Opening hours:

Iron Mill Counselling Service currently operates from 9.30am until 5.00pm on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays and from 9.30am until 7.45pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Please note we are closed during bank holidays and for a period over Christmas – please see notifications on the home page during this time for details of the college closure period.

What can IMCS help with?

People come to counselling for all sorts of reasons. This list gives some common reasons, but your reason might be different, and that is ok too.

Ø  Anxiety and/or panic

Ø  Depression or low mood

Ø  Support at a difficult time

Ø  Bereavement

Ø  Coping with major changes

Ø  Relationship issues

Ø  Trauma

Ø  Work issues or redundancy

Ø  Stress

Ø  Support as a carer

Ø  Starting to have suicidal thoughts

Ø  Self-harm

What can IMCS not help with?

IMCS is very careful to ensure we offer a safe service, which means we will only offer a counselling place to you if we believe we have counsellors on the team who can help you and who have an appropriate level of skill and experience. We cannot offer counselling support to people who

Ø  are in acute mental health crisis

Ø  are not registered with a GP locally

Ø  have current serious untreated addiction issues

Ø  are under 18 years of age

Ø  do not have the capacity to give informed consent for counselling

Ø  have requirements that sit outside the expertise or capacity of the service.

If we cannot help, we will explain why, and where possible will signpost you to suitable sources of support.

What is an initial phone call/ initial appointment?

Most people will be offered an initial phone call, but during or after the phone call we may decide to offer a further initial 1:1 consultation meeting held at the service. The initial phone call and/or consultation meeting are not a counselling session. Their purpose is to give you the chance to speak with a senior member of the team, who will

Ø  listen to your outline of the reasons you would like counselling, and help assess whether this is the right service for you at this time

Ø  explain a little about the service, and give you the chance to ask questions so you can make an informed choice

Ø  establish your availability and any other preferences

Ø  talk about the process and what to expect

Ø  talk about practicalities such as cost/ payment and take some initial information.

Please read the downloadable document entitled “About the IMCS”, available on the IMCS website page, for further details.

How long are the holding (‘waiting’) lists?

The service cannot give a ‘one size fits all’ answer to this question, as every arrangement is unique. Factors depend upon how many people are waiting for counselling, what your availability is, what you might need, and when a suitably experienced counsellor becomes available. The wait is often several months, but can be longer or shorter. Sometimes if we have been trying for 3-4 months and are still unable to secure a suitable arrangement, despite our best efforts, we will contact you to reassess the situation. The service does not routinely contact people on the waiting lists until an arrangement has been made, but you may phone to check on progress at any time while on our holding list.

I need help urgently – can someone see me?

We have prepared a downloadable document, entitled “Emergency Services and Support”, which can be found to the left of the IMCS website page. This document contains useful contacts you can get in touch with if you have a crisis, an emergency or increasing support needs while waiting for counselling. Unfortunately, IMCS are not able to provide crisis support, or offer emotional/ therapeutic support to people on our holding lists. This is because you will not become a client of the service until we are able to make a suitable counselling arrangement for you. If your situation has significantly changed since your initial consultation, however, please let us know.

Can I have flexible appointments?

We are a small service and therefore do not have the capacity to manage flexible appointments at this time. We offer appointments once per week at the same time.