COVID-19 UPDATE: Great news! On 21 September, we re-opened our building to clients for face-to-face counselling. During lockdown, all sessions were either over the phone or through Zoom. Please note that we still have a reduced capacity at the moment. If you would like to refer yourself for counselling, please use the contact details at the bottom of the page. See our Resources page for more support and links.

Who is therapy for?

Wellspring offers professional, confidential and affordable counselling for adults and young people. Counselling is offered to anyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or cultural background, and to people of any faith or none.

We are experienced in working with people who are dealing with many different issues including:

What are the advantages of seeing a therapist?

• You will be heard and understood
• You will not be judged
• You will have time to explore your thoughts, feelings and difficulties
• You can make fundamental and far-reaching changes to your life

Counselling can help you come to terms with past and present experiences, increase in confidence and self-esteem, change unhelpful behaviour, improve communication and set realistic goals.

How many sessions will I have and what does counselling cost?

Each counselling session will last for 50 minutes, and will take place on the same day, at the same time, with the same counsellor each week. Counselling can be short, medium or long-term (up to one year).

The service we provide would cost you a minimum of £40-£50 per session from a private counsellor. As a charity, Wellspring seeks to provide professional, affordable counselling, but to ensure our service is sustainable we rely on clients contributing towards the cost of their sessions. When you apply for counselling, you will be asked to indicate on your self-referral form a weekly session fee which is affordable to you: £15  £20  £25  £30 £35 or £40. If you are on income-related benefits, please indicate this to qualify for a reduced rate of £5 per session.

The more you are able to contribute, the more you will be helping us to continue to offer our services to adults and young people who cannot afford private counselling.

If you are able to contribute £45 for your weekly sessions you qualify for our Associate Counsellor Service (ACS). You will be seen as soon as possible by one of our associate counsellors. (Please note that we currently have available ACS day time appointments but very limited availability for ACS evening appointments). You are not jumping the queue and people on our affordable waiting list are not waiting longer, as all associate counselling slots are offered by counsellors in addition.

If you would like to donate in addition to your weekly session fee, please see our ‘Join with us’ fundraising leaflet for details of how to do this.

Are your therapists trained?

We have a team of Associate Counsellors, all of whom are fully trained, and either accredited or working towards accreditation. We also provide placements for counsellors in training, who receive close supervision.

What else can you tell me?

Appointments are available during the day or evening and take place at our premises in Starbeck, which are accessible to people with disabilities.

To apply, please use the self referral form below, even if counselling has been recommended by someone else such as your GP. The information you give us in these helps us allocate you a counsellor suited to your needs. If you are a Christian and would like to see a Christian counsellor, please specify this on your application form.

Once you have submitted the completed form to us, we will put your name on our waiting list and will contact you as soon as we have a suitable slot available.