or a weekend.
My usual recommendation is no more than 3 sessions in a day, with real breaks in between. I will tell you if a plan looks too dense to be useful, and when a lighter block with follow-up would serve you more.
Almost always, because a block is several sessions planned in advance. A bundle fixes the number, protects the dates and saves you deciding session by session.
It also lowers the cost of each session and gives the block a clear structure. I will help you choose a size that fits the plan. The options are on therapy discounts and bundles, with the bundle cards just below.
The block has done its job when you understand the pattern more clearly, have tried something different and know what comes next. The original difficulty may not be gone, but it no longer runs you in the same way.
I review this with you openly at the end and do not push for more sessions without a reason. You may stop, book a follow-up or return for another block later. Coming back is not a sign that the first block failed.
Not sure a block is right for you? This table sets the block beside 3 other routes into the work.
| Option | Choose it when | Pace |
|---|---|---|
| Back-to-back online psychotherapy (this page) | Weekly sessions do not fit your life, or you need continuity on one theme. | Several 1-hour video sessions over a few days |
| Online psychotherapy | You can meet regularly and want steady work over months. | Weekly or fortnightly 1-hour video sessions |
| Acute online psychotherapy | Something has just happened and you need help this week. | Video sessions close together at first |
| Weekend psychotherapy in Copenhagen | You would rather travel and work in person over a weekend. | A planned block at my practice |
Back-to-back online psychotherapy with me is individual psychotherapy by video, in English, delivered as a planned block of 1-hour sessions placed close together rather than weekly. It suits people whose schedules rule out regular sessions, or who need continuity on one clear theme.
I plan the block with you, including breaks, pace and follow-up. It is a format within my online psychotherapy, and the same depth of work applies.
Choose a block when your schedule makes weekly sessions impossible, when weekly work keeps losing the thread, or when one theme needs concentrated time. A fixed window of leave is often the trigger.
I look at the theme, your capacity and your support before recommending a block. Some people do better with weekly sessions, and I will tell you if I think that applies to you.
Often, yes, though not by magic. A block can help you see a long-standing pattern clearly and begin to change it. I cannot promise how much will shift, and I do not offer quick fixes.
In my clinical experience, the main gain of a block is continuity: no week for defences to rebuild. We focus on one theme, and we plan what happens afterwards so the change keeps going.
They should not be. A block that overwhelms you is a badly planned block. I build in breaks, keep the number of sessions per day sensible and check regularly how you are doing.
On a day when another hour would not help, I slow down, pause or reshape the plan. You can also tell me at any point that you need to stop, and I will take that seriously.
Because reaching something important can feel exposed, and the mind protects you by stepping back. Some people return eager for more reassurance. Others return distant and businesslike. Neither is a failing.
A block lets us see this cycle within hours, not weeks. I help you notice what triggers the closing, what it protects you from and how to stay open a little longer without feeling unsafe.
On a free call or a first session, we agree the theme, the dates, the number of sessions, the breaks and the follow-up. I ask about your time zone, your energy and what support you have around you.
You do not need to have everything worked out. Bring the dates you can offer and a sense of what you want to change. You can reserve the opening session now, or plan it together on a free 30-minute call.
I cannot give a fair number until I know your situation. Many blocks are between 4 and 8 sessions over 2 to 5 days, followed by one or more follow-up sessions.
I will suggest a schedule, give my reasons and adjust it as we go. After 22 years of practice, I would rather plan a slightly shorter block with good follow-up than a long one with nothing after it.
Yes. Video means you can do a block from home, from a holiday rental or during shore leave, without travel. It also makes it easier to fit sessions to your own time zone.
You need a private room for the whole block, headphones, a stable connection and somewhere to walk or rest in the breaks. Tell household members you are unavailable. If you would rather meet in person, weekend psychotherapy in Copenhagen is the alternative.
A block is made up of ordinary 1-hour online individual sessions, each with 50 minutes of therapy, so the total depends on the number of sessions. My prices page lists the per-session fee in US dollars.
Because a block is planned ahead, a therapy bundle usually fits it, saving you 10 per cent on each session and fixing the plan. See therapy discounts and bundles.
Book a free 30-minute call to plan it, or book the first session if you already know your dates. Tell me the theme and the window you have.
If the calendar does not show enough times close together, contact me directly and I will see what I can arrange. If something has just happened and you cannot wait, acute online psychotherapy is the faster route.
You can also send me an email
I want therapy to help you understand your experience and make choices you can use in everyday life. We pay attention to feelings, needs and the responses that happen before you have time to think.
Our online room should offer enough trust and honesty to explore what is difficult. I bring attention and professional judgement. You bring your experience, questions and the right to say when something does not fit.
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P.S. I’ll call you in a bit!
