YPC Counselling Services

The YPC provides free, confidential counselling to young people aged 13 to 25 years old in Brighton and the surrounding area:

“The YPC is a very useful and helpful resource for young people. The whole atmosphere is relaxed. Everyone was friendly and approachable and provided important information”

The Counselling Team

Our counsellors are recruited from all walks of life and are qualified and experienced in counselling young people. They are not there to tell you what to do or to judge you. They are there to help you talk through any decisions, actions or choices you might want to make and to help you to find your own solutions and strengths.

Some things young people have said about us…

“I felt that it was my Me time and I could get a lot off my chest without being judged”

“It is often difficult to deal with issues, particularly in regard to mistakes you’ve made so it was beneficial to be listened to without being judged or made to feel worse”

“I found my counsellor very helpful and understanding. She made me feel comfortable and that I wasn’t abnormal or different. I was able to see my problems and deal with them properly in my own time.

What is counselling?

Counselling provides you with a safe, private space in which to talk about anything that’s bothering you. It can be to explore a difficulty that you are facing in your life at the moment or in the past, some distress that you are experiencing or a loss of purpose or direction. Nothing is too large or too small.

Bottled up feelings such as anger, fear, embarressment, anxiety, guilt or loss and sadness can become very intense, so we find that having the opportunity to talk about them to someone who isn’t a close family member, friend or partner, can often make these feelings easier to understand and cope with.

“It’s good for young people to have somewhere to go and talk, I find it hard to talk to people but my counsellor made it feel easy, thank you for your help”

“I felt comfortable speaking to someone who was completely separate from my issues. I did not always want to go into too much detail regarding certain issues but I was never pushed”

“I found it painful to face my feelings but in the end it was a necessary and helpful process”

How can counselling help me?

These are some of the ways that counselling can help

  • To see your life and problems more clearly
  • Understand yourself better
  • Work out your own solutions to your problems
  • Make decisions
  • Work towards making some changes in the way you feel, think or act
  • Develop strengths and different ways of coping with your difficulties
  • Increase your self worth and confidence

“I really didn’t know what to expect from counselling and didn’t know whether it could help me. Now I’ve just finished my 12 sessions I feel better than I expected. It has given me so much more confidence and I am actually starting to like who I am. I haven’t felt like this in a long time!”

“Counselling has helped me to move on and not blame myself, I believe in myself and can do things that I was afraid of before”

What sort of things do people talk about?

You can talk to your counsellor about anything you like but to give you some idea…

  • Anxiety and stress, depression, or loneliness
  • Worries about exams
  • Relationships with friends, family or partners
  • Sexual or physical abuse
  • Bullying
  • Eating problems or self- harming
  • Grief and loss
  • No motivation or direction
  • Difficulties involving young children, fostering or adoption issues
  • Caring for a person in your family
  • Sexual and sexuality issues