Your initial assessment is a one-off appointment to discuss your needs and to find out if the Leicester Counselling Centre is the best place for you to access support. It is not a counselling session; however, your assessor will ask you to talk about your difficulties and you will be required to complete a short confidential questionnaire.
Assessment appointments take approximately 50 minutes and by the end of the session your assessor will be able to tell you if the Leicester Counselling Centre can meet your needs. If so, you will be added to the waiting list and advised on an approximate length of time you might wait for your counselling service to begin. Waiting times vary greatly depending on a number of factors, including your availability or any specific requirements you might have that need to be taken into consideration when allocating you a counsellor. Our services are in high demand and this means that you may wait several months for your weekly support to begin. Rest assured that as soon as we have a suitable match for you, you will be allocated a regular weekly appointment that will be available to you for up to one year.
Alternatively, If your assessor considers there to be more appropriate services available locally to suit your specific needs, they may decline a service at the Leicester Counselling Centre and signpost you to an organisation that better provides what you are looking for.
Should you wish to explore other ways of receiving your counselling support, or feel unable to wait for our donation-based service, you can visit the “Alternative Routes to Access Support” page.