Initial Consulation
How To Get Started
1- Fill in the online self referral form, or give the office a call.
2- You will be sent a link to enable you to book an assessment call with either Jen, Chipego or Suzanne. This will an opportunity for you to share a little about what’s going on for you so we can get a better understanding of your needs and be able to allocate you to one of our therapists. The call will take 30 minutes and we ask that you pay £15. Meetings take place using Google Meet, unless you have another preference.
3- Once allocated your low cost therapist they will contact you to introduce themselves and book a date for your first weekly online counselling session. The fees for these low cost sessions will be £25. Concessionary rates are available.
Initial Consultation
An initial consultation is the first step in seeking counselling with the Affordable Counselling Network. We offer you a initial 30 minute telephone or video consultation -depending on your preference- in order to understand your needs and match you with a counsellor. During this conversation your initial consultation counsellor will ask you a series of questions to help them allocate you with a suitable low cost counsellor.
The following are the main kinds of questions we will ask you:
- How are you feeling?
- How are you coping with day to day activities?
- Have you had previous therapy? If so, what did you find useful/unhelpful?
- Are you on any medication?
- Do you have thoughts of harming yourself?
- Do you have any preferences regarding your counsellor’s gender, sexual orientation, additional training?
- What do you hope to get from counselling?
- On which days and at what times are you available for counselling?
What if I don’t want to talk about certain things?
What you choose to talk about, or not, is completely up to you. You are in control. You will not be made to talk about anything you would prefer not to. It is very unusual that you would discuss anything deeply painful or traumatic in the 20 minute assessment. Our wish for you is that such feelings can be discussed with your low cost counsellor once you have established a safe therapeutic online relationship, in which you feel more able to share.
In some instances, your assessment counsellor may feel you would be better suited to other services, either in person or online. If this is the case, they will offer to provide you support to find a counsellor outside of The Affordable Counselling Network who will be able to work with you. It is likely these counsellors will not be able to offer low cost counselling.
To access our service you must be:
- Over 18yrs old.
- A UK resident.
- Able to commit to weekly online sessions, ideally at the same time each week. We do however understand that this is not also a possibility if you have shift work, and we will try to accommodate this.
- Able to pay the fees via bank transfer- £25 for the low cost online counselling .
The low cost counselling service is not able to accept clients who have:
- Severe trauma.
- A personality disorder diagnosis.
- Current psychosis.
- Active suicidality.
- Severe eating disorders.
