South East and South Central London
You've been referred. The waiting list is real and it's long. You know the help is coming, but right now, today, that doesn't change how things feel.
The wait shouldn't mean nothing happens. So I've put together a way to do something about it, for people in my part of London who are stuck waiting.
This is for people waiting to start Step 3 counselling, or equivalent longer term talking therapy, through the NHS.
Weekly sessions with a BACP-registered integrative counsellor, up to twelve of them, at a reduced fee of £14 — a concession for people on a long waiting list. Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
It isn't a replacement for what you've been referred for. It's the space in between now and then.
When you get your NHS start date, you let me know and we work out how to stop. Working with two therapists at once is confusing for you, and the point of this work is to help you through the wait, not to keep you coming.
You may have had some short term or structured work already that helped, but not as much as you or they thought. You've been told you need longer term counselling and you're waiting for it. You're in South East or South Central London, within a few miles of SE15, and the wait feels too long.
You don't need to explain yourself beyond that.
Two things are possible, and both are honest outcomes. The work might be enough, and you reach your NHS start date and find you no longer need what you were referred for. Or it confirms that you do, and you arrive at your first NHS session having already done some of the work of getting there. Neither is a failure. Both are the point.
When you're ready, email daniel@therapydan.co.uk with the subject line NHS Waiting List. Tell me roughly where you are, and I'll come back to you the same day.
What happens next is a short telephone or Zoom conversation, thirty minutes, no charge. That's where we find out whether this makes sense for both of us. You get to decide whether I'm the right therapist for you, not just whether you qualify.
The wait shouldn't mean nothing happens.
Email Daniel