Who is this service for?
Professional, confidential, affordable counselling, tailored specifically to children and young people aged 11-18 years old living in the Harrogate area.
We recognise that children and young people often go through tough times and benefit from talking to someone who is outside their situation and trained to offer support. Our aim is to enable children and young people to move forward with improved coping strategies and greater resilience.
Wellspring is a charity motivated by Christian faith, but our services are offered to people of any faith or none, and whatever their financial situation.
How does counselling help?
Unfortunately talking doesn’t make everything go away…we know this. However, a Wellspring counsellor will help the young person understand the issues they face by encouraging them to talk about what is bothering them, listening carefully and prompting thoughtful exploration.
We won’t judge or criticise, but will offer support and encouragement to express difficult feelings and to make sense of their ‘world’. This provides an opportunity to re-think things and make some positive changes.
Supportive and challenging
Through our person-centred approach, young people’s needs are of primary importance, resulting in an inclusive, friendly service that is supportive but also challenging in order to move young people forward with improved strategies and greater resilience.
Watch one young person’s experience:
Facts about youth mental health
- About 25% of young people self-harm on at least one occasion, most commonly by cutting.
- 55% of children who have been bullied later developed depression as adults.
- Among teenagers, rates of depression and anxiety have risen by 70% over the last 25 years.
- 50% of young people interviewed said they had researched suicide online.
Statistics supplied by Mental Health Charity YoungMinds.
How many sessions will my child or young person have?
A parent (or a person with parental responsibility) is invited to join the first session; this can be particularly helpful with children under the age of 16 years. This session is an opportunity for the therapist to meet you both and understand your history and the presenting issues. If, at the end of this initial meeting, all parties are in agreement that counselling at Wellspring is the most suitable form of support, your child will be offered further sessions. We will continue to regularly assess needs and review progress and the number of sessions offered is dependent on this. Children / young people usually complete their counselling in under 20 sessions.
How much does it cost?
The service we provide would cost between £60-£100 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 a weekly session fee which is affordable to you: £15, £20, £25, £30, £35, £40, £45 or £50. 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.
How do I get an appointment?
Please complete our Children & Young People's Counselling Referral form below. Once you have submitted the completed form, we will put your name (or the child/young person’s name if you're referring as a parent or caregiver) on our waiting list and will contact you as soon as we have a suitable slot available. Please note that the waiting time for a first appointment can be up to 6 months. If your child or young person is in need of urgent support, please check out the links & resources on our website.
Due to high demand, we are temporarily unable to take on any new referrals from children & young people. We will re-open our waiting list as soon as we can. Please check this page for the latest information.
Schools Counselling
We have counsellors working from a number of local secondary schools where you or your young person can receive support.
Please contact us for more information.
