Telephone counselling is a way of obtaining counselling help from a professional counsellor without meeting with them in person. Instead, the counselling ‘sessions' are conducted by telephone and you ring your counsellor on an agreed day and time.

Telephone counselling was set up for several reasons:

• For people who would like a specialist disability counsellor but do not have access to one in their local area
• For people who cannot attend face-to-face counselling because of health reasons, mobility reasons, shyness or anxiety

• In an emergency
• If you have any psychotic symptoms (hallucinations, delusions, thought disorganisation)
• If you need intense support, phone contact or hospitalisation
• If you are addicted to drugs or alcohol or if you have a psychiatric illness
• If you need a medical diagnosis or a prescription
• If you have difficulties hearing or communicating verbally
• If you don't have a landline

• Do you have a landline? Using a mobile for telephone counselling is not suitable for many reasons: there may be people around you so you cannot talk privately; the signal may drop out in the middle of your session; or there may be noise on the line or other noises around you which may make it difficult to understand each other.
• Do you have somewhere private in your home where you can speak to your counsellor alone?
• If others live with you, do you need to tell them not to disturb you?
• Are there other noises, such as the radio or TV which could distract you? Can you switch these off?
• Can you switch off your mobile (if you have one) during sessions?
• What will you do if someone rings your doorbell whilst you are having a session?

If we get cut off, please try and call again or we will call you. If this doesn't work, we will try and contact you through your mobile and after that we will send an email. You will be able to use any missed minutes.

Please click here to visit the Counselling Costs page.

• Call us for an initial chat on 0845 25 77 496 or send an email to mel@spokzpeople.org.uk telling you would like telephone counselling.
• We will arrange a date and take payment for your the initial assessment – this will involve taking your details, discussing your suitability for online counselling and a brief overview of your issues. You will also be able to ask any questions about telephone counselling and counselling in general and we can look at any concerns you may have.
• At the end of the assessment session together we will decide whether telephone counselling is the best way forward. If so, the counselling agreement will be sent to you by email or post.
• You can then choose how to pay for either a one-off telephone session or a package.
• Once we have received your payment and returned agreement, your counsellor will then contact you to schedule your first session. The counsellor will take you through the counselling agreement before you start.