Lancashire Mind: @Therapies

Counselling is a non-directive approach led by you, the client. Our therapy service provides a non-judgemental, empathetic, and supportive environment to help you explore your experiences and find your own solutions.

Counselling is a talking therapy which helps you find solutions. You do most of the talking and the experienced trainee therapist will guide you through the session.

It works at your pace and is a safe space to talk about what you need. You explore what is causing you difficulty and affecting your mental health.

CBT focuses on the connection between your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and actions. Our therapy service will work with you to break down problems into manageable parts and develop practical strategies for improvement. It focuses on your current problems rather than past issues.

In CBT, you work with an experienced trainee therapist to break down big feelings into smaller, manageable parts. You’ll get practical solutions to improve your mood and well-being every day.

CBT is a team effort, with tasks to do between sessions, called “homework,” which helps you stay on track.

Wellbeing Coaching helps you improve your overall wellbeing and build resilience. It’s a short-term service that teaches you how to manage your positive wellbeing.

You work with a coach to identify and overcome barriers in your life. Together, you set goals and work towards them, checking in regularly to track progress.

The coach helps you develop positive coping strategies and keeps you accountable for your goals.

All therapy sessions take place virtually over a video-calling platform, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet. The specific platform used is based on the therapist that you see as some of our therapists have a platform that they prefer to use. We unfortunately cannot offer face-to-face sessions. 

Each therapy session costs £30. This money goes directly into the running of this service. 

As a small charity we don’t receive any core funding, so we must secure funding for any service we provide. As of yet, we have not been able to secure external funding to provide a free service for all clients across Lancashire. This is something we are aiming for in the future. We are trying to keep costs as low as possible by working with local Universities and their CBT and counselling students who require placements as part of their course. Any money generated from the service covers the cost of managing the service and providing free wellbeing assessments. As a comparison, private therapy is normally £60-£80 per session. 

Payment is made only when you have completed your personal wellbeing assessment, have been assigned to your therapist, and have arranged your first therapy session. You will be required to make a payment before each session, including your first. You will receive a booking link and to secure this booking, you will be required to pay securely by card. 

Yes – during your personal wellbeing assessment, you will choose which route of therapy you would like to take with the help of the person who is completing the assessment with you. If you are unsure of what route is best to take, you are more than welcome to go away and think about this, rather than deciding during your assessment. 

Yes. If you feel that you would benefit from more than one route, you can choose to continue your wellbeing journey by moving onto a different route. For example, some people find that wellbeing coaching compliments person-centered counselling well as a step-down service, helping you to implement strategies learnt, as well as learning more ways to improve your wellbeing. 

We can refer you into NHS talking therapies (but there may be a waitlist). We can send you some accredited therapist database links to search for a private therapist. We are not able to recommend specific services, but you may want to try these services:

• BACP
• Counselling Directory
• BABCP

We are working with trainees from local Universities to enable us to keep costs for this service low. All our trainee therapists are experienced, with many of them undertaking masters level qualifications. They all have monthly external supervision with a qualified supervisor and internal support from our Coaching and Therapeutic Services Lead who is also a qualified counsellor. All trainee therapists are members of an accredited body, such as the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. You will receive an excellent level of support, and we strive for the highest standards with our therapy service.  

All trainee therapists complete a rigorous safer recruitment process. This includes an application form, interview, enhanced DBS check, follow up of two references and a comprehensive induction. All trainee therapists complete mandatory training in GDPR, safeguarding, professional boundaries, health and safety, and equality, diversity and inclusion. They have ongoing support from our Coaching and Therapeutic Services Lead. They are required to record several sessions which are assessed by their university tutor to ensure quality delivery.  

Yes – you can change to a different therapist at any time during the process should you feel that you are not connecting with your therapist. You can do this by emailing therapies@lancashiremind.org.uk to let us know that you would like to change therapists. 

Once you start working with a therapist, you will work with them for the entirety of your therapy. However, in rare circumstances, if a therapist is unable to complete your sessions you would be allocated to the next available therapist. 

No – it is recommended that you only attend one form of therapeutic support at a time. We would suggest getting back in touch with the service once your group therapy ends. 

No – this service is not funded. Lancashire Mind are an independent mental health charity, and whilst some of our other services may have been created in collaboration with the NHS or funded through the NHS, our therapy service is not.  

No – people often get us mixed up with ‘Minds Matter’, so if you are looking for that service, you can use the following link to find out more about the NHS’ Talking Therapies service (formally known as Minds Matter’): Talking Therapies :: Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust 

This is completely dependent on each individual therapist, however none of our therapist can offer weekend sessions, only Monday to Friday. During your personal wellbeing assessment, you will be given the opportunity to discuss when your availability is. We will then do our best to match you to a therapist who can offer this preferred availability.