Spotlight on our fund holders: Meet The Counselling Partnership
Clare
Charity Manager, The Counselling Partnership
The work of local mental health charity The Counselling Partnership (TCP) – offering one-to-one counselling to adults in Surrey - is delivered by a small but passionate team. It’s clear that their work is a lifeline for many, and a vital part of the wider community-support landscape. Amy spoke to Clare, the charity manager, and Liz, a senior counsellor, to find out more.
A Bridge Between Need and Support
Founded more than 25 years ago by Terri Collins, The Counselling Partnership was set up to meet a gap that has only widened during this time.
“Terri saw a gap – which still very much exists – between people needing mental health support and what is available,” explains Clare, who recently joined TCP in a new, wide-ranging role covering operations, fundraising, marketing, and finances.
“In a nutshell, we’re trying to help as many people as we can who are struggling with their mental health” says Clare. “We make our service as affordable as possible so there isn’t a barrier of people’s finances. We are also fairly unique, in that we can provide both short-term or long-term therapy for up to a year, depending on the needs of the individual”.
The process is kept intentionally simple: clients self-refer, have an initial consultation, and - if counselling is the right fit - TCP identifies which of their counsellors best meets the individual’s needs.
Clare adds “it can sometimes feel like a big step to even contact us in the first place. But from there, the process can be as quick as they want it to be - it’s so different to many places with long waiting lists”.
Liz
Senior counsellor, The Counselling Partnership
“In a nutshell, we’re trying to help as many people as we can who are struggling with their mental health”
Who Comes to TCP – and Why
Clients come to TCP with a wide range of concerns, but some patterns have become more noticeable in recent years.
“The issues people present with are varied, but increasingly we’re seeing anxiety, overwhelm, work-life balance, and financial issues,” Clare explains. “While we don’t offer financial advice, we do help people feel less overwhelmed and think more clearly.”
Liz, a qualified counsellor and assessor at TCP, notes a similar shift in the types of conversations happening in these therapy spaces. “The last few years have been very difficult for people from an isolation perspective. Finances are also a worry as well. People want to talk about Covid and cost-of-living pressures,” she says. “There’s a sense of: who can I go to?”.
Mental health doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Many of TCP’s clients are juggling full-time work, parenting, caring responsibilities, or financial stress – and in some cases, all at once. The charity’s work is about providing a space to pause, reflect, and regain control.
At Walton Charity, we recognise that practical support goes hand-in-hand with emotional wellbeing, which is why alongside supporting TCP we also offer multiple initiatives that help people manage their money. These include directing our community hub and foodbank clients to CAP money budgeting courses, and hosting Citizens Advice sessions at The Bridge and our foodbank to give people access to expert guidance on debt and benefits through the Financial Inclusion grant.
“It’s not about magically making problems disappear,” Clare explains, “but making it easier to manage those issues when they arise. Sometimes just having a safe space to talk is enough. For others, it’s about helping them develop more helpful ways to navigate the stresses of the modern world”.
“We want to help people feel more empowered about how their brain works”
Liz talks to me about her approach as a counsellor (which follows the criteria set out by the BACP) centred around helping a client build self-awareness and understanding of how they show up in the world and how they want to show up in the world. “I do a lot of work about what choices have you got, what can you control, and who have you got around you that can help”. It’s about self-efficacy and helping people discover the resilience inside them.
The Power of Long-Term Work
One of the things that sets TCP apart is its commitment to both short-term and longer-term therapy – offering up to 52 sessions per client. This allows clients to go deeper and develop strong therapeutic relationships.
“There’s not many charities where you can spend 52 sessions with a client,” says Liz.
That length of engagement enables TCP to work with more complex client histories, including trauma, grief, and long-standing mental health challenges.
For Liz, the end of a counselling relationship is often just as meaningful as the beginning: “the joy for me is when a client chooses to finish their sessions because they’ve achieved what they wanted,” says Liz. “They say, ‘Life might not be perfect, but I’m not where I was and that’s good enough. They have the confidence in themselves to have that conversation. Those are magical moments for me”.
TCP’s Dual Purpose
“It’s a real privilege to do the depth of work that you can in that length of time”
As well as providing much-needed affordable counselling, Clare explains “we also develop the next generation of counsellors”.
That dual purpose - to support clients and train therapists - is at the heart of the charity’s ethos. Many of the counsellors are trainees completing the final stages of their training, supervised and supported by senior counsellors. This is where Liz started working with clients herself, many years ago. This models allows the charity to increase access while growing the supply of local counsellors.
Community, Confidence, and Connection
Both Clare and Liz reflect on the deep sense of community within the organisation and the importance of helping clients build connection in their own lives.
Clare explains how “people are more isolated now, but their home lives are busier, their jobs are busier, social media and news stress them out. They don’t have the headspace”.
TCP’s approach helps counter that loneliness by creating a safe, responsive, and confidential environment that supports its counsellors as well as its clients. “I remember feeling like part of a community”, Liz says of her early days as a trainee. “I still feel like that. If I had a challenge, they are at the other end of the phone. The support I’ve received has been amazing”.
“There’s an ethos about the partnership. It’s rare to find a charity not only focused on low-cost, long-term service, but also on training the next generation of counsellors”
Making a Ripple
What makes the work of a counsellor so special is that the process doesn’t end when the counselling sessions do.
“I do keep my clients in mind,” says Liz. “It’s not that it’s a weight, but more like dropping a pebble into the pond. I’m the first ripple, and I don’t get to see all the other ripples, but I know they’re there.”
This ripple effect is what drives TCP’s team forward: the sense that by supporting one person, they’re supporting families, workplaces, and communities. That’s where the charity’s impact goes beyond the therapy room.
“When one person improves their mental health, they’re going to be a better parent, employee, and neighbour in the community””
Charities House
Walton Charity recognise the strong link between poverty and mental wellbeing, and how the pressures of finances can have a knock-on effect to someone’s mental health and in turn the wider community. That’s why we also create opportunities for people to connect with nature and enjoy the benefits of being outdoors. Through our Space to Grow community garden, individuals and groups from local organisations, including our own community hub, can take time away from daily pressures, learn new skills, and experience the calming and restorative effects of green space – supporting both their mental and physical wellbeing.
“Walton Charity have been really generous,” says Clare. “Our rent is subsidised at Charities House which helps phenomenally. We’ve also received several grants from Walton Charity over the years, including a community small grant to subsidise clients who can only donate a small amount, and more recently a Funder Plus grant to help us to reach more people with our marketing”.
By offering this support Walton Charity help TCP do more of what it does best: giving people space to feel heard and supported.
Clare sums up by adding, “the thing that keeps me motivated is working in an amazing team of committed people, knowing that we are each playing our part in making a real difference to people’s lives”.
Space to Grow
Find Out More
If you are interested in becoming a client, or want to learn more about TCP and how they support the mental health of people across Surrey, visit https://thecounsellingpartnership.org. Donations to fund their valuable work are greatly appreciated: https://wonderful.org/pay?ref=1076244.
Please do what you can to spread the word about their services to people in your community.
Article by Amy Dixon, Walton Charity’s Policy and Communications Officer