What is Counselling
- Counselling will support you while you explore difficult and painful issues, and how they have influenced you, how you connect to others, and help you find ways to improve your situation.
- Counselling helps you to talk openly about what is going on in your life, you explore your feelings and way of thinking and discover what may lie behind the issues that are troubling you.
- Counselling sets out to provide you with a framework in which you can feel confident of discussing difficulties or problems with an experienced, unbiased and non-judgemental person. Counselling does not offer you advice, but respects and accepts you as you are.
- Through counselling you sometimes have to come to terms with things that cannot be changed.
- Counselling helps you to recognise that you have options, encourages you to make your own choices and move forward.
What will happen if I come to Confide?
The first step is for you to have an assessment with an intake counsellor who will explore with you whether this form of therapy is a suitable option for you.
What will the assessment be about?
The purpose of the assessment is to provide the counsellor with helpful background information to facilitate the start of the counselling process. The intake counsellor will ask you about why you have come for counselling, and what your expectations are. They will take some details of family history and any significant past events, positive or negative, that may have a bearing on how you look at life and how you are feeling now. You will also be asked about past or current experiences you may have had of mental health services or previous counselling.
And after that?
If counselling is right for you, after the intake meeting, the counselling coordinator will arrange for a suitable counsellor to work with you. One of our counsellors will get it touch with you to arrange for your first session.
How long will I have to wait to see a counsellor?
We try to keep the waiting time as short as possible. You can usually be expected to be offered an appointment as soon as possible after your assessment session. You may have to wait longer during very busy times, but once you are on our books we will maintain regular contact to keep you up to date. The more flexible you can be in your availability, the easier it will be for us to arrange an early appointment.
Where will I see the counsellor?
If you wish to have face to face sessions, Confide offers sessions at St Paul’s Parish Centre in Chichester and in the Friends’ Meeting House, Bognor Regis. Both locations are very central and nearby parking is available. Counselling days are Mondays to Fridays between 09.00 to 18.00.
See our contact page for locations.
Please be aware we do not make home visits. If you are housebound and wish to see a counsellor, please contact SAGE Counselling Service on 07585 141599.
How long are the sessions?
Sessions typically run for 50 minutes to 1 hour on a weekly basis.
How many sessions will I have?
There is no fixed time frame for the number of sessions you will have. Some people bringing a single issue to counselling may need therapy for only a few weeks. With more complex matters longer counselling may be the best course of action.
Your commitment too, will significantly influence the progress and success of therapy.
Inevitably, there is an element of discovery on both sides to begin with and we advise attending an initial session to enable you and the counsellor to decide whether further sessions will be productive. If you decide to continue with therapy, your counsellor will usually propose a starting contract of six sessions. At the end of this period progress will be reviewed and then a decision will be made on whether further sessions would be helpful. There will be opportunities to review the work to assess progress at intervals until you decide together that therapy can be ended.
How much does it cost?
Confide is a charity, and our counsellors, give their time free, but running the service still incurs costs which we need to defray as far as possible in order to continue our work. We fully recognise that individual circumstances have a bearing on what you may be able to pay, and as the cost of counselling is currently around £35.00 per hour (2024), the following scale is designed to allow for this.
Please note, however, that no one will be turned away solely through lack of resources, although some contribution will normally be expected. If you feel that contributing even the minimum rate will incur real hardship, please do not hesitate to discuss this with the Intake Counsellor, who you can be sure will give your case full and sympathetic consideration.
Contribution Scales
If you are fully employed:
Intake Interview £30.00
Counselling per session £25.00
If you are working part-time or are low-waged:
Intake Interview £20.00
Counselling per session £15.00
If you are unwaged or on benefit:
Intake Interview £15.00
Counselling per session £10.00