Looking for Counselling?

Initial Assessment

Before we can allocate you to a counsellor we need to see you for an initial assessment. These take around 30-45 minutes and are usually delivered by telephone. 

We will take some details from you and also provide you with information about our service including the donation system.

We make a £10 charge for the assessment to cover our administration costs. 

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Waiting list

New Hope is a charity seeking to offer affordable counselling for those who need it, and as such our service is often in high demand. There is usually, therefore, a wait before you can be allocated to a counsellor following your assessment. This can be as much as 3 - 4 months* depending on availability. Our counsellors are either:

• Fully qualified counsellors with a minimum of a Diploma or Foundation Degree and also on the Approved Register of counsellors with a national counselling association.

• Trainee counsellors on placement with us who have had a minimum of two years training and are members of a national counselling association.

All of our counsellors, qualified and trainees, are supervised by qualified Counselling Supervisors.

You can talk about whether you would be happy to be counselled by a trainee counsellor or not at your assessment. Please note that if you decide that you only want a qualified counsellor you are likely to have a longer wait for your therapy.

In order to be fair to everyone we do not prioritise or bump people up the waiting list. If you are in crisis and need someone to talk to please call Samaritans on 116 123

*All waiting list times are approximate, and due to the nature of our service we are unable to guarantee a start date

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Counselling

Once you have been allocated to a counsellor they will contact you and book a session. You will be given an ‘Agreement to Counselling’ form to read and sign. Your counsellor will initially book 8 sessions with you. The counselling may be extended to 16 sessions if both you and your counsellor feel there is benefit in you continuing for more than 8 sessions.  

DUE TO HIGH DEMAND FOR OUR SERVICE NEW HOPE CANNOT GENERALLY PROVIDE MORE THAN 16 SESSIONS OF THERAPY.

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Donations

New Hope works hard to keep costs down by using volunteers wherever possible. We do not currently have any NHS funding. Every counselling session we provide costs us £40. You will be asked for a donation towards the cost of your therapy. If you are experiencing extreme financial hardship we would not be expecting you to be giving a large donation. If, however, you are not in financial need please consider donating £40 per session.  

Evening counselling sessions are in high demand and are primarily intended for those in full time employment who cannot attend during the day. Our policy is to request donations rather than to charge for sessions but we would anticipate that those who have evening appointments would be more able to cover the costs of their therapy provision.

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Our Christian Ethos.

New Hope operates according to a Christian Code of Ethics and is affiliated to the Association of Christian Counsellors but you do not have to be a Christian to access counselling with us. We are here to provide counselling for all from any faith group or none. The counselling does not have a religious content unless faith issues are something you particularly want to bring to the counselling. If you are a practising Christian and wish to speak openly about your faith to someone who understands and also shares that faith we may also able to help.

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Ready to Start?

If you think you would like to start counselling and are ready to book your initial assessment please click the button below to be taken to our form to request an appointment.