What is Counselling?
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Counselling, also known as talking therapy, is an opportunity to talk about difficult issues and situations, exploring your thoughts and feelings about them, in a safe and confidential environment, with a trained professional who will listen in an accepting and non-judgmental way.
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Counselling allows you to look at those areas in your life that are causing you distress, recognise how to manage the distress internally, and what external support you may need. The counsellor will not give you advice, or act for you, but may suggest other sources of professional help.
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We offer a number of different types of talking therapies, including Person-Centred Counselling, Relational and Psychotherapeutic approaches, Gestalt, Humanistic-Integrative, Solution-Focused, CBT, Transactional Analysis and creative therapies.
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The types of issues that clients typically bring to counselling include:
Anger
Anxiety/stress
Bereavement/other types of loss
Depression
Disability/chronic ill-health
Relationships
Sexuality
Significant life changes
Work-related stress
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Once we receive your referral, we will contact you to arrange an initial assessment to gather more information, and to ensure that we are the right service for you. Due to the high demand, you may experience a wait before assessment and then again between your assessment and the start of counselling. Sessions last between 50 to 60 minutes and are held at the same time each week.
To find out about our Confidentiality Policy click here:
To view our Privacy Statement click here:
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Confidentiality
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Confidentiality in counselling creates a space where the client can explore sensitive topics in the knowledge that the counsellor will not repeat what clients say unless there are exceptional circumstances. For the counsellor, maintaining confidentiality within certain limitations is an ethical responsibility, and it is part of what makes counselling different from other relationships.
​Community Counselling will only break confidentiality if:
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The client gives consent in writing for the confidence to be broken
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Community Counselling is compelled by a court of law or in order to safeguard a child
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Information relates to the prevention or detection of serious crime
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The client is a danger to him/herself or to others, or where someone else is believed to be at risk of serious harm
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Community Counselling have a Confidentiality Policy which we can share with clients
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