Counselling Services
• Have a safe time and place to talk to someone who won’t judge you
• Help you make sense of things and understand yourself better
• Help you resolve complicated feelings, or find ways to live with them
• Help you recognise unhelpful patterns in the way you think or act, and find ways to change them (if you want to).
You will work one-to-one with one of our counsellors, who will use a person-centred modality working with the 3 Core Conditions of Empathy, Congruence and Unconditional Positive Regard, thereby creating space to explore feelings, emotions and trauma working toward some form of resolution.
For information about volunteer placements with us please see our Jobs page.
“The Covid-19 lockdown has taken a toll on my family and I. To be able to express my feelings in counselling was so freeing. Alex and Oakleaf have been an anchor, always there whether face to face, on the phone or zoom. This service is so important as without the counselling through Oakleaf I would never have coped.”
– Jan, current Oakleaf client
Counselling can help you manage and cope with:
• Difficult life events, such as bereavement (losing someone close to you), or losing your job.
• Relationship problems.
• Upsetting or traumatic experiences, whether it’s something recent or something that happened a long time ago.
• Difficult emotions, such as grief, guilt, sadness, confusion, anger and low self-esteem.
• Depression and anxiety.
• Other mental health problems. Counselling can help with a range of diagnoses.
The majority of our counsellors are in training and undertaking a placement with Oakleaf. All of our counsellors receive professional clinical supervision and the service is registered with BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy).
Some people think that counselling is an extreme option and that unless things get really bad you should try to manage on your own. But this isn’t true. It’s okay to try counselling at any point in your life. In fact, getting support from a counsellor when you’re not at crisis point can be extremely helpful – it might feel easier to reflect on what’s going on and could help you keep things from getting worse.
Counselling fee structure:
For those who are unemployed we ask clients to pay what they can afford, from a suggested minimum of £5/session, (up to £25/session).
For those in part-time employment we ask for a minimum payment of £15/session
For those in full-time employment we ask for a minimum payment of £25/session
Counselling is bookable in blocks of 6 to a maximum of 18 which will be agreed between client and counsellor. Please contact our Client Services team for availability.