When people say "get some counselling"...

[Bullets]

Where do you get it from?? Do I need to go to my doctor to get a referral?

You can go to your GP but NHS waiting lists for this kind of stuff are very long in my area.

This is the way to find a good private counsellor: www.bacp.co.uk/ Make sure you get one which can help your specific issue if there is one.

Does your employer, if you work offer a counsellor via your benefit scheme, mine offers 6 face-face sessions

You can get a referral through GP, my friend got one and only had to wait a few weeks!

When I needed it I was told the waiting list was 18 months so I went private and found a very good therapist on the bpcs website as above.

I was trying to get counselling with the nhs for serious mental illness, but never even heard back. Go private if you can afford it, and if you need it fast!

Depends on your area with regards to waiting lists. 2 months from referral it took in my area, but I suppose it depends on what type of counselling you are after. Or you could try private. Completely up to you.

Depends upon exactly what you need counselling for I think. Mine is through a charity working with people who have been abused. There was a 6 week wait and a sliding scale of fees.

I looked into this, a properly qualified psychologist (a Dr.) costs £110 per 50 minute session where I live. Just too expensive!

Thank you all, that's a good point moo I'll look into that.

You don't need a psychologist and generally they aren't even as good because they don't need to undergo personal therapy as part of training whereas counsellors/psychotherapists do. I am a trainee and pay £40 for my integrative psychotherapist, he's great!

You can go through your GP, but they may have a long waiting list unless you're a really urgent case.

If your employer has as an employee assistance programme, try that - I had 4 sessions of that after my father died. I went mostly because my manager said if I wasn't shown to be trying to do something about handling my grief, they'd have no choice but to start disciplinary proceedings, as I was basically turning up at work every day and then not doing anything. I think if it had been going on longer, I'd have looked at changing counsellors, and also, I wasn't really ready to see a counsellor yet, but it did keep work happier.

Since my mother died, I have been seeing a counsellor I found through BACP's find a therapist link. I've been really lucky, and we get on well (I chose her mostly on the grounds of location, and that she covered the areas I wanted to explore - bereavement and personal relationships), and we've expanded into other areas way beyond what I was initially looking at.

You might not find a therapist you click with first time - and that's okay - it's okay to try another one till you find one you can work with. If you're ready to look at counselling, and you get a counsellor you can work well with, it can be really great.

Thank you all so much, I rang our employee assistance people this evening and they're going to arrange some telephone counselling. My counsellor will call me in the next 48 hours, I feel like a massive weight has been lifted already.

Website says they can also arrange the same for spouses so I've given DH the number and hopefully he'll arrange something too.

Well done.

Just a thought, not all counsellor s are members of the BACP I've heard.... I myself don't play to qualify with them, something to do with confidentiality and also I c ant afford the two year course...well not right now anyway!

Good luck with your counselling. I have had loads and really swear by it, but remember its a process that you then integrate into your life in terms or changes made to life and thinking.... Best of luck anyway.