What to expect

At present there are no national standards for counselling and psychotherapy. Under current regulations anyone can set themselves up as a psychotherapist or counsellor and charge patients for consultations. This leads to a wide variation in the level of competence and expertise available. The qualities you will want in a counsellor can vary and often a 'Word of Mouth' recommendation is a good place to start. You may find that you will speak to various counsellors before you find the right one for you.

If you are planning to use a counselling service you should be aware of what to expect from a counsellor. You should be encouraged to work with counsellors who subscribe to professional bodies recognised codes of ethics and practice.

Counselling is different from other forms of help; the focus is to enable you to clarify the issues about which you are troubled. This could involve you exploring those issues in private or in a group setting with someone who is trained to listen and has no other role in your life. Through this process, your counsellor will be seeking to enable you to clarify your thoughts and feelings.

If a counsellor works within the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy's (BACP) 'ethical framework for good practice', this will ensure that what you speak about in your session, remains confidential. The details of a confidentiality contract should be explained to you in your first session. Counsellors may keep written records of their sessions with clients. These should be kept according to data protection guidelines and service record keeping procedures. You should ask your counsellor to explain the code of practice that they work to and the range of their own counselling training and experience.