Counselling in Penarth since 2011
Counselling for adults in a quiet room on Plymouth Road, or online. Two experienced counsellors, sessions by day and evening, a sliding scale from £30, and a free 20-minute call before you decide anything.
A free 20-minute call
With Helen, by phone. Nothing is booked until you decide.
Book this callCounselling
One-to-one counselling for whatever has brought you here: something that happened, something that keeps happening, or a feeling you cannot quite name. Fifty minutes, at the same time each week if you can, in a quiet room or online.
£65 a session of fifty minutes, or £30 to £58 on the sliding scale
Counselling for two people who want to understand what keeps going wrong between them, whether they stay together or not. Seventy-five minutes, usually fortnightly, with Dafydd, in the evenings or on alternate Saturday mornings.
£85 a session of seventy-five minutes, or £45 to £75 on the sliding scale
Counselling after the death of someone close, whether it was last month or twenty years ago, expected or sudden. A place to talk about the person and what their death has done, without anyone hurrying you towards feeling better.
£65 a session, or £30 to £58 on the sliding scale
Counselling for worry that will not switch off, panic that arrives out of nowhere, stress that has stopped being useful, and the sleep it costs you. Practical where that helps, deeper where that helps more.
£65 a session, or £30 to £58 on the sliding scale
Video or phone sessions for people who cannot get to Penarth, would rather not, or need to fit counselling around children, shifts or a body that does not like travelling. The same counsellor, the same hour, the same price.
£65 a session, or the sliding scale
Short blocks of confidential counselling paid for by an employer, for staff going through bereavement, stress, a difficult return to work or something at home that is spilling into the job. The employer pays; the content stays private.
£75 a session invoiced to the employer, or a block of six for £420
The diary
These come straight from the diary each time the page loads. Sessions run from 9am to 8pm on weekdays and on alternate Saturday mornings; most people keep the same slot each week.
How it works
The free call is twenty minutes on the phone with the counsellor you would see. If you both want to go on, the first session covers the practical things, including the limits of confidentiality, before anything else. After that it is the same time each week or fortnight, reviewed together every six sessions, and you can stop after any of them.
The team
Founder, integrative counsellor
Registered member, BACP no. 000000 (placeholder). Here since 2011.
Helen trained in Cardiff after fifteen years as a hospice nurse in the Vale, which is where she learnt that most people need to talk about the person, not the death. She opened Open Door in the front room of 7 Plymouth Road in 2011 and still sees most of the bereavement clients. Calm, direct, and unembarrassed by tears or swearing.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; Tuesday evenings
A free call with Helen
Person-centred and couples counsellor
Registered member, BACP no. 000000 (placeholder). Here since 2017.
Dafydd was a secondary-school teacher in Barry for twelve years before retraining, and joined Helen in 2017. He sees the couples, most of the workplace referrals and a good number of men who arrive saying they have never done this before. He grew up in Llanelli and works in Welsh as easily as in English.
Monday and Thursday evenings, Wednesday, alternate Saturday mornings
A free call with DafyddHow we work
Confidentiality has a few legal limits, and we explain every one of them in the first session, before you tell us anything. Notes are brief and kept locked.
Weekly is usual, fortnightly is fine, and you can stop after any session without a reason or a fee. There is no course to sign up for.
If what you need is a psychiatrist, a specialist service or your GP, we tell you in the first call and help you find it rather than booking you in.
Pay for each session as it happens. No deposits, no blocks of ten, and 48 hours to cancel or move a session for nothing.
Fees
Individual sessions are £65 and couples £85. We keep eight places a week on a sliding scale by household income, from £30. Put your income in and the fees page shows your fee; we do not ask for proof.
Clients
I came eight months after my husband died, convinced I should be over it. Helen never once suggested I should be. I talked about him for weeks and it was the first time since the funeral anybody had let me.
We nearly cancelled the first session in the car outside. Dafydd was calm, fair and very hard to argue in front of. Fourteen sessions later we argue less and better, which is what we came for.
The first two sessions were practical and that alone got me sleeping again. Then we got to the real stuff. I was on the sliding scale and nobody made me feel like a charity case.
Find us
Number 7 Plymouth Road: red brick, a stone bay, a dusk-blue door and a small brass plate by the bell. The waiting room has its own door, and sessions are spaced so you do not meet the next person on the way out.
You talk to the counsellor you would see. They ask what has brought you, what you hope for and when you could come; you ask anything you like. Nothing is booked unless you want it to be, and you can take a few days to decide.
Usually within a fortnight. The availability on the how it works page shows the next free day and evening sessions, worked out from the diary each time the page loads. Bereavement places are kept so the wait is shorter.
Yes, with a few legal limits: if we believe you or someone else is at serious risk of harm, or a court orders it. We explain each one in the first session. We never contact your GP or employer without your agreement except in those circumstances.
No. We reply within one working day and do not answer the phone at night. If you are in danger now ring 999; to talk to someone tonight ring Samaritans on 116 123 or NHS 111 Wales and press 2. Those lines are free and open all night.
Put your household income into the fees page and it shows your fee. We do not ask for proof. We keep eight places a week on the scale; if they are full we will say so in the call and tell you when one is likely.
Not at the moment; we see adults from eighteen. For young people, the school counselling service and your GP are the best starting points, and we can suggest local counsellors who specialise in young people.
Talk to the counsellor you would see before anything is booked or paid for. Ask anything, including whether we are the right people. The diary shows the next free call; pick it, or ring and leave a message and we reply within a working day.
