Serving the Community for Over 25 Years
What is Counselling?
How can I get help and support?
How long does counselling take?
Counselling Schemes
Counselling for Teenagers
Child Bereavement Counselling
Emotional Difficulties
The usual dictionary definition of counselling is “giving advice”. However, the counselling we provide is not so much about giving advice but rather listening to you and talking with you in a way that helps to discover and explain your feelings so that you can see more clearly what is happening in your life and help to find a way forward.
Counselling uses the connection between thoughts and words to reach these inner feelings. There could be underlying reasons – past events perhaps – which help to explain why you are so terribly affected by situations that others seem to cope with, or find yourself over-reacting to someone else’s behavior.
Talking to a counsellor who is non-judgemental and impartial will be a welcome relief. If you are not one for talking, and are concerned that some questions may be too painful to answer, this is where the experience and skill of the therapist come in to gently move the conversation forward.
When Counselling can make a difference
Anyone who is experiencing anxiety, depression or grief, or who has suffered bereavement, trauma or abuse does not function efficiently, despite wanting to keep going. Difficulties in a relationship can be especially painful, and are often made worse by other stresses.
There is also a common experience of being unable to cope: sensing a reduced capacity to get on with your life and work, even having to make small decisions can seem almost impossible; just feeling generally unwell, especially if a combination of problems is “simply too much”. (Even the immune system can be lowered in times of stress and anxiety.)
To get some idea of the many situations in which counselling has been helpful, click on a typical list of Emotional Difficulties.
A counselling session lasts for 50 minutes, and takes place in the same room, at the same time each week.
A number of our clients, particularly those referred to us under employee assistance schemes, have six, weekly meetings but in general, the number of sessions will depend on individual circumstances. You and your counsellor together will decide when the appropriate time to finish has arrived.
Get in touch with our office. They can’t give you any counselling but you will receive all the information you need and arrangements will be put in place to see that you have the counselling you need. If you are unemployed, on benefits, or are unable to pay the standard fee, OCS is able to support a number of clients at a reduced fee.
We are able to provide a number of counselling schemes to suit your personal circumstances. When arrangements to see you are in place, your personal counsellor will contact you to let you know where you will be met.
* When you return the questionnaire, we ask for a non-refundable deposit of £10 towards the initial assessment interview and a balance of £25 payable on the day, making a total cost of £35 as a one-off payment. The initial assessment session lasts for about an hour and a half, and is generally found to be a valuable counselling experience in itself.
For further details and to make an appointment, please Contact Us on 01903 212275
If you are 14 to 18 and need to talk to someone about anything that is troubling you, come and talk in complete confidence on a one to one basis with one of our counsellors.
Call us first on 01903 212275. You will be assigned your own personal counsellor, and, as soon as possible, contacted to arrange your first appointment. If you are worried about anyone knowing that you have contacted us and do not have your own personal mobile phone, please let us know so that we can make alternative arrangements to contact you.
At your first meeting you will be able to discuss anything which has prompted you to think that counselling could be helpful to you. A counselling session normally lasts about fifty minutes, but if you find the first one very difficult, your counsellor will be able close the session early so that you can go away and think about things and resume talking at the next appointment.
If you have concerns about confidentiality and parental involvement
Your confidentiality is assured. Whatever is discussed will be strictly between you and your counsellor. The only problem relating to confidentiality that can arise occurs when you or another have been harmed or are likely to be in danger. There are legal obligations to report matters of a criminal nature. Should the need arise, your counsellor will discuss the issues with you before any action is taken.
You don’t need a parent’s or guardian’s agreement for you to have counselling. A parent or guardian cannot find out what is discussed between you and the counsellor. If a parent or guardian is aware of your having counselling and wishes to discuss confidentiality issues, an appointment can be made with a representative of the Service, but whatever is said during counselling remains strictly confidential between client and counsellor.
We provide counselling to those who have experienced the death of an infant or child up to the age of sixteen. Bereavement counselling, which can be especially helpful and supportive to single parents, is available to any member of the family including older brothers or sisters.
The loss need not necessarily be recent. Emotional suffering can resurface quite some time after the death.
We are grateful to the founders of the Danielle Henderson Lollipop Fund who donated to Offington Counselling Service a sum of money that we hold in reserve for the specific purpose of alleviating some of the pain of child bereavement. Up to six sessions of counselling are available free of charge, although any donation will be appreciated which helps us to maintain this subsidised service.
Listed below, alphabetically, are some of the many problems that can occur in life and for which counselling can provide help. Sometimes there just isn’t a name or heading for the way you feel.