The Beech Group

Who are we?

We are a group of qualified and experienced male and female Counsellors and Psychotherapists.

We come from different areas in the world and our ages range from late 30s to early 60s. This gives us a wealth of knowledge of different life experiences and backgrounds which we are able to offer to our clients when they need help in resolving their life problems.

This enables us to give a really comprehensive service to our Clients no matter which service they decide to use.


Counselling or Psychotherapy?

Our team is qualified to offer both counselling and psychotherapy. Many people ask us what the difference is between counselling and psychotherapy. In the main counselling is the first aid, if you have a problem and would like to resolve it, without too much exploration of the root causes, counselling will help you. However, if the situation is a familiar one and seems to be part of a pattern of similar events, psychotherapy will help you to discover the causes and find ways of making changes that are more long-term.

Face-to-Face, Telephone or Online?

Sometimes it is difficult to decide which one is right for you and so we are giving a little information about all three to help you decide which one may be right for you.





Face-to-Face

This is the traditional way of receiving counselling. The client and counsellor sit in a private room and develop a close working alliance which helps the client to resolve issues that have been adversely impacting on their lives.
The major part of developing this working alliance is the fact that the counsellor is not a friend or relative and does not have a vested interest in what the client decides and so can take a caring but objective view of the situation.


Telephone

For some people it may not be possible to attend face-to-face sessions. This may be for a variety of reasons such as distance from the centre, child care commitments or disabilities that preclude them traveling. This medium is a good way of receiving help from a counsellor who takes their call at a prearranged time.


Online?

Like telephone counselling this medium is for those people who, for whatever reason are unable or have chosen not to attend the centre for face-to-face work. Online work offers more choices in how the client is counselled. You can choose to work with emails, instant messages, private chat room or by voice. If instant messaging is the way you would like to go, I would say that you do need to be a fairly proficient typist to get the best out of it.

Whichever medium you choose you can be assured that we will do our very best to help you with your particular issues and can assure you of utmost confidentiality at all times. The only time this confidentiality is likely to be broken is if we believe someone may be physically harmed.


How do I arrange to start the counselling?

The first person you are likely to speak to is our Office Manager, Kerry Martin who works each weekday morning between 09.00 and 14.00.

She will welcome you to the organisation and make you an appointment for an Introductory 45 minute Consultation.

The consultation will be carried out by a Senior Practitioner and will give you an opportunity to speak briefly about your issues, which will help us choose the most appropriate therapist for you to work with.

If you decide you would like to undertake a series of counselling/therapy sessions, an appointment will be made with the most appropriate therapist at a time that is convenient for you both.

We generally make a verbal contract for 6 sessions and these are of 50 minutes duration and usually occur once a week.