We ask that you make your weekly contribution ahead of your weekly session either via bank transfer or by bringing cash to the appointment. We will give you our bank details when you book your Consultation appointment.

You can. It is always recommended that you arrange with your counsellor to have a closing session.

If your session is cancelled because the counsellor is unable to attend (say because of a holiday or illness), we will give you as much notice as possible and you will not be asked to make your weekly contribution for that missed appointment.

Please give us as much notice as possible so that we can let your counsellor know. You can arrange to miss two sessions over the course of your counselling without making your weekly contribution.

Our volunteer counsellors have a wide range of skills and experience and we carefully match the most appropriate counsellor to meet your specific needs.

All our counsellors are either fully qualified or at least two years into their training, and they have all gained their Certificate to Practise and are members of the BACP and UKCP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the UK Council for Psychotherapy).  Each counsellor is DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checked and carefully selected before working with us. All counsellors’ work is supervised to ensure a completely professional, appropriate and ethical service.

Yes, you see the same counsellor at the same time every week – that will be your session time and we will keep it for you.

All our counselling is fully confidential, in accordance with BACP guidelines.

We help clients facing a range of issues including depression, anxiety, bereavement, anger, stress, abuse, loss, phobias, post-traumatic stress, relationships, self-esteem, trauma and work or career-related issues, or issues around food. We don’t offer couples counselling or therapy for under-18s.

You will be asked what you are able to give every week as your contribution towards your counselling. It costs our charity around £55 to provide each counselling session (the cost of private counselling is usually £60 – £110) so we ask clients to give us as much as is manageable for you, based on your income and this is agreed with your counsellor.

After your consultation appointment, we will endeavour to match you with the counsellor we feel is best for you as soon as they are available, based on the availability you have given us in that appointment. We will then agree a day, time and start date with you and arrange for your counselling to start. Weekly sessions last 50 minutes and take place in Walton, Woking or online. You will have an initial block of 6 sessions and if you are keen to continue, can extend this to up to a year. You are never ‘tied in’ and can leave at any point before then; you can also return after your year ends, although we ask you to have a short break and another consultation first. We ask clients to let us know if they can’t attend a session and to pay their agreed contribution for all sessions including those they miss for holidays etc, except during that initial 6-week block and – after that – for 2 missed sessions over the course of the year. This may be extended if you explain to us you have extenuating circumstances, but making a weekly contribution enables us to keep your timeslot for you and to remain sustainable as a charity.

We offer weekly sessions Monday – Friday, daytime and evening, either in Walton, Woking or online. Our earliest sessions start at 9am and our latest at 8pm.

Like most counselling organisations, we ask you to have an initial consultation where you can talk to a senior counsellor to ascertain if counselling with our organisation is right for you. If we are the right service for you , this will help us allocate you the counsellor who best fits your needs. We ask for a £30 contribution towards the cost of the consultation and offer this online or in-person in Walton.

We offer counselling at our premises in Walton on Thames (Charities House, 1-2, The Quintet, Churchfield Road, Walton, KT12 2TZ) and also use rooms in Woking (The Maybury Centre, 27 Board School Road, Woking, GU21 5HD). We also have limited availability for online counselling (by Zoom / Teams).

Your GP may suggest our service but won’t refer you directly – please get in touch by using our online enquiry form or by emailing or phoning us.