Counselling

Access to counselling services for individuals who have been identified as having particular needs to help sort through personal difficulties. The local authority may well not provide this service themsleves but should provide information on the availability and requirements of a counselling service.

At present there are no national standards for counselling and psychotherapy.

Under current regulations anyone can set themselves up as a psychotherapist or counsellor and charge patients for consultations. This leads to a wide variation in the level of competence and expertise available.

Until such time as statutory regulation is introduced, those employing counsellors should ensure that their recruitment arrangements are stringent and that therapists meet the training and supervision standards identified by the relevant professional organisations.

Those individuals using counselling services should be aware of what to expect from a counsellor and should be encouraged to work with counsellors who subscribe to professional bodies recognised codes of ethics and practice.

We have found it helpful to explain what counselling is at the beginning so that you may get most benefit from it.

Counselling is different from other forms of help; the focus is to enable you to clarify the issues about which you are troubled. This will involve you in exploring those issues in private with someone who is trained to listen and has no other role in your life. Through this confidential process, your counsellor will be seeking to enable you to clarify your thoughts and feelings. Counselling is a positive process, which is often associated with times of personal crisis. It may involve talking about painful parts of your life and therefore, you may feel worse before you feel better! It is also a very effective way of developing personal potential. If we are not the best people to help we will refer you elsewhere or suggest alternatives which may be more appropriate.

Counselling and psychotherapy can be helpful for a wide range of difficulties such as -

• depression
• relationship problems
• stress
• anxiety/panic attacks
• low self-Esteem
• eating problems
• sexual problems
• bereavement and Loss
• trauma resulting from accident, assault or abuse

The counsellors in this service work within the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy's (BACP) 'Ethical Framework for Good Practice', which ensures that what you speak about in your session, remains confidential. The details of the confidentiality contract will be explained to you in your first session. All counsellors within the service have supervision, which involves presenting their work anonymously, to ensure that quality is maintained.

In addition to a list of general couselling providers which are listed in the COMIS database on the council website, Hackney social care services provide counselling to specific groups of our service users through contract arrangements. Details below.

Service providers and partners

• Our local information database  COMIS lists of over two hundred organisations and services that relate to counselling.  
• Your GP can make referrals to counselling services.
• Hackney Community Services core services include, two Locality Mental Health Teams around the borough, our  substance misuse team.and our Learning Disability Service
• Children, young people and their families can contact either the Child and Family Consultation Services or, the Child and Young Person Mental Health Early Intervention Service (CHYMES)

Contracted service providers include -

• Asian Women's Advisory Service Limited
• Claudia Jones Organisation
• Hackney Bereavement Service
• Hackney Chinese Community Services
• Off Centre - Hackney Young People's Counselling, Advice and Information Service

Referrals and accessing the service:

See individual providers and partners details above for referrals and access information.

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Page updated: 24 Jan 2008