Thank you for visiting our website.  Godstone is open for business despite the sinkhole and we are still open 7 days a week!  

Our fee is £60 per weekly session but we currently have a few reduced fee sessions available for those for whom a reduced weekly fee would allow them or their child to begin counselling so please do contact Carol Belsey if this applies to yourself and you would like to discuss further.   We look forward to hearing from you. 

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 close to Junction 6 of the M25.

We work individually 1:1 with Children, Adolescents and Adults of all ages and offer sessions all week, daytime and evening, including Saturday and Sundays. 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.

We are experienced in working with Neurodivergent clients, both children and adults. Gosia can work in Polish as well as English and Yvonne works 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 and has done so for many years.

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.