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

All of our counsellors are volunteers but of course we have running costs so we fundraise and accept charitable donations and grants. If you wish to make a donation we will receive it gratefully.

You can make donations via Just Giving or while visiting one of our centres.

No, anyone can receive counselling from Number 22.

Young people (11-18 years only) – We will offer all young people 6 sessions of counselling which will be reviewed with your counsellor.

Adults 18+ – We will offer adults up to 9 sessions of counselling which will be reviewed with your counsellor.

For young people and adults – If at the end of your sessions, you and your counsellor think that you require further support, your counsellor will speak with the director of Number 22 to offer further sessions.

You will see your counsellor at the same time each week. Number 22 offeres services free of charge to our clients but it costs us a huge amount to run the service. We therefore ask you to commit to your weekly sessions and discuss any holidays and absences with your counsellor. The counsellor will periodically review the work with you and discuss whether the work 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 work with young people aged 11 years plus, offering counselling sessions and also our support line for young people aged 11-25 years.

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 a face to face service to become available.