More about the Primary Care Counselling Service

The counsellor at your surgery runs an "opt-in" system of referral. This means that you will receive a leaflet giving you some information about counselling. When you have read this, if you feel that counselling is the right choice for you, fill in the slip at the bottom and send it to the address (generally your surgery) it advises. You will be offered an appointment as soon as possible.

Although this service is provided by the Department of Psychological Therapies your name will not be entered on any Mental Health Register. The counsellor will provide numbers only of the people seen.

There is no set time limit to your sessions. Your first appointment with the counsellor will be your chance to see if you feel comfortable talking to this person. The counsellor will make an assessment of your needs and you will decide together how often you will be seen and for how long.

Your counsellor will ask you to take part in our Evaluation Study. This is a way we can measure how effective our counselling is and gives you the opportunity to say what you think of the service. Results of the study will appear on the website soon. You do not have to take part if you do not want to and saying no will not affect your counselling in any way.

Your counsellor works on a sessional basis at your surgery but is also a member of the Department of Psychological Therapies Department. The department looks after your counsellors needs ensuring that they are properly trained, supervised and managed. Your counsellor will have access to further training and support from the department. If you want to know what else the department offers please visit the other areas on the website.

Your counsellor also has access to groups and specialist therapies via the department as well as a comprehensive library which has a large section of self-help books which can be borrowed on your behalf.