What is Counselling?

People who seek our help may be unhappy, lonely, bereaved, depressed, dissatisfied with their work or relationships; looking for counselling and support; worried about strains and anxieties in the family; tense and insecure in their marriage; having difficulty with their children; carrying responsibilities too great to bear; feeling life is without purpose; having lost faith and hope; guilt-ridden, confused, aimless.

Counselling is about helping you to develop insights into your own problems, and then finding your own resources and strengths in order to move forward.

Your counsellor will listen to you, Then, together, you will come to understand your problems and their past, untangle the confusions methodically, and devise ways of making a better future.

You will not be given advice, nor will you be judged.

You will have one-to-one meetings, in one of our private counselling rooms, where everything that you say will be kept confidential. We are bound by the BACP Ethical framework for good practice.

Counselling can last for a few weeks, or it can last for a number of months.

What will it cost?

Northampton Counselling Service is a non-profit-making organisation and a registered charity.

Although the counsellors are unpaid, we have substantial overheads, like the rental for our suite of rooms, heating, lighting, telephone, secretarial and administrative support, and hidden costs like insurances. Our treasurer calculates that the cost for each counselling session is between £20 and £25.

We know that some of our clients, the unwaged and low-earners, for example, could not afford to pay £20 per session, so an affordable amount is agreed. This means of course that we depend on our other clients to pay whatever they can manage.

Clients are asked to make a contribution towards these costs at the end of each session. The amount which is agreed upon at the beginning of counselling can be revised if your circumstances change. Counselling will not be cut short or denied to anyone because of their inability to pay.

If you are a tax payer, you can increase the amount which the NCS receives, without any extra cost to yourself, by signing a Gift Aid Declaration Form. Ask your counsellor for one of these at your first meeting.