More about Counselling. You may have had no one to discuss your problems with, or you may fear that you are making a mountain out of a molehill or being disloyal.Perhaps the matter is too private or awful to share with anyone and so you’ve held on in there alone and in despair feeling life is hardly worth living. This is where counselling can help.You can talk about things that are difficult to discuss elsewhere. Of course it is not always easy, as it may mean talking about things that make you feel very unhappy and uncomfortable. But it can be a great relief to air these feelings, thoughts and ideas with someone else, – someone who is trained to listen attentively,who does not judge you, and who respects your need for space and time, privacy and confidentiality.

Counselling can help you to:-

Identify problems

Recognise ineffective patterns of behaviour

Build self confidence and self-esteem

Manage change appropriately
Recover after a crisis
Clients can self refer to St Barnabas House. The information we will need is your name and contact number, briefly what are the issues (anger, depression, feeling low etc) and when you are available for an appointment.
You can contact us by phone or e mail, or can come into the centre to make an appointment, however we do not offer a drop in service for counselling.
Information on Our Counselling Services
All the counsellors and therapists are self-employed, have their own professional indemnity insurance. They abide by the Code of Ethics and Practice of their professional body, are are supervised in accordance with the guidelines set out by their professional body. The majority of our counsellors are also fully accredited.
Professional Membership could include:
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
Play Therapist of United Kingdom (PTUK)
Association of Family Therapists (AFT)
Confidentiality Nothing you tell your counsellor will be disclosed. The only exceptions to this will be if there is serious risk to either yourself or to others.
Non Discrimination Policy We work with men, women, couples, children and families, clients of all ages. We work with clients of different ethnic backgrounds, heterosexual and gay.
Disabled Access We have a room on the ground floor enabling us to see clients with disabilities.
Our Name We have taken our name, St Barnabas House, from the building we work from which used to be a Rectory. We are a non religious organisation and welcome clients from all faiths and those with no faith.

Counselling for Individuals
We have both male and female Counsellors who can offer both long or short term work. We have flexible opening times.
We can offer different styles of counselling should you be looking for a particular style or theoretical base to work with, including:
Humanistic, Psychodynamic, Transactional Analysis, Gestalt, Intergrative, CBT and Solution Focused.
Cost – £50.00 per session.

Couples Counselling
Are you unhappy in your relationship?
Can’t get over an affair?
Can’t get through to your partner?
Wish you could sort yourself out?
How is your sex life?
Coming to counselling as a couple means that you are putting aside time to focus on your relationship, with someone who is respectful, non judgemental and both qualified and experienced in dealing with relationship problems. It has the advantage of being away from distractions and in a neutral place.
Counselling / Therapy can help you to:
Understand what has got ‘stuck’ and how this happened
Explore feelings, including anger and hurt
Discover how assumptions can get in the way of talking
Communicate more effectively
A better understanding of yourself, your family and your relationships
Recover from painful events
Reassess your life and make appropriate changes
The majority of our counsellors who see couples are Relate Trained.
Cost – between £50.00 – £60.00 per session
Children and Adolescents Counselling
Parents need to feel secure about who to consult when seeking counselling for their children. Counsellors should have received relevant training and be up to date with all current legislation relating to the care and protection of young people. Additionally they must have received a ‘police-check’,to show that they have no history of any criminal act relating to young people. Counsellors at St Barnabas house who work in this area comply with all the above requirements.
We are fortunate to have a very talented specialist counsellor for younger children who has her own, well equipped, play therapy room at St. Barnabas House.
Counsellors for young children in this part of Kent are few and far between and the waiting list to see them is lengthy. So not surprisingly, she is very much in demand but we have so far managed to avoid a waiting list.
We also have two other counsellors with wide experience of working with children of secondary school age. A wide range of issues can be dealt with including anger management, bullying, school refusal etc.
The assessment fee is £60.00 and subsequent sessions are £60.00 each on a pay as you go basis.

Family Therapy
Family Therapy is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families, including adolescents and younger children, and couples in intimate relationships on all asspects of family life, to nurture change and development.
It views change in terms of interaction between family members. It emphasises family relationships as an important factor in resolving problems, whether personal or family issues.
Cost £70.00 to £80.00 per session depending on the number of people attending the session.