Thank you for visiting our website. We hope we can help and look forward to hearing from you. We work individually 1:1 with children, young people and adults of all ages, offering sessions all week, including Saturday and Sundays.

East Surrey Counselling Group is a team of counsellors working alongside one another in the beautiful village of Godstone, very close to Godstone Pond and a 5 minute drive from M25, Junction 6.

We work individually with Children, Adolescents and Adults of all ages. Please note we are not family systemic counsellors and therefore do not work with family groupings only individual clients.

Please contact our founding counsellor Carol Belsey to enquire about our services as she will know which counsellors have availability and also runs our waiting list. 07926 357955   carolbelsey@hotmail.co.uk

Please note that each counsellor works independently and contracting with a counsellor sees you working with them under their individual contracts and  insurance and not with East Surrey Counselling Group or Carol Belsey Counselling.

New. We are now offering Saturday morning group sessions for parents/careers wanting strategies and practical tips to help with their anxious children. Click here  for more information.

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All our counsellors have experience of working within various settings and with a wide range of people experiencing difficulties within their life. Whilst we are incredibly well known and respected for our work with the under 18s, we also work with adults so please do contact us if you are an adult who is considering counselling.

In particular, Yvonne Robinson has worked with clients who have suffered from; child abuse, sexual exploitation, domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, ritual abuse and interfamilial abuse and the traumatic effects for many years so please do contact her for any of these experiences.

Our child and young people counsellors use the creative arts and can offer sand tray and miniatures, arts and craft materials, puppetry, storytelling, poetry, music, movement, lego play, dolls house, 2 person games and toys.

Our rooms at 18, 19 and 20 The Old Dairy, Godstone, are cosy, comfortable and welcoming and Godstone is a beautiful village to explore with a friendly feeling and a wonderful place to access counselling. The natural beauty of the environment can help our clients to feel relaxed both before and after their counselling session.

We are easily accessed from Caterham, Whyteleafe, Woldingham, Oxted, Merstham, Bletchingley, Nutfield, Redhill, Reigate, Edenbridge and Westerham. The car parks around the Godstone Pond area are free for 3 hours.

We look forward to hearing from you.

The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy have a short 4-minute film you may wish to watch which discusses what therapy involves and what you can expect from it. It is available via www.bacp.co.uk/therapytalks

Child and Adolescent Counselling:

In 2018 the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health reported that UK schools were making an average of 183 referrals to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) every school day, with 56% of referrals coming from primary schools and data from 2017 suggests that one in eight five to 19 year olds were found to have one or more mental health conditions on assessment and this number has sadly risen due to the Covid Pandemic. (BACP Children, Young People and Families Journal June 2020).

In July 2021 1 in 6 children, aged 5-16, were identified as having a possible mental health problem in England and its believed that half of all 17-19 year olds with a diagnosable mental health disorder have self harmed or attempted suicide at some point (NHS Digital 2021. Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2021) and in 2023 recent analysis of the latest NHS Digital data by the charity YoungMinds concluded that the number of children and young people undergoing treatment or waiting to start with the CAMHS reached 466,250 in May 2023, the highest number on record (BACP CYP & F Journal Nov 2023).

More children are being seen to be more stressed now than before the pandemic and we know that when a child feels stressed it can have a tsunami-sized effects on all areas of their life, including their ability to learn and sadly suicide is now the highest cause of death in the under 30s.

English schools do not all have school counsellors and wait times in those that do can be long with children then often only offered only 6-12 sessions once they reach the top of the waiting list. Whilst this might be all the sessions your child needs, for some children this is not sufficient and sees them not improve enough to concentrate in school. Counselling with one of our counsellors can be a way of securing therapeutic support for your child when they need/request it and for the duration of time they require it.

Whilst counselling isn’t a magic wand for every problem for anyone, especially children who are distressed it can be incredibly valuable.

Waiting lists continue to climb within the NHS so if you are currently engaged with your GP and awaiting a referral to CAMHS or your child is on a CAMHS’ waiting list, counselling with one of our team might help your child to feel supported during this time and they can begin to work on understanding their thoughts, feelings and difficulties whilst you wait. Under 18’s mental health can deteriorate whilst they wait on lists and therefore counselling with one of our team can be a useful early intervention, which may see your child improving sufficiently to not require CAMHS input once they reach the top of the waiting list (which currently can often take 18-24 months)

Our counselling service is also often ideal for those under 18’s who are not taken into the CAMHS service (21% of referrals in 2018 – 2019 BACP Dec 2021) and who are referred to other agencies/charities for short term interventions only.

We would be very happy to discuss your child’s needs with you. Please contact Carol in the first instance, our lead counsellor. She will know which counsellors have spaces and can refer you to the right member of our team for you or your child’s individual needs. She also holds and manages our waiting list at times when we are all fully booked.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Counselling is a good early intervention for all and our location is well equipped for child clients but also relaxing and calm for all our other clients.

Our counsellors only work with a certain number of clients per week, at any one time, to ensure they work ethically and for the best therapeutic outcomes and benefits for each of their clients. Therefore if one of our counsellors has a full list of clients we will refer you to one of the other counsellors within our group, depending on your individual needs. If , when you contact us, we are unable to take on any more clients, we will add your name to our waiting list and will contact you as soon as a space becomes available.

East Surrey Counselling Group is a collective name for a group of counsellors all working in The Old Dairy in Godstone but working independently of one another. Counselling Contracts are made between the individual counsellor and client or parent of client. Each counsellor works within the Ethical Framework of their professional body and holds independent professional insurance and no details beyond referring details are passed between the counsellors as we ensure we work with confidentiality and the best interests of our clients at the heart of our individual work.

Please feel free to contact each counsellor direct. Alternatively if you would like to discuss your needs further, please contact our coordinating lead counsellor Carol Belsey. Carol can be contacted on 07926 357955 or carolbelsey@hotmail.com.

We look forward to hearing from you and supporting you or your child towards a more fulfilling and content future.

Counselling can help people to address emotional, personal and relationship problems and concerns. These include: