It is an opportunity to talk privately to a qualified person who will listen and try to understand you and the situation you are in. Counselling is a way of looking at difficult experiences, finding new ways of doing things or making sense of things in a new way. It is about helping to support people to find solutions.

It doesn’t matter how big or small you think the problem is or even if you are unsure what the problem is. Counselling can help.

More questions about counselling links to paragraphs further down the page

What happens if I am interested in counselling?
What happens in an initial meeting?
How often do I need to come?
What can visyon offer?
What does visyon want from me?
Why do people come for counselling?
Understanding what’s going on (informed consent)
Your privacy
Confidentiality
Can I come without permission from anyone?
Why will visyon keep information about me?

What happens if I am interested in counselling?
If you are interested, and live in the Congleton area of Cheshire, or one of the other places where we have a counsellor working, you can contact us and we will arrange an Initial Meeting in a place and at a time as convenient as possible:
Telephone 0800 652 6293 or Email enquiries@visyon.org.uk

Certain places and times of day are very popular …. but we try and see you as quickly as we can.

If face to face counselling is not an option you can talk to one of our counsellors ‘online’ by emailing sam@visyon.org.uk. In some parts of the country, you can talk online with a counsellor through www.Kooth.com

If you live in another part of the country, your GP may be able to help find a counsellor or you can contact the www.bacp.co.uk British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

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What happens at an Initial Meeting?
In the Initial Meeting, you will meet with a counsellor and together you will decide on what your needs are and how they can best be met. It may be that counselling is not suitable for you so we will suggest other people that might be able to help. It is also your chance to see if counselling is for you and to ask the counsellor any questions you may have. The counsellor will explain how counselling works, and talk to you about confidentiality.

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How often do I need to come?
You would usually meet with a counsellor for an hour a week (some people come once, others a number of times). You can stop coming at any time. Counselling is voluntary—that means it is your choice about whether you come or not and you should not feel pressured by anyone else to come for counselling.

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What can visyon offer?

Someone to talk to.
A non-judgmental, confidential service specifically designed for children and young people.
Experienced, supervised counsellors trained to a high standard.
Regular, uninterrupted appointments with the same counsellor
We will treat everything you tell us with respect and we will not tell anyone else what you tell us without your permission unless there is genuine concern about significant harm to yourself or someone else. In that case we would always try to discuss with you the possible options around telling someone about our concerns.
We keep a brief note of all sessions, and make them available to you if you should wish to see them.

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What do you want from me?
We ask you to come on time and to let us know if you can’t come (there are usually other people waiting to see a counsellor).

We ask you to let us know what other support you are getting so that we can make sure that everything fits together in the best way for you.

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Why do people come for counselling?
There are lots of reasons why you might want to talk to a counsellor. Here are some of them…

You may…
 • feel angry, sad, lonely or frightened
• feel you have nobody to talk to about your problems
• have issues around your sexuality
• feel different to other people
• be worried about something
• find it difficult to be with others
• have issues around ‘bullying’
• have issues with alcohol or drugs
• be worried about someone else
• have problems with eating
• feel depressed or anxious
• feel that you have no control in your life
• have had something dreadful appen to you

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Understanding what’s going on (consent to counselling)
There are certain guidelines that need to be followed before you can agree to have counselling (give your consent):

The counsellor must inform you of all the relevant information regarding the therapy.

You must be competent to understand the therapy and be capable of deciding whether to enter into counselling.

You must give your consent voluntarily.

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visyon policy on consent for therapy
In order for a counsellor to determine whether a young person has capacity to consent to enter into counselling, the young person must show that they have:

The ability to understand and retain information that is vital to the decision about their therapy

The ability to use this information to consider whether or not to give consent to therapy
The ability to communicate their wishes.

A counsellor must decide whether the young person has the competence and capacity to consent to therapy. Children of the same age will not necessarily have the same understanding so it is important that the counsellor treats each decision on its own merits.

This information is correct at the time of writing (August 2009). The law in this area is subject to change.

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Your privacy
It is important for you to be able to trust the counsellor, so what you talk about together in counselling is not going to be told to your parents, teachers or anyone else. If the counsellor believes that you or someone else is at risk of harm, then he or she will always talk to you first about how they need to tell someone appropriate about it.
All the personal information which we gather about you is kept secure and is kept confidential. It is not disclosed to others except where:

You have agreed for visyon to tell a nominated person or organisation certain information.

If the counsellor doesn’t tell someone, it will put you or another person at serious and imminent risk.

Where information is required by law, for example, the information is requested by a court.

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Confidentiality
It is helpful for young people to talk to their parents or family members about counselling but sometimes it may not be in their best interests. If a child or young person with capacity requests that their parents/carers are not told about counselling the counsellor must respect confidentiality and not inform anyone else. Confidentiality may be breached if the counsellor justifies the breach on the grounds of child protection or if not telling parents or carers would result in significant harm to the young person or others.
Judge Fraser clarified that “capacity to consent is where a child has sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable him or her to understand fully what
is proposed.”

There is no minimum age at which children can be regarded as competent to consent to medical treatment. However, it is unlikely that many children under the age of 13 would be deemed competent to consent without involving their parent/carers. It is also unlikely that children misusing drugs or suffering from intermittent mental illness would be regarded as competent.

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Can I come without permission from anyone?
You can phone us for information without permission, and if you are worried about your safety or how a friend is feeling or behaving, please get in touch Telephone 0800 652 6293 or Email enquiries@visyon.org.uk

Between the ages of 13 and 16, the counsellor will make a careful decision about whether your parent or carer should know that you are coming and will encourage you to tell them yourself. If you say that you do not want your parents to know, the counsellor will respect your wishes. Generally, if you are over 16, you can decide for yourself to come to counselling.

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Why will visyon keep information about me?
We collect information to provide you with an effective counselling service. Sometimes, your counsellor may need to ask you questions about your personal and home circumstances, your relationships, your financial position, or your studies.
We collect anonymous information about all our clients, and use this to monitor our service and plan future projects. Some organisations that donate money to visyon also want to know general information about the people we help. You cannot be identified through these statistics.

You may see information in your file if you ask us, but we need about two weeks to respond to your request.

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