Our phone line is open on Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays 9.00am – 1.00pm; and Thursdays 9.00am to 12 noon.

Assessments for our general 1:1 counselling service are on Monday and Wednesday mornings / afternoon.

Counselling takes place Monday to Friday from 8.00am, with the last appointment at 8.00pm. All bookings are on the hour.

Priority is given to Ealing residents registered with a GP in the Borough as we are part-funded by Ealing Council and Ealing Borough Based Partnership. However, where there is sufficient capacity, we also see people living in neighbouring boroughs bordering the London Borough of Ealing. Please get in touch with us for current availability.

We request a written referral for those under the care of the MINT teams. Download our Referral Guidelines

We are predominantly a self-referral service and assessment bookings are always made directly with the person seeking counselling. Please telephone us on 020 8998 3361. However, if you are currently or have recently been under the care of the MINT teams (formerly called the community mental health teams or primary care mental health teams), we first of all ask for a written referral to be completed by your psychiatrist / other mental health professional.

The first step would be to telephone us to enquire about booking an assessment: call 020 8998 3361. Our line is open Monday 9am – 1pm; Tuesday & Wednesday 8.30am – 1pm; and Thursday 9am – 12 noon. The line is closed on Fridays.

Further information about our assessment service for individual counselling & psychotherapy can be found here.

Further information about booking an assessment for couples counselling / psychosexual counselling can be found here.

The time frame varies depending on the length of our waiting list and your available times for weekly counselling sessions: the more availability you can give, the easier it is for us to allocate you to a counsellor with availability that matches yours. Normally you can expect to wait a few weeks, but this can sometimes take longer.

The weekly counselling fee is based on a sliding scale according to a person’s income, or family income:

Click for further information about paying for general counselling.

For our couples / psychosexual service, click here.

Our counsellors will have different counselling approaches depending on their training, but which fall broadly under the ‘humanistic’ therapies. Research indicates that all approaches are generally of equal benefit, with the counselling relationship itself being one of the most important factors in helping people to grow and make changes in their lives.

Most of our counsellors are mid-way through, or at an advanced stage of training on professionally-accredited courses. They undertake a placement at EACS as part of their diploma and MSc/BSc/Doctoral programmes in psychotherapy; counselling; counselling psychology; or psychosexual and couples therapy. A number of counsellors continue to volunteer their services post-training and qualification.

For those who need a longer period of support to work at greater depth on their issues, we offer weekly sessions for up to a maximum of one year (six months for our couples/psychosexual service), although many people come for less than this. You do not need to know from the outset how long you will need as and you can review with your counsellor as you go along.

Taking up counselling involves a commitment by our clients to attend the sessions on a weekly basis. Counselling is found to be most successful when attendance is regular and the relationship between you and your counsellor is able to be built.

Click for more information on our general counselling service.

Click for more information on our couples/psychosexual service.

Once you start your counselling sessions, you are asked to commit to an initial six weeks so that your counsellor can begin to get to know you and the issues you are facing; and so that you can get a feel for working therapeutically. Please click for more information.

The range of difficulties that precipitate a couple seeking help are very broad and may be directly related to sexual issues which they want help with; or they may wish to focus purely on other matters affecting their relationship. Our couples counsellors will work flexibly to facilitate you in whatever way is most helpful. Click for more information.

Unfortunately, you would not be able to bring your child or baby with you to your assessment or counselling session as we are unable to provide creche facilities. However, if it is easier for you to have childcare arrangements in place if you are at home, you may be able to opt for counselling by online video, provided that you can secure a private space where you can speak freely without being overheard or interrupted.

No, your contact with EACS is confidential and we do not inform your GP that you have accessed our Service. There may be exceptions if at any point we were to have serious concerns that you are in danger of harming yourself or others, but we would never undertake to do this lightly and wherever possible would look to involve you in any decision.