Counselling Q&A
We are a very small rare group or charity. Can we afford you?
Let’s talk! Our aim is to be available to any charity, rare or patient group that feels counselling or wellbeing services might be helpful.
We can also look to help you to partner with another charity or group with a similar rare condition in order to provide a ‘joint service’ thus maximising affordability.
How many sessions of counselling do you offer?
This is usually decided between the individual counsellor and the client. It will be informed by a combination of service demand and availability, and client need. It may involve weekly/fortnightly/monthly sessions over a fixed period, with review points agreed between both parties. We work in principle to a flexible 6 – 12 session model.
Why should we not just use a general counsellor or psychologist?
General counselling or psychology services can be helpful. However, there is evidence that the complexity of the rare condition experience may require specialist understanding and additional counsellor training. All Rareminds Counsellors complete our innovative CPD training on ‘Counselling people impacted by rare, genetic and undiagnosed conditions’.
Many counselling/psychology services can only offer a set number of sessions, or work within a particular treatment model. This is not always most appropriate for someone impacted by rare conditions whose experiences and needs are unique and complex.
Our services encourage people to access ‘your’ specialist counselling service at different points in their life, according to the impact of life events or condition trajectory. We always aim to place a client with the same counsellor they saw previously. This also maximises the efficiency of the counselling within a set number of sessions, given the pre-existing trusted relationship and counsellor-client knowledge.
We'd sooner employ our own counsellor. Can we still access your services?
Rareminds commitment is to excellence in the rare disease sector with respect to counselling and psychotherapeutic provision and mental health support. We are always pleased to act as a (formal or informal) independent consultant or advisor with respect to recruiting your own counsellor, and/or to provide supervision or networking opportunities for them in due course.
If you do decide to work with or employ a counsellor directly we are also happy to offer support for them in their role including access to our CPD training and supervision.
How is what you offer different from genetic counselling?
Genetic counselling is often offered at diagnosis, or when considering children. It focuses primarily on the implications of carrying a genetic condition medically and for life choices around having children. It involves education and information about the condition, referral to specialists, and can involve some psychological counselling. It is unlikely to be available for more than a 1 or 2 sessions.
The personal psychotherapeutic counselling that we offer involves exploring the meaning and impact of the condition at a more personal level. It typically involves a series of sessions over an agreed time.
We are a specialist clinic in a hospital setting, would you be able to work with us?
We would be pleased to explore how we could become a commissioned service for your particular patient group, or to work in a supportive referral capacity alongside your existing psychology services, clinic or nurse specialists.
Our clinical work is primarily by phone or online, but we can also attend occasional clinics for outreach, to provide training or support information events.
Can you talk with us about a patient?
Assuming that a client is already seeing one of our counsellors, our ethical commitment to confidentiality means we cannot speak to you without someone’s consent. The only exceptions to this are if we had substantial concerns that someone was about to put themselves or another at serious risk.
Should a client not be already seeing us, we are always pleased to think with clinicians, support workers or patient leaders about how best to support patients or family members that are causing concern.
We are based outside the UK. Can we still work with you?
Where appropriate, we will work with you to establish services appropriate for, and embedded in, your particular country and culture.
Due to professional licensing laws, we can only establish counselling or clinical services for organisations based in the UK.
For collaborative working on projects, or to provide speakers, trainers or facilitators for international events we are always delighted to be involved with the wider international rare condition community.
We are not sure what sort of services would be best for us, or what we need. Can you help us think about that?
Yes, we can help advise on this based on our experience running other services. Factors taken into account will include the size of your rare community, other support services already in place, the severity of impact of the rare condition and at what point in the life cycle, and condition penetration in the population.