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All of our counsellors and therapists are trained to offer their services to individuals.

In individual counselling you can become more self-aware, and recognise your own self-worth and what matters to you in your life. It can also help with issues around anxiety, loss, and childhood experiences. It can support you to improve your self-esteem and to assert yourself and your needs within a healthy relationship.

Relationship counselling offers you a chance to explore your feelings, fears and anxieties together through talking, analysis and reflection.

The couple counsellor works with you and your partner to promote a better understanding of your relationship by improving your communication with each other. You can use counselling to explore staying together in a healthy and positive way but it can also include ending your relationship in the best way you can.

We understand it can be difficult to talk about sex and your sex life. We offer a safe and confidential space where these things can be discussed and you will be supported to explore your fears and concerns.

It may be that you have a specific sexual difficulty and we can help you explore this aspect of your life.

All of our sexual relationship therapists have undertaken specialist training and are continually developing their skills.

Compulsive Sexual Behaviours

You may have heard of the terms ‘compulsive sexual behaviours’ or ‘Sex Addiction’. These describe the sense that sexual behaviour feels out of your control. Accessing online porn, engaging in cybersex, taking part in various sexual activities or having high levels of sexual desire do not mean that you are a ‘sex addict’.

What matters is if you think you are engaging in a sexual activity that you feel -

• you are no longer in control of

• is likely to result in harm to you

• or to others such as a partner or partners, family or friends

Therefore, being ‘sexually addicted’ is not defined by the activity itself but by the possible negative effect, it is having on your quality of life and on people around you.

If you are worried about this, then as a start, do you recognise any of the statements below as fitting with how you are feeling?

You:-

• believe that there may be severe consequences if you continue with your behaviour

• persistently pursue high-risk sexual activities which you want to stop but are unable to do so.

• need more and more of the sexual activity in order to experience the same ‘high’ followed by feelings of shame and depression

• experience intense mood swings around repeated sexual activities

• spend more and more time planning, engaging in, regretting and recovering from sexual activities

• neglect social and/or work commitments in favour of the sexual activity

• repeatedly try to stop, stay stopped for a while, only to start up again

Some or none of the above may fit with how you are feeling about what you do, the important thing is to talk to us about what worries you.

Our therapists will offer support in a confidential environment to help you recognise which activities are causing you and other people in your life problems.

The therapist will carefully access your individual needs, it is understood that this is a complex issue where many other factors can contribute to your experience.

Partners

• We can help you on your own or with your partner to explore your feelings, ‘out of control’ activities and how this is impacting your relationship together.

• If you are concerned that your partner has ‘compulsive sexual’ activities, you can talk to us in complete confidence.

Charges

There is a flat rate of £65 per session for sexual relationship therapy. The first 2 or 3 sessions will involve extensive ‘history taking’ this is a key phase of the therapeutic process.

Our relationships are what matter most to us. Family therapy has been shown to help people in close relationships to support and help one another at times of stress and when experiencing difficult life events. 

Cultural Sensitivity is important to us and we are committed to inclusive and respectful practice. We hold in mind how unfair rules and oppressive practices in our society can directly affect opportunities to live full lives, free from discrimination.

Our life experiences impact our mental health and well wellbeing.

Family therapy can help to -

• overcome stresses and challenges

• build confidence and resilience as a family unit

• build on strengths and confidence to manage

  future challenges

The Family Therapy work includes emphasising and focusing on  -

• sharing and exploring difficult thoughts and emotions safely and in confidence

• understanding each other’s experiences and views

• appreciating each other’s needs

• identifying and building on family strengths

• making useful changes in your relationships and your lives 

There are so many aspects of being part of a family, we can work with you to explore and support a range of concerns including -

• Family communication

• Child and adolescent distress and behaviour

• Parenting approaches

• Mental health and

  addiction issues

• Gender Identity

• Neuro-diversity

• Issues with eating

• Depression and self-harming behaviour

• Relationship issues and concerns

• The impact of physical illness and disability

• Separation, divorce, and step and blended family life

• Fostering, adoption,

  kinship care

• Bereavement

• Loss and Separation

• Distress and difficulties faced by families displaced through war, natural disasters and economic crises

Family can mean different things to different people, and we can meet with whoever is important to you. 

We work with individuals, couples, children of all ages, grandparents, siblings, adult children with their parents, looked after children, aunties, uncles, friends, carers and other professionals and other important members of your community.

Children and Young People

Within our Family Therapy team we also offer individual therapy sessions for children and young people, both online and face-to-face.

We work with all ages of children and young people from 5 – 18 years old.

For clients under 14 years of age we require consent from a parent/carer.

Our minimum age for working with young people online is 12 years old.

When working face-to-face with children under 12, we require that the parent/carer stays in the building during the session, but they are not required to be in the session.

Parents/carers are welcome to attend the intake session (online/face-to-face) if appropriate and this can be discussed before the counselling begins.

The counselling sessions are confidential to the child or young person, so we will not discuss the content of the sessions with parents/carers unless we have the permission of the child or young person to do so.

There are of course exceptions to this where we have a 'safeguarding' concern, i.e. we have reason to believe the child, young person or someone else connected to them is in danger. We will discuss this as part of the 'contracting' (agreeing together) for counselling.

To register for the Young People service please click here

Charges for Family and Young Person Therapy services

Our contribution fee for sessions is from £50 up to a maximum of £90 dependent on your household income (see registration form).

We are a charity so whilst sessions are subsidised we have to ask all our clients to make a contribution to the cost of our services.

The contributions cover our operational costs, enabling us to pay our professional staff a competitive rate and to support clients who need to pay a lower contribution.

Your contributions help us to provide Family Therapy to families throughout the Lothians.

Current service days and waiting times  

The Family and Young People Therapy Service are offering face-to-face sessions on Tuesdays and online sessions on Thursdays and Fridays.