We prefer it to be weekly as far as possible, otherwise the thread can be lost and you may feel you are not getting the support you need with the process.

Counselling is a process which helps you think about issues which you may have been struggling to understand for a long time. Sometimes this may lead you to thinking about your relationship with your partner and what might be difficult for you to talk about together. Your counsellor might suggest that you speak to your partner to find out whether he or she would be willing to go for an assessment for couples counselling, whilst bearing in mind that the process might feel too frightening for your partner at this stage. If that is the case, you can then decide whether you want to continue with individual counselling, or wait until your partner is ready to go into couples counselling. When you are both ready for this process your counsellor will refer you on to our couples counsellor.

In counselling all kinds of thoughts and feelings are touched upon, and emotions that have been buried due to a past trauma, such as a bereavement or relationship breakdown, can come to the surface. This could feel very distressing for you, but your counsellor will support you in the expression of these feelings and help you to think about what is so upsetting for you. If, with the help of the counsellor, you can stay with these strong emotions this can be very helpful for you in the management of upsetting experiences in your everyday life. On the other hand, you may find that you don’t have any particularly strong emotions during or after a session. In counselling there is no “right” or “wrong” way to behave, only what you feel, and that is always valid.

You can make an inquiry on behalf of someone else, but ultimately that person has to make contact with us themselves. This is so that we can be absolutely sure that the person concerned is ready to make the commitment to coming to counselling.

The initial session is an introductory session for you to see whether counselling feels right for you and whether you are comfortable working with the counsellor you have arranged to see. It is, however, meant to be the first step towards ongoing counselling; it is not crisis management or simply a one-off chance to offload.

No; we are a team of private counsellors working together, and our work is not subsidised in any way, so we have to charge a fee.