This is easy. Simply get in touch with us via the form on our website, by email to info@sakuracounsellingsw.com or contact us individually. Our contact details are available at the bottom of our website.

Counselling is for anyone who may want some help with overcoming things such as trauma, low mood, anxiety, depression, grief and much more. We offer counselling from secondary school age upwards. If you are looking for support for a younger child, we recommend contacting a play therapist, your GP or local NHS mental health service for younger children.

Each session will be 50-60 minutes long, though younger clients may sometimes finish after 45 minutes as more can be a long time for them. Your initial assessment may also take anything between 30-60 minutes, depending on what brings you to us.

It is advised to start with weekly sessions and then review this after about 5-6 weeks to see if this pace works for you. However, if that doesn’t work for you, please speak to your counsellor.

Of course sessions can be online. This is especially helpful when you live further away or have a very busy schedule. However, if you are in our area, we always recommend sessions in person so you can truly step away from life for your appointment.

If you are interested in telephone counselling, please discuss this with your individual counsellor. They may be able to offer this on a case-by-case basis.

In short, yes, almost everything you say in the room will always stay between you and your counsellor. There are very few exceptions where we have a legal duty to report safeguarding concerns, certain crimes or answer to a court of law. We also participate in monthly supervision where your case may be spoken about to ensure we work safely and in line with ethical guidelines. If you are unsure about this, we will discuss confidentiality with you directly during your initial assessment.

There is no set number for how many sessions you may need. Some clients will come for 10-15 sessions with a very specific therapeutic goal in mind, others may come weekly for several months or even years. This is best discussed at your initial assessment with your chosen counsellor.

You may be struggling with daily life, emotional disturbances, feeling low, worried or disinterested a lot, or you are finding yourself not taking care of your own needs very well. Sometimes, it could be because you have had life events, such as the loss of someone close, big life transitions, relationship breakdowns or traumatic life events past or present which you need help to process.

No matter what it may be, it is always worth reaching out to see how we may be able to help.

Cancellations can happen and are not a problem at all. Unless otherwise agreed with your counsellor, if you cancel within 24-48 hours before your appointment time, we reserve the right to charge 50% of your session fee. If you cancel within 24 hours of your appointment time or do not turn up without getting in touch with us, the full session fee is due to be paid before we can book you in for your next appointment. Sometimes, we may be able to reschedule within the same week, in which case we would waiver any cancellation fees.

Don’t worry, this can happen! We are all human and part of therapy is the therapeutic relationship. If that doesn’t feel right, please speak to your counsellor in the first instance. We value your therapeutic needs, which includes working with the right person. If needed, we can refer you on to someone more suitable or help you to find the right person.

This is something to bring up with your individual counsellor. We recommend having your first 4-6 sessions weekly and then review the frequency if needed. This is to help build a solid foundation for your therapeutic relationship with your counsellor. However, we also appreciate this is not always possible for everyone, so we will try and find a suitable alternative with you. Equally, if you have fortnightly or monthly appointments and feel this is not enough, please let us know and we will work with you to increase the frequency of your appointments if needed.

There may be many reasons you would like to stop sessions and hopefully this is due to the progress you have made. We know sometimes this can also be other things, such as financial strain, big life events or other things outside of your control. In any circumstance, have a chat with your counsellor and ideally we will arrange an ending session with you as appropriate or offer you support to overcome any other barriers you may have at the moment.

Sometimes, we find the need to process something very specific with someone who has no personal connection to us. In such instances short-term therapy or one-off sessions may feel helpful. We would discuss your needs during an initial call with you and decide on a case-by-case basis if we would be able to offer a one-off or short course of sessions. If we are not able to offer this, we can support you in finding a more suitable counsellor or solution.