This Agreement sets out how best we can work togther online, please feel free to let us know if anything is unclear or you'd like to know more.
About Us
We are all qualified counsellors, experienced in counselling young people and work to the guidelines of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapist Ethical Guidelines of which we are members. (BACP).
We offer you a safe, private space to write about whatever you wish, nothing is too big or too small. We will listen to what you have to say, without judging you or telling you what to do, and together we can work towards making any changes you wish to make.
We do not share anything that you say to us with anyone else. However there are some exceptional circumstances where we may need to talk to another person or authority who can support you more safely than we can here online.
If we are very concerned about your safety. For example if you tell us you are regulary hurting yourself or if you tell us that you are feeling suicidal or if you tell us that you or someone else is in danger.
Your counsellor will "try" and let you know if we are very concerned about you and need to talk to someone else too. You will be encouraged to share any risk to yourself with the appropriate authority or person yourself if possible.
You are welcome to talk about this with your counsellor and/or please see our Risk and Safeguarding Policy for more detail
How does online counselling work?
Online counselling works by exchanging messages here on our secure online site. This can either be during a live chat session (IM) once a week at an agreed time or by exchanging weekly messages where your counsellor will respond to your message on a particular day. .Both methods will provide you with a written record of your progress throughout the sessions although one will feel more like writing a diary entry once a week and the other will be a real time connection with your therapist at a mutually agreed time to meet together.The choice is yours and the counsellor will write to you about this in the first introductory session
Counselling works best when you and the counsellor work together to make any changes that you wish to make and you try out the various coping strategies and links. It also helps if you can write consecutively every week, building a rapport with your counsellor so that you feel comfortable sharing your thoughts and feelings. The first few sessions may feel strange but generally people say that this feels easier after a few sessions.
It also helps to have a clear idea of what you want from your counselling. Some people just prefer to write to a neutral person and offload their thoughts and feelings with a professional who will offer support and a compassionate ear, whilst others have a particular issue, personal situation or behaviour that they wish to work on and change.
You will be offered up to 12 weeks to work together, and as you go along your counsellor will check in with you to make sure you are getting what you need from your counselling. At week 6 your counsellor usually checks in to see if this is working for you and what you are getting out of it and, whether you would like to continue on and have all the 12 sessions. If you would like more sessions you will need to re-register for the service again. We ask that you leave it at least a month from you last session. This offers you a chance to reflect and see what has changed and what you still may need more support with.
Breaks in counselling
Your counsellor will let you know in advance of any holidays or breaks that they will be taking. Please let your counsellor know in advance if you need to take any breaks as well.
Missing sessions
If you miss a session and we haven't agreed this beforehand, your counsellor will count this as a session taken.
When you miss a session without giving your counsellor notice, they will prompt you to contact them the following week. If you don't get in touch the following week (so you have missed two sessions in a row), we will assume that you no longer want to use the service and end our work together. You will receive an email notification of this.
You are always welcome to re-apply by re-registering at any time.