It’s been a very busy second year for the Counselling Service, with a 50% increase in clients engaging with the service compared with our first year of operation.
In January, the service became a recognised Counselling Service with the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society. Gaining this status is a mark of quality and recognition offered by the Society.
We also welcomed two students on placement in the new year, with one qualifying in June. We established new relationships with respected counselling training providers and are looking forward to offering more student placements in 2026 and beyond.
Our Counselling Service Manager was successfully re-accredited as an EMDR Practitioner in April, and in June, as a Senior Accredited Counsellor. This positions our counselling lead at the highest level of the new competency framework for the counselling and psychotherapy profession – SCoPEd. The SCoPEd framework helps counselling and psychotherapy to be better understood, valued and trusted by clients, employers, commissioners and the public.
In August, our student and volunteer counsellors started offering members of the community free, person-centred counselling sessions from our National Service office in Craigmillar, Edinburgh. This project was made possible by collaborative working with our Community Link Workers and Business Services Team and has been welcomed by the local GP practice.
In September, we received our first request for our family offer. This staff benefit offers 6-8 low-cost counselling sessions for your adult family members. Payments are deducted from staff salaries, offering an affordable and convenient method of funding counselling for your loved one.
October involved offering consultancy and advice to services impacted by traumatic and repeated bereavement in the course of their work.
And that brings us up to date! We are excited to find out what the third year of the Counselling Service will bring.
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