Chiswick Counselling Centre

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Getting Started

If you have decided that you want to contact us, to either arrange an appointment, or to ask further questions, you can either e-mail or ring us (contact details at the bottom of the page). If you ring, it is likely that you will encounter an answering machine. If so, please leave a message with:

Your name and number
Some good times to contact you

In either case our Coordinator will contact you by the means you have used to contact us. and will have a short discussion with you to see if we are the best service in your circumstances. If so, he will then put you in contact with one of our team members who will arrange a first meeting with you. It is usually the case that a meeting can be arranged within days of the first contact you make.

If you are concerned that you do not want people you live with to know that you are thinking about having counselling, please be assured that if you give your home phone number, we will be extremely discreet when contacting you.

First Meeting

First, some practicalities. Parking in the immediate area is restricted between 8.30am and 5.30pm. There are some metered bays within a short distance of the Centre, as well as a few bays where cars may be parked free of charge for an hour. Chiswick Park Station (District Line), is the nearest Tube Station, about 8 minutes' walk away, and South Acton Mainline Station is about 3 minutes' walk.

Your counsellor will arrange a first meeting with you at a mutually convenient time. For those with 9 to 5 jobs, there are usually some evening or early morning vacancies available. Your counsellor will give you details of the location, and arrange to be available at the time you agree. Meetings are usually of 50 minutes' duration.

The decision to go into counselling is often taken at a very significant moment in peoples' lives. It may well be the first time that someone has admitted to themselves that they need some external help to deal with problems. With this in mind, it is worth stating that all the team members have their own private consulting rooms, and that we all work within a strict ethical framework, one of the first principles of which is that the work we do is in the strictest of confidence.

It is worth noting that the counselling we practice is rooted in a long clinical tradition, and that we will listen and respond to you in ways which we know will maximise the effectiveness of the counselling. This is not an "everyday" conversation, and may seem strange and slightly disconcerting at first. However, as you become accustomed to the rhythm of counselling, you may well find it a liberating experience.

In the first meeting your counsellor will take a few minutes to agree the arrangements for continuing work with you. This will encompass the times and frequency of meetings, fees and billing arrangements as well confidentiality and the ethical framework in which the counselling takes place.