Your first appointment

Your first appointment with a therapist

What to expect

Your first appointment with one of the therapists will be an assessment session which will last approximately 50 minutes. This will be an opportunity for the therapist to get a sense of your presenting difficulties and how we can best support you.

Following the assessment you be referred for any one of the following services:

  • brief therapy / counselling session 
  • professional mentoring service 
  • referral to group or workshop
  • referral to one of our specialist external services that we are partnered with such as RASASC, Survivors UK, Advent Advocacy or ELOP
  • referral to in-house Specialist Black Therapist or International Student Counsellor
  • referral to other services within the SAaW such as Welfare and Immigration advice; Neurodiversity and disabilities support or chaplaincy services
  • referral to external NHS services such as IAPT services or Wellbeing and mental health charity services

The above options will be presented to you at the end of the assessment and the assessor and together we will make an informed decision regarding what may be the most suitable options for you. Please note that you are able to make specific requests with regards to seeing a male/ female / Trans informed therapist or Specialist Black / International Student Therapist.

FAQ