Counselling helps you look at issues, problems, thoughts and feelings in a safe, secure and confidential setting with a person who is not involved with the situation. It may be you have concerns and worries and that you would like to talk the matter through with someone independent who is able to listen and help you to find your answers.
Whatever the situation, the counsellor will listen without judging and with empathy and understanding, helping you to explore the issues. Put simply, a counsellor helps you work through problems. Counsellors aim to establish an atmosphere of honesty, openness and mutual respect. The Counsellor will ensure that your privacy is respected and will endeavour to create a safe and secure place, allowing you the opportunity to develop your own answers or come to your own decision.
At Counselling Plus we offer you;
- The opportunity to talk to a counsellor who is not personally involved.
- A chance to explore your situation from fresh angles and to take a different view.
- Help in working on your best course of action.
- Support you while any changes are being made.
Our counsellors donate their time as unpaid volunteers and therefore we ask that clients are committed to turn up for appointments that have been booked.
How to access our service and what happens
Whether you get referred to us through another service, your GP, the NHS or you phone us yourself the first step to having counselling is to get an assessment interview.
To arrange an assessment interview we take a few details over the phone and then arrange a day and time for you to attend an assessment which we can usually offer within a week or two.
If you would like to arrange an assessment interview now, or have any questions, call us on 01424 428300 Monday to Thursday from 10am to 7pm.
An assessment interview is a chance for you to talk about what you want to discuss in counselling, and to see if we are the right service for you. It lasts about 40 minutes and is totally free of charge.
After the assessment we write to confirm you are on the waiting list and that we will be in touch when we have a starting date for weekly sessions for you.
Due to the fact we have a high demand for our services, our waiting list is about eight to ten weeks from when you’ve had your assessment, so don’t think we’ve forgotten about you if you don’t hear from us for a while.
When we contact you it will be to offer weekly counselling sessions at the same day and time each week, with the same counsellor.
- Each counselling session is for 50 minutes.
- For counselling to be beneficial we need you to commit to coming for at least the first six sessions consecutively.
- The main aim of counselling is to help you through a difficult time and to help you find the confidence to live happily without counselling.
We have separate arrangements with some Support Services who fund individual counselling – these are all for limited sessions and there will be a requirement for clients to make an affordable contribution beyond their funded sessions.Â