Counselling is a collaborative process that provides individuals with a safe and supportive space to explore their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. It is guided by a trained professional who listens empathetically and without judgement, helping clients to explore their concerns and gain deeper insights into their personal challenges. Through various techniques and approaches, counselling aims to empower individuals to develop coping strategies, improve communication skills, and foster self-awareness, ultimately leading to personal growth and well-being. Whether addressing specific issues or navigating life transitions, counselling facilitates meaningful conversations that promote healing and understanding.

It is important to note that unfortunately, counsellors are not able to offer advice. Whilst some people start therapy to find answers on what to do during tricky periods in their life, there is nobody who knows you and your experiences better than you do. So who are we to tell you what to do? The idea is that you will have the answers within you somewhere, even if it doesn't feel like it, and it is our job to empower and help you to find them.

The short answer to this is, yes. Counselling sessions are confidential.

However, there are certain instances where this may need to be broken and this is usually to protect the safety of you or other people. In your first session or your free 20-minute intro call, your counsellor will explain in detail what these exceptions are and what would happen if confidentiality needed to be broken, to allow you to make an informed decision.

Some examples would include -

• Harm to self or other people.

• If the client is threatening or abusive to the counsellor.

• If a counsellor is compelled to by a court of law.

• If the client infers knowledge of or involvement in serious crimes such as drug trafficking, money laundering and drug trafficking.

If you would like to discuss these in more detail, please feel free to get in touch.

We often get asked this question, but no unless they have referred you to counselling, generally your GP will not know and it will not go on your medical record. We do ask for the details of your registered GP practice during our intake forms, but this is only used in emergencies.

However, it is good practice to keep your GP informed of any changes to your mental health. Counsellors cannot make any recommendations about medications and the sessions are not a substitute for medical help.

Your counsellor may recommend you speak to your GP if they have any concerns, or may do this on your behalf if they feel it is necessary to keep you safe. This would always be discussed with you first to hopefully gain your consent, but if your counsellor feels it is necessary to keep you safe and you do not consent they may still break confidentiality for the reasons stated above.

Our sessions are £50 and last for 50-minutes.

There are discounts available for block bookings and concessions for students. Please reach out to the team if you would like to explore this further.

This is a highly individual thing, and varies from client to client. Some clients find that a few sessions is enough for their goals, while for others this may take longer or be something they are wanting to establish as part of their lives long-term.

A lot of factors can influence this, such as what you are hoping to achieve from the sessions, the relationship with the counsellor, the type of counselling you are having, as well as the things that life throws at us along the way.

There is no easy answer to this, but regular reviews with your counsellor to look at progress and making sure we are working with your goals, even when they evolve, can help you to make the decision on when you are ready to end the counselling sessions.