We at Relational Counselling believe in the importance of creating a non-judgmental, safe space and a strong client-therapist relationship for personal growth in therapy.

Our name is inspired by our approach, known as relational therapy. Grounded in relationship-focused psychotherapy, drawing heavily from the psychoanalytic perspective. Relational therapy helps people recognise the role relationships play in the shaping of daily experiences and overall well-being.

Relational therapy centres on key concepts like relatedness, transference, countertransference, enactment, projective identification, intersubjectivity, and self-disclosure. Transference and countertransference come into play when either the client or therapist projects their feelings or experiences onto the other, which can foster emotions in the therapeutic relationship.

Our relational therapy approach is suitable for both individuals and couples, as we believe that the therapeutic relationship is fundamental for healing, fostering change, and achieving the best outcomes in therapy.

Relational Counselling offers a variety of different services including Individual and Couples Therapy. As well as Supervision for both trainee and qualified therapists.

In 2024, we look to introduce a group therapy service, allowing for more flexibility on how people choose to pursue their healing journey.

For more information about our services, including pricing, please visit our services page.

The easiest way to get started with Relational Counselling is via our online portal. Here you can view our therapists exact availability and then choose an appointment at a time that suits you. Making ease of both booking and payment for your convenience.

Alternatively, our admin team can help you book and pay for appointments. To get started, visit our contact page.

For your convenience, we offer subscription-based packages. When you purchase one of these packages, you'll be automatically enrolled in a subscription. This subscription allows us to process payments automatically in the 7 days leading up to your final session in the current package. This makes it easy to continue your therapy without the hassle of manual purchases.

To qualify for this service, you'll need to securely save your card details in our system when you make your initial package purchase. After scheduling your first session in the package, you can arrange your subsequent sessions by contacting our admin team at admin@relationalcounselling.co.uk. Depending on availability, you can even choose to have sessions at the same date and time each week, eliminating the need to schedule each session individually.

To cancel your subscription, we ask for at least 7 days notice of your next billing date.

The duration of therapy varies based on individual needs. Some individuals may only require a few sessions, while others benefit from long-term psychotherapy. This timeframe is typically determined during your initial appointment and periodically reviewed with your therapist.

Relational Counselling offers short-term, long-term, and open-ended therapy.

At Relational Counselling, our therapists are psychotherapists, not just counsellors. While both professions focus on helping individuals address emotional, psychological, and behavioural challenges, there are distinct differences between them.

Counsellors typically work with clients on specific issues, providing guidance, support, and practical solutions to immediate concerns. They often use shorter-term interventions.

Psychotherapists, on the other hand, undergo more extensive training, and employ a wide range of therapeutic techniques. We help you on a deeper level, exploring underlying patterns, past experiences, and long-standing emotional issues. Psychotherapy is often more long-term and focused on personal growth, self-awareness, and transformation. However, we are also able to offer short-term counselling.

At Relational Counselling, our psychotherapists bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and expertise to their work. They are dedicated to helping you navigate life's challenges, heal emotional wounds, and achieve lasting positive change.

If you have any further questions about our therapists or the therapeutic process, please reach out.

For Individual Therapy:

In our approach to therapy, we view it as an ongoing commitment to well-being. Typically, after completing an initial course of therapy (usually lasting around 6, 50-minute sessions), we then would discuss at your review (session 6) how you're finding therapy, your frequency and if you'd like to work towards an ending or continue therapy. To continue until your next review, sessions are offered weekly, and to work towards an ending, we can then offer short-term fortnightly sessions. Part of therapy and its effectiveness requires continuity and commitment. Fortnightly sessions, which work towards an ending, are seen as support check-ins and are designed to provide a space with the opportunity to discuss concerns that don't require weekly sessions.

- Short-term
We recommend that people looking to deal with immediate issues engage in ‘short-term’ therapy, also known as time-limited therapy. For individuals, we initially offer a course consisting of six weekly sessions, then, when working towards an ending, offering to remain weekly or change to fortnightly for a short-term period.

- Long-term and open-ended
For those looking to explore deep-rooted and longstanding issues, attending therapy for longer than the initial six sessions will be greatly beneficial. Sessions will be offered weekly.

Benefits of weekly sessions

Specifically in relation to individual psychotherapy frequency itself, we offer weekly sessions as this enhances the therapeutic process by creating a more profound sense of "holding."

Therapeutic "holding" is not related to physical touch or physical support; it is primarily about emotional safety. Emotional safety is fostered through various aspects of therapy, with regular and reliable weekly sessions being a foundational component. Attending therapy infrequently can significantly hinder the development of emotional safety.

