York & District Mind counselling service

We have one of the largest independent counselling services in the area. You can apply directly to us, and do not have to be referred by your doctor. An initial meeting with our Co-ordinator will help you to decide if counselling is appropriate for you.

What is counselling?

Counselling takes place when a counsellor meets a client in a private and confidential setting to explore difficult issues or distressing feelings that a client is experiencing. The counsellor will not tell you what to do but will help you make your own decisions about your own life.

Is it just a chat?

No. Clients are encouraged to talk openly about their feelings, as expressing bottled-up emotion can often help to reduce the pain caused by it. However, your counsellor will also have the skills to enable you to explore the opportunities you may have to move forward in your life.

How long will it take?

This depends on you, the counsellor and the problem. In a few cases one visit will be all that is necessary, short term counselling for a specific problem may take a few weekly sessions, while deep-rooted problems will need longer. This may be one session a week for several months.

Who is it for?

Our counselling service is available to residents of York and the surrounding area. Counselling sessions take place at our York office.

Counselling may help people who are experiencing issues such as: relationship breakdown, abuse, eating disorders, phobias, people who are recovering from mental ill-health or have major decisions to make. It can also help those who are living with or caring for someone with a problem.

You don’t have to have a specific `problem’ to benefit from counselling. It can also be useful for anyone experiencing dissatisfaction with life or a loss of direction or purpose, or feeling anxious, panicky or depressed.

Further information

It is important to individuals who meet with a counsellor to know that they will be given the time they need. This is why we continue to offer, as far as possible, a non-time-limited service. This enables clients to reach a sustainable level of development and healing, rather than giving them a short term, 'sticking plaster' service.

For some people a couple of sessions with a counsellor is sufficient, for others a number of months may be needed. Each review session allows clients to decide for themselves whether continuing with their counsellor is beneficial. It also enables the counsellors to share their own experience of how much progress and development seems to be taking place with the client.

We continue to monitor the usefulness of the counselling we offer to each and every individual. This is done by counsellors regularly reviewing progress with clients and from discussion with the organisation's Counselling Co-ordinator as well as their own external supervisor.

Our counsellors come from a variety of backgrounds. Having good links with local counselling training providers, in particular the College of Ripon and York St John, York and District Mind offers a supportive and safe environment in which less experienced counsellors in training can work alongside more experienced counsellors during their placement with us.

As demand on the counselling service continues to grow, funding is increasingly being sought so that we can continue to expand the service according to need, and meet the costs involved in providing a safe, confidential, supported and supervised team of counsellors.