How It Works

Counselling is about sharing your thoughts and feelings in a safe and confidential setting.

At Number 22 you are welcome to talk about your problems or worries which can help you feel less alone and may enable you to make sense of what is happening in your life.

Counselling is for anyone who wants support in making their own decisions in order to bring about positive changes in their life. You decide what to focus on and whatever the issue is, our counsellors won’t be shocked and they will not judge you. They will listen and help you decide how you want to move forwards.

To be placed on our waiting list, you can do this over the phone or online. Our online enquiry form is secure and confidential.

Complete Our Online Enquiry Form Here

We will send you an email letting you know that you have been added to our waiting list and we will call you as quickly as possible to organize an appointment with you.

You can call us on 01628 636661, you can be sure of a friendly reception. Sometimes you may get our answer phone so please leave a message and we will return your call.

When we speak we can talk you through our current waiting list times.

Your counsellor will be waiting for you and will take you to one of our counselling rooms

The counselling session will last for 50 minutes and this is your time to share and talk about whatever you wish. Should you arrive early we have a private waiting room.

We also now offer a remote service and if you choose to work with a counsellor in this way, they will discuss with you how this can work, i.e. Zoom, FaceTime, phone etc.

At the beginning of your first session your counsellor will explain a bit about counselling. We will also talk to you about confidentiality and make a verbal agreement about how you and your counsellor will work together.

The service we offer is completely free

The service is completely free for young people up to the age of 25.

For our adult services, all of our counsellors are volunteers but of course we have running costs so we kindly request a contribution, as below:

Weekly contributions will be set up at the time of booking. We will be asking for contribution from all clients, however subsidised places will be available in exceptional circumstances

No, anyone can receive counselling from Number 22.

Young people (11-18 years) – We offer all young people up to 10 sessions of counselling.

Adults 18+ – We offer up to 12 sessions of counselling, to be taken within a 15-week period.

You will see your counsellor at the same time each week. We ask you to commit to your weekly sessions and discuss any holidays and absences with your counsellor. Your counsellor will periodically review the work with you and discuss whether it is supporting you therapeutically.

Our counsellors do not give advice and won’t tell you what to do.

We believe that people can make their own decisions about what is right for them. Our counsellors are trained to help you make the right choices for you, however hard some choices may be. Our counsellors may offer useful information and can help you clarify how and why you feel the way you do.

We offer counselling sessions for young people aged 11 years plus. We aim to offer their first session within 8-10 weeks of referral.

We also recommend that children and young people of any age have a look at www.kooth.com Kooth offers free, safe and anonymous online support for young people. Many young people find Kooth helpful instead of a face-to-face service or while they are waiting for such a service to become available.

We understand that there may be times when you are unable to attend a planned session. If you need to cancel, we ask that you inform your counsellor at least 24 hours in advance, wherever possible.

For the adult service, contributions are non-refundable. Where sessions are missed, we will aim to offer a replacement session where possible, provided this takes place within a maximum counselling period of 15 weeks (covering the 12 sessions).