Our counsellors are experts in helping with a broad range of issues including:

abuse, addiction, anger, anxiety and stress, bereavement and loss, carer responsibilities, depression, divorce, eating disorders, major life changes, OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), phobias and fears, redundancy and work issues, relationship difficulties, sexuality, trauma, violence and worry.

We offer two types of counselling detailed below; If you are unsure which service is best for you, please contact your nearest centre, where one of our counsellors will be happy to discuss which option is most suited to you.

Open ended counselling:
We mainly provide open ended counselling, a therapy which proceeds at the client’s own pace. This allows the client time and space to gradually develop insight into the root cause of their concerns. Clients continue in therapy for as long as they want, which can range from months to years. Open ended counselling is delivered by counsellors who are either fully qualified or are completing their training under close supervision.

If you choose an open-ended service, we will ask you to pay what you can afford, this will be between £45 and £75 per session. The fee is decided between you and your counsellor when you start your counselling sessions. We also have an allocation of Low Cost Counselling spaces each week for those with limited budgets.

Short-Term Counselling
Short term counselling is a good step for people who do not want to make a long commitment or have a particular issue to work with such as a relationship difficulty. It is often used by people who have had counselling in the past and want to return to work on a particular issue.

Short term counselling is usually from 6 to 20 weeks, although some people only want one or two sessions. The counsellor and client can agree the issues that need to be worked on and set aims for the sessions.

Sometimes talking to a friend can be helpful and counsellors often encourage clients to use their family and friends. However there are some disadvantages to using friends as your only confidants and support.

Friends and family could feel a conflict of loyalty and find it hard to keep things confidential. They may become upset themselves by what you are telling them and could become upset if you don’t accept their advice.

Counsellors’ training means they have formal support and a work structure which helps them to deal with upsetting and difficult situations; friends may begin to feel overburdened, especially if they have their own problems too.

CBT can be extremely useful. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy involves learning skills for overcoming behaviours, habits or reactions that are “making things worse”. This could be learning ways to overcome stress or panic attacks, and learning to avoid the triggers for overreacting or even from entering into unsuitable relationships.

However, used on its own it is usually unhelpful for someone coming to terms with a bereavement, but it may become helpful at a later time.

These terms are interchangeable these days, but to simplify things, the main difference is: a counsellor will generally help you explore a particular problem, such as a bereavement, an addiction, a separation etc.

A psychotherapist will have been trained to explore more deep-rooted problems that are more likely to be rooted in the past. Examples might include childhood trauma, or difficulties in adult relationships that are rooted in Adverse Childhood Experiences.

Looking into deep-rooted issues can be helpful when you want to make changes to long-term patterns of behaviour that keep repeating themselves in your adult life.

Our aim is to speak to you the same day that you make contact with us, however, this is not always possible and it sometimes takes a little longer, especially if we have pressure on our resources. 

We hope to be able to offer you a first appointment within a week or two of your initial enquiry. However, waiting times can vary according to pressure on our resources, your own availability and the service you seek.

Before attending your first counselling first, it may be helpful to prepare by writing down your reasons for seeking help to make describing your feelings to a Counsellor more comfortable.

You can talk about anything that is on your mind, however large or small you think your problem is. You might find yourself saying things you had not expected to say. A counsellor will always help you explore your circumstances.

The Dorset Practice offer a low cost counselling service, to those on low income and thereby ensuring that no person need go without the help and the support they want.

Low costs counselling is often conducted by therapists at various stages of fully recognised and accredited degree courses, either at a graduate or post graduate level, or are finished their degree and working towards accreditation.

All our trainees’ work is strongly supervised and in line with the 1 to 5 session guideline for best practice. We have a growing number of therapists joining this team thus providing clients with the optimum opportunity for matching therapist and client.

Therapists work in general practice, and therefore have experience treating depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma, panic attacks etc. They adopt a humanistic integrative approach to their work, therefore using a number of theoretical backgrounds.