Haringey and Enfield IAPT Service

Counselling Information Sheet

Introduction

Seeking help from a professional is never easy. There are many worries and fears arising from
thinking about seeking help, all of which are natural. Hopefully this leaflet will help reduce your
fears and answer some of your questions.

Most people experience psychological problems at various times during their lives. Often they are
able to overcome these difficulties with time and/or help from family and friends. Sometimes
however, difficulties may be such that people feel unable to understand or cope and professional
help may be needed. It may be easier to talk about personal, family, or relationship issues with a
person who is independent of family and friends. The counselling service aims to help people who
are struggling with emotional problems, particularly depression which might be complicated by
worry and stress. Other life issues and events can sometimes be very difficult to deal with including
complicated bereavement, separation, divorce, redundancy, health issues, bullying and so on.
People are individuals: no two people are the same and problems develop for different reasons.

What is counselling?

Counselling offers you the opportunity to talk through your problems with a trained counsellor in a
confidential setting. Counselling is time set aside for you and your counsellor to look at the
difficulties which have brought you to counselling. This might include talking about life events (past
and present), emotions and thinking about their consequences.

Counselling is not a ‘magic cure’. Your counsellor will try to help you make sense of and tackle
your difficulties.

How long will I have to wait for an appointment?

The time you wait for an appointment depends on the demand on the counselling service at any
particular time.

What will happen when I first see a counsellor?

Your sessions with a counsellor will last for 50 minutes. The aim of the first session is for you and
your counsellor to get to know each other and to decide whether you may benefit from the kind of
help that the counsellor can offer. You will be asked to describe the difficulties you are
experiencing and to talk a little about how you think the problems may have started. It is helpful for
your counsellor to know something of your background in order to put your current difficulties in
context. Together with your counsellor you will discuss what you hope to achieve in your sessions.
At each session you will be asked to complete a short questionnaire which will help monitor your
current mood and progress.

Sessions

If, after the first session there is an agreement to start counselling, then you and your counsellor
will agree the most appropriate no of sessions that the service can offer. We are unable to offer
long- term counselling.