Frequently Asked Questions

Your initial consultation call by phone or online is completely free. The fees for face to face counselling sessions in Belfast (Northern Ireland) or online sessions are set by each therapist on our team. You can find out more about their fees and payment options by reading more about our therapists here.

There is a limit to the amount of disounts we can offer as independent, self-employed therapists. However, if you are on a low income or are concerned about meeting the cost of counselling please contact us to discuss your situation.

Yes! Once you make contact, we will help you to arrange a free no-obligation chat on the phone or online with the therapist of your choice. during that call you can tell them a bit about your situation and goals, ask any questions you have, and learn about how their approach may be able to help you, before you make up your mind.

While limited and in high demand, several of our therapists do offer evening and Saturday sessions, so please get in touch for more information.

We work with children, young people who are over 16, adults and couples. We warmly welcome people of differing ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, relationship style or status, and cultural and/or religious background. See individual therapists' bios for specific specialisms.

Nicholas May and Etain O'Kane offer couples counselling. You can learn more about them by clicking on their names.

There are several therapists on the team who work with children and young people. Nicholas May and Nora Smyth work with all ages and Andrew McMurray, and Gavin Murphy work with over 16s. You can learn more about them by clicking on their names.

We fully understand your need for confidentiality and can assure you that your need for privacy will always be respected. There are some limits to confidentiality, which we will talk to you about before we contract to work together, so if you have any concerns please let us know.

Therapy is more than just chatting. You will agree to a therapeutic goal and there will be a plan to get you there. This requires commitment and consistent attendance. You are usually expected to start off with sessions once a week.

It's difficult to predict how many sessions you will need to resolve the issue(s) you bring to therapy but your therapist may be able to give you some idea of whether your goals require short, medium or long term commitment during your free consultation session.

If unsure, our advice is to commit to a number of consecutive sessions with your therapist to begin with and then you can assess how helpful you're finding the process once you've had that experience. One of the major benefits of private counselling is that you are not limited to a short number of sessions but if you are unsure, your chosen therapist will always be happy to discuss your progress at any stage. The decision to continue or end therapy always lies with you and if you have any concerns or issues you should always feel free to discuss this with your therapist openly and honestly.

It's only natural that you will feel a range of emotions during counselling, but you will never be forced to go any further than you want to. You are always in control and we are there to support you every step of the way. You may sometimes feel embarrassment, anger, fear or sadness BUT you will hopefully also to feel moments of calmness, clarity and relief. Expect some laughter, too!

You dont need to be in distress, in crisis, or have a massive problem to benefit from counselling. And you don't need to wait until your problem becomes unmanageable to get help or change something for the better.

Everyone experiences the challenges of life differently. What one person might find easy enough to cope with, another person might find extremely difficult to handle on their own. Therapy can help you to improve relationships, resolve difficult issues in your past or present, help to you feel more in control of your feelings, behaviour and reactions, and help you make an important decision or navigate a major life-change. You can also use therapy to explore a general personal issue (simple unhappiness or feeling like you're in a rut) that is getting in the way of you experiencing real joy, satisfaction and contentment.

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Therapy is an opportunity for you to gain new skills and grow as an individual. There is absolutely no need to compare yourself to others or justify whether you deserve to invest in personal development work.

Not at all. Many people come to counselling with just a feeling that things are not quite right or because they feel generaly unhappy, anxious or unfulfilled for no obvious reason. The process of having someone to talk to and bounce ideas off, and to test things out for yourself, will help you to uncover and expose the underlying issues that are keeping you from experiencing happiness and contentment with your life.

Some people have developmental and/or mental health conditions that could benefit from formal diagnoses and specialist support and treatment. This could include (but is not limited to) PTSD, BPD, anxiety disorders, OCD, autism, eating disorders or ADHD. While we can, and do, regularly support clients who have such conditions we do not provide diagnoses or medical advice.

Our team of counsellors and psychotherapists have experience in working with a wide range of issues. This includes stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, bereavement, family and relationships, perfectionism and people pleasing, major life changes and decision making, sexuality and gender issues, addiction, self-esteem and confidence building. If your issue isn't on that list then please feel free to contact us. We will let you know if we can help, and if not, refer you on to someone who can.

Therapists take on a maximum number of clients , based on the number of sessions that they can offer in their week. This is called our caseload. When we take on a client it is is expected that they will normally attend weekly, around the same time of day, until they are finished with their therapy. When one client finishes they create a space in our caseload which we can offer to a new client.

While some flexibility can be accommodated, unpredictable or erratic attendance can negatively impact on self-employed practitioners and is therefore unsustainable for many. However, some of our therapists will accept bi weekly or monthly sessions, with prior agreement and depending on their availability.

Please note that we are not equiped to deal with urgent or crisis situations. If your situation is urgent please get immediate emergency support right now by calling:

Your GP

NHS 111

Lifeline 0808 808 8000

Samaritans 116 123