Your initial assessment

At your first meeting there will be some paperwork to complete, so it is a good idea to arrive a few minutes before your appointment time so this can be done before your meeting with the Counsellor.

Your first meeting with a Counsellor is called an 'initial assessment'.  This meeting is used to establish:

• what your concerns are
• if counselling could help you work through them
• if you are able to commit to counselling
• if you would be better supported by another department or agency

To help this process the Counsellor will ask you questions to try to get a full picture of your concerns.  They will ask for some background information related to your concerns.  This allows the Counsellor to make a full and accurate assessment of your needs, which will allow us to provide you with, or help you access, the most appropriate support.

If at the end of this meeting you decide, along with the Counsellor, that counselling is the best form of support for you, you will be allocated an ongoing Counsellor with the skill to support your specific needs. 

Please note: this may not be with the counsellor who conducted the assessment.

When demand on the service is heavy, there may be a delay between your initial assessment and your first ongoing counselling session, this will however always be kept to a minimum.

Please note: Our contact with you will be via mobile telephone or your Durham email address - please check your Durham email address daily.