Trusting your therapist and feeling emotionally safe aids in your brain feeling comfortable to change and grow, just like how a plant grows in good soil and sunlight. Akin to giving your brain a cosy space to feel better and make friends with your feelings. If you don't experience this sense of being "held" during therapy, you also won't be able to experience the type of trust and healing relationship needed to rewire your nervous system.

When you, as the client, feel "held" and emotionally secure enough to connect with your inner self within the context of your relationship with your therapist, that's when real change, growth, and healing can truly begin.

For Couple Therapy:
For couples, due to the amount of work required between sessions, we offer 6 fortnightly sessions as default; totalling 3 months. Weekly sessions are also available on request with couples, with top-up sessions being an option upon completion of the initial course of therapy.

Both our therapists at Relational Counselling work using the integrative approach.

This approach combines different therapeutic techniques and theories to meet the specific needs of the individual client. The Clarkson model is an example of integrative therapy that draws on humanistic, psychodynamic, psychoanalysis, and cognitive-behavioural approaches to create a holistic approach to therapy.

Key focuses:

. Different people and problems need different sorts of help

. Getting it in perspective

. Problem solving

. Empathy

. Active listening

. Challenging

. Analysing

. Interpreting

. Guiding

. Observation

. Attunement

For more information, visit our blog post.

30-minute counselling sessions are ideal for newcomers or those seeking a less time-intensive commitment. They work well for short-term therapy, check-in and ending sessions, and are more affordable. On the other hand, 50-minute sessions are more suitable for in-depth assistance and allow for a more comprehensive exploration of concerns.

Additionally, different session lengths allow for more flexibility and control over your healing journey. For example, two 30-minute sessions in a week can be beneficial for breaking up therapy and providing regular check-ins. Alternatively, combining a 30-minute session with a 50-minute session can create a more intensive therapy approach, allowing for both depth and regular check-ins for progress monitoring.

We believe mental health is just as important as our physical health. So just like healthcare, we believe mental health support should be readily available to all, regardless of personal or financial circumstance; which is why we want to make receiving the help you require as accessible as possible.

If you want to begin your therapeutic journey but worry you may not be able to financially commit, get in contact with us and see if there is anything we can do for you.

There are multiple factors to consider when deciding which type of therapy will be right for an individual. Factors such as geographical access and scheduling play a large role in why someone might choose online therapy over traditional face-to-face therapy.

In a direct comparison however, online therapy is just as effective as traditional face-to-face therapy.

If you’d like more information, we have a blog post that goes into more detail on the topic.

We operate with an open door policy; Meaning that you are free to return at any point in the future should you need support for a new or ongoing issue.

We understand that sometimes life can happen and circumstances can change. Therefore, if for any reason you need to reschedule an appointment, please reach out to us at admin@relationalcounselling.co.uk

To ensure we can manage and schedule effectively, please try and provide at least 7 days notice for us to help reschedule.

For individual therapy only:

If for any reason you wouldn’t be able to attend your original appointment with Relational Counselling or cannot engage in remote or face-to-face therapy, we offer an email therapy option.

An email therapy session consists of one email to be sent from you (300- 500 words) before your session time. This can be sent to your therapist at any time in the week leading up to and before your appointment. They will then read this email during your session time, and send back one (considered, reflective, therapeutic) email at the end of your session. They will spend the full appointment (30-50 minutes) reflecting on your email and composing their response. This is a great option for clients who are unable to be present in person for their session but still have things they would like to bring up with their therapist.

Yes we are! Our therapists are regulated members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), ensuring that their qualifications are verified through its registration process. They prioritise quality over quantity by maintaining a limited client base and undergoing routine training, ensuring strict adherence to BACP standards and guidelines while delivering high-quality service and safeguarding the needs of both themselves and their clients.

By choosing Relational Counselling you can be guaranteed a professional and reliable service!

Yes, we are registered with the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) and fully comply with their regulations and guidelines regarding data protection and privacy.

Details of our registration can be found here

Therapy Sessions

Our psychotherapists offer sessions Monday - Saturday, Mornings, Afternoons and Evenings.

For more information on the specific availability of our therapists, please consult our booking portal here.

Admin/General Enquiries

For all general or booking enquiries, our admin team is available:

Monday - Friday: 9 am - 5 pm GMT

For all enquiries, visit our contact page. Please allow up to 48 hours for a response.

Although primarily based in the UK, Relational Counselling provides remote appointments to clients around the globe.

Once you register on our online portal, appointment availability will be tailored to your local time zone.

If you have anything else you wish to ask us, head over to our contact page and our team will be able to help.

Please allow up to 48 hours for an email response.