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 COUNSELLING 

What we specialise in is Relationship Counselling, that is counselling to help people with their relationships.

People come for Relationship Counselling on their own or as a couple - they will be offered space and time to explore their concerns and difficulties with a counsellor trained to work with relationships. This might be to work through difficulties in current relationships; to explore the effects of past relationships or to look at how to improve and enrich relationships for the future. The counsellors work across a very wide range of difficulties; from difficult communication to dealing with affairs or the end of a relationship.  

Sometimes the relationship in trouble is an internal one, for example, lack of self esteem, or a crisis in confidence. Sometimes the issue concerns wider community relationships.  The range of situations is endless and no two situations are ever the same; however, what links all these people and their difficulties is that they want to try and do something about them.  That desire to improve things even if they don't know what it is that needs to be done, is what prompts them to contact us.

 In the first instance we ask people to come to a confidential intake meeting. We explain how we work, the professional standards in place and explore what the person would like to address through counselling. We also make an assessment as to whether counselling is appropriate at this time and what safety risks need to be considered with regard to child protection, vulnerability, mental health, substance misuse and domestic abuse. It may be more appropriate to see couples individually or refer clients to other services. 


This intake meeting can have a therapeutic effect in itself helping to contain the anxiety and crisis while people wait to see a counsellor. Currently it can be up to 1-3 months before they can be seen.  To help reduce our waiting list we are training new volunteers.


What we offer is an understanding of how difficult relationships can be; space and time to talk to someone trained and skilled in working with relationship difficulties and the opportunity to look at their situation in different ways.


What we don’t do as relationship counsellors is  ...
We don't offer advice – information sometimes but not advice. We won't tell people what to do - We don't judge - We don't have an agenda about 'saving' relationships - What people decide to do about their difficulties – either individually or as a couple - is for them to decide, not us. We can help people have the difficult conversations, we can't tell them what to say or do.


QUOTES:

"The help that you gave was greatly valued by both of us."

"The counselling made a huge difference, not just to the relationship problems but to other areas of life too.  I felt supported throughout a very difficult separation and emerged feeling more positive."

"My husband was the original 'counselling is rubbish' but since it saved our marriage he cannot praise you highly enough and is very open about it."

"Our counsellor was extremely fair and we both found her to be easy to talk to and listen to."