How we support
Supporting young people for 28+ years
Right now, we are more determined than ever that every young person has professional support when they need it.
STEP 1
Get in touch
To access our service, you’ll need to contact us directly – this is called self-referral and helps keep you in control.
STEP 2
We’ll arrange your first appointment
Our friendly reception team will be in touch to:
✔ Check your details
✔ Explain how everything works
✔ Answer any questions
They’ll then offer you an Initial Consultation, usually within 2–4 weeks.
STEP 3
Your first meeting
This is a 50-minute session with one of our counsellors, either in person or via Zoom. It’s a chance to:
- Talk about why you’ve reached out
- Share what you’d like help with
- Ask any questions
We’ll also explain how we handle your data. (If on Zoom, you’ll need a private space – or we can provide one.)
STEP 4
Finding the right fit
We offer one-to-one counselling and group therapy.
If we’re the right service for you, you’ll join our waiting list:
- Around 3–4 months for individual counselling
- Often shorter for group therapy
The more availability you have, the quicker we can match you.
STEP 5
Starting therapy
- Same time, same counsellor each week
- Review after 4 sessions to see how it’s going
- Weekly sessions during term time
- Small groups (6–8 people) with 2 counsellors
- Reviewed at the end of the term
STEP 6
Moving forward
When you feel ready, you and your counsellor will decide together when to finish.
We’ll always talk this through with you – nothing stops suddenly.
Without Youth Talk things would have continued to spiral and I would have had no motivation to do any work for school or potentially even go to school
Your counselling is confidential
Everything you share stays between you and Youth Talk – we don’t speak to parents or guardians about your sessions.
We do have information for parents and carers, which you can share if you choose. It explains what we do, how counselling works, and how they can support you.
If you’d like help from a parent or carer with booking or managing appointments, just let our reception team know.
Self-referral
Our service is self referral only meaning that all referrals need to be made by the young person requiring support.