Counselling Co-ordinators Report

This year has seen a number of challenges and developments for the counselling service and the period has been one both of consolidation and change.

Referrals to the counselling service have continued to grow and have now exceeded counsellor capacity. At the time of writing there is a waiting list of new referrals with an estimated waiting time of six months for appointments to be offered. This situation is partly due to the increased volume of client demand (both self-referred and referred by health professionals) and to regrettable reductions in counsellor capacity. Three volunteer counsellors have left the service during the year either for personal or professional reasons and have not been replaced on advice of the Trustees due to current staff and management changes. It is hoped and expected that this situation will soon resolve and we will be in position to consider appointing further volunteer counsellors from a promising pool of existing applicants.

The counselling service at Selby has continued to operate with a small but significant client capacity of three clients per week. We continue to receive regular referrals for counselling in Selby and remain grateful to Selby CMHT for their help in providing accommodation and administrative support without which the service could not operate.

The counselling service at York has received several financial donations from clients this year that have enabled us to buy some creative resources for the counselling rooms and some new furnishings. We have also been able to provide a small number of bursaries for clients on benefits to enable them to access residential respite care at a local pastoral centre to see them through short periods of difficulty and stress.

Both Counselling Co-ordinators have been funded by Survive to attend a year of psychotherapy training, provided by the UK Society for the Study of Dissociation (UKSSD), in working with dissociative disorders. This is proving invaluable in building their knowledge and expertise in this demanding and specialist area that is very relevant to the client group at Survive.
The counselling service has continued this year to work towards the highest standards of professional and ethical practice in line with their organisational membership of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.