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.

It is a talking therapy where you do most of the talking while the counsellor supports and guides the process. Counselling works at your pace and offers a safe space to talk about what you need. It is focused on self-exploration, emotional understanding and personal growth, and is often less structured.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a structured, time-limited approach that helps you target specific problems by identifying and changing unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours. CBT focuses on the connection between your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and actions.

It works by breaking problems into manageable parts and developing practical strategies for improvement. CBT focuses on your current difficulties rather than past issues, helping you find solutions you can use in everyday life.

CBT is a team effort, with tasks to do between sessions, called “homework,” which help you stay on track and make steady progress.

CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is usually more structured and goal-focused. It helps people understand how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are connected, and teaches practical strategies to manage specific difficulties such as anxiety, depression, or stress. CBT often focuses on the present and developing tools people can use in everyday life.

Counselling is generally less structured and more exploratory. It provides a supportive space to talk through thoughts, feelings, and experiences, often looking at underlying issues, personal history, and emotional wellbeing. The focus is on helping people gain insight, feel heard, and work through challenges at their own pace.

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, the person completing your assessment can help.

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.

We also have a small number of free therapy places (subject to availability) for anyone in receipt of an income or disability related benefits.

Please note you will be requested to provide proof of this following your assessment.

Currently this option is closed to new registrations:
Free support places are currently fully booked until the funding resets in August 2026. We are actively looking to secure additional funding in the mean time to support this service.

All therapy sessions take place each week and are delivered 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. 

Our therapy service is designed around weekly sessions, as this tends to support the best progress for most people. Meeting regularly helps build momentum in the work, provides consistency, and gives you the space to explore what you’re experiencing in a supportive and structured way.

We’re also able to offer a higher number of sessions per person (often 20 or more) so that clients feel they have enough time to work through things at a meaningful pace.

Having sessions weekly also helps us keep the service running smoothly, allowing us to manage our waiting list and cover the costs of the Lancashire Mind team who support and deliver the service.

• A weekly virtual session with a trainee counsellor/CBT therapist costs £30
• A weekly virtual session with a qualified counsellor or CBT therapist costs £45

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. The £30 charge for a session with a trainee therapist covers the cost of managing the service.

You can choose whether you would like to receive support from an experienced trainee therapist or a qualified therapist.

At Lancashire Mind, we are committed to providing the right support for each individual. Our service begins at £30 per session to work with a skilled trainee therapist. During your assessment, we consider whether this level of support is the most appropriate fit for your current needs. If we feel that you would benefit from working with one of our qualified Associate therapists, sessions are offered at £45.

Any recommendation will always be made with your best interests in mind, ensuring you receive the most suitable support while also working within the experience and scope of our therapists. If you decide that this option is not right for you, we will be happy to signpost you to other services that may better meet your needs.

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. 

We charge a nominal fee for our assessments as we are a small charity and use this to go towards staff time to deliver the service.

Our assessments are charged at a standard rate of £10.

As a small charity, we do not receive any core funding, so all our services must be funded externally. At present, we have not been able to secure external funding to offer a free service to all clients across Lancashire, though this is something we are actively working towards for the future.

To keep costs as low as possible, we work in partnership with local universities, providing placement opportunities for CBT and counselling students as part of their training. Any income generated by the service is used solely to cover the costs of managing the service. In comparison to the national average, private therapy typically costs between £60 and £80 per session.

Payment is made when you have been assigned to your therapist. Your therapist will send you the booking link and payment instructions for your sessions. You will be required to make a payment before each session to secure your booking.

Our service is mainly delivered by skilled but trainee therapists. Because of this, there may be times when this service isn’t the most appropriate level of support, particularly if your needs are more complex. In those situations, we may be able to offer support with one of our qualified therapists at a higher session rate of £45 for counselling or CBT.

If we feel you may benefit from more specialist support, we would recommend you speak to your GP about further options. There is also the NHS Talking Therapies. Or, there are various accredited therapist databases to search for a private therapist:

• BACP
• Counselling Directory
• BABCP

We work with trainee therapists from local universities to help keep the cost of our service as low as possible, without compromising on quality or safety.

All of our trainee therapists are experienced individuals, many of whom are undertaking Master’s-level qualifications. They are members of accredited professional bodies, such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), and are fully supported to deliver a high standard of care.

Every trainee therapist completes a rigorous safer recruitment and induction process. This includes an application form, interview, enhanced DBS check, verification of two references, and a comprehensive induction programme. Mandatory training covers areas such as GDPR, safeguarding, professional boundaries, health and safety, and equality, diversity and inclusion.

Throughout their placement, trainee therapists receive monthly external supervision from a qualified supervisor, as well as ongoing internal support from our Coaching and Therapeutic Services Lead, who is also a qualified counsellor. They are also required to record a number of sessions, which are assessed by their university tutor to ensure safe, ethical, and effective practice. Together, these measures ensure that you receive a high level of professional, safe, and well-supported therapy, and we continually strive to uphold the highest standards across our service.

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 to avoid any contradictions. We would suggest getting back in touch with the service if your other form of mental health support comes to an end.

No, this service is not funded by the NHS. 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. 

Like most mental health services, we do have a waiting list. We understand that waiting for support can be difficult, so we work as efficiently as possible to keep our waiting lists as short as we can. While waiting times can vary depending on demand, they are usually around 1 to 4 months. We will be able to give you a clearer indication of timescales during your Personal Wellbeing Assessment.