Community Counselling (North Yorkshire)

Established in 1995 as a community counselling service and becoming an independent charity in 2013, we aim to relieve mental distress in North Yorkshire through counselling, support, and therapeutic interventions. We also promote education and training to enhance counselling standards.

Each year, we provide accredited services like counselling, play therapy, and EMDR trauma treatment to over 500 people, adhering to the BACP’s Ethical Framework.

Our work in suicide prevention

At Community Counselling, assessing clients for risk of harm to self is an integral part of the initial assessment appointment provided to each of our clients, although the need to constantly monitor for risk also forms part of each and every subsequent client session. We use a range of assessment tools to help identify risk of suicide when working with vulnerable clients. We have introduced systems changes during the past two years to help improve how we identify and report risk.

Where clients are assessed as being at risk, we develop safety plans to help them manage the risk themselves whilst also being supported by others. We regularly make safeguarding referrals to statutory agencies such as the Crisis Team and social services to help make clients safe.

Our current priorities

To provide suicide prevention training to all of our therapists.

Our current challenges

Funding.