Your Call: Frequently Asked Questions
Your Call Counselling -What Can I Expect?
Who can use 'Your Call'?
'Your Call' is available to disabled people who are resident in Scotland and are 18 years of age or over. The service will also work with family members over 16 years of age who are resident with a disabled person.
What is counselling?
Counselling offers an opportunity to talk in confidence about problems or issues that concern you. These issues can be current, or concerned with past events. Counselling is a therapeutic approach that seeks to help you to come to terms with these difficulties, and to support you to make choices in your life. Counselling aims to help individuals become more aware of their personal resources, more skilled at coping with difficulties and thus more able to live independently.
Who are the counsellors?
'Your Call' has a team of professionally qualified disabled volunteer counsellors. They know what it means to live as a disabled person in Scotland, and are experienced in helping disabled people from many different backgrounds with a wide range of personal issues.
Do I have to pay for Counselling?
No. The service is free of charge to disabled people in Scotland and resident family members. However if you would like to make a contribution to the service, please send a cheque, made out to 'Your Call' to the address on the front page of the website.
Where is 'Your Call' based?
'Your Call' is one of the services supplied by the Lothian Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL) in Edinburgh. For further information about LCIL and its services, please consult other pages on this website.
Do you only work with clients over the telephone?
Yes. We do not currently operate a face-to-face service.
How do I make an appointment?
Call the 'Your Call' number (0808 801 03 62) during opening hours, and press option 1 to speak to a 'Your Call' administrator. They will ask you for some contact details and then set up your initial appointment with a counsellor at a time which is convenient.
What are the opening hours?
The opening hours for the appointment line are 11.00 am until 3.00 pm on Mondays to Thursdays. You can leave a message with our answering service if you call outwith these hours.
How long will I wait for an appointment?
We try offer a first appointment within 10 working days. However you may have a longer wait if the service is being heavily used.
What can I expect at my first appointment?
Your initial appointment will last up to 50 minutes. Your counsellor and yourself will decide how the time is used. You may, for example, have questions about counselling. With your consent, the counsellor may ask for background information on your situation and on the issues you would like to discuss. You may also contract to work together for further sessions.
What if need to talk to someone when the Service is closed?
'Your Call' is open Monday to Thursday from 11am to 3pm.
Outside of these hours you can leave a message on our answering service and someone will return your call as soon as practicable.
If you have a need to talk with someone outside our opening hours you can contact:
- Samaritans. National telephone number: 08457 90 90 90
- Textphone number. 08457 90 91 92
- Your own doctor
- NHS 24. Telephone 08454 24 24 24
- Textphone number. 18001 08454 24 24 24
- Scottish Women's Aid.
- Domestic Abuse Helpline 0800 027 1234
- Breathing Space. Freephone 0800 83 85 87(open 6pm to 2am)
- To e-mail Breathing Space click here
How many sessions can I have?
Your Call offers an initial contract of up to twenty counseling sessions. We also have a policy of reviewing the work every five sessions, to ensure that it is still useful to you.
What kind of issues can I bring to counselling?
Counselling can help with a wide range of problems so anything that is worrying you from the past or disrupting your life in the present can be explored. Some of the issues commonly addressed include anxiety, depression, family or relationship concerns, bereavement, difficulty in adjusting to a new way of life, impact of impairment, abuse, eating difficulties and sexual issues. Counselling can also be useful if you want to find a way forward, or are seeking meaning in your life, but feel 'stuck'.
Will my problem be seen as serious enough?
Yes. If a problem is impacting on your daily life to the point where it is concerning you, then it is serious enough to talk about.
Will the counsellor give me advice?
Counsellors don't generally give advice since one of the purposes of counselling is to help people find their own path and make their own decisions. Your counsellor will give you the space to talk and will listen empathically and non-judgementally. However counsellors are experienced in helping clients work out how best to deal with their individual situations.
What records are kept?
Counsellors write brief, hand-written notes on counselling sessions, and your contact details, and backup copies of these notes, are held on computer. This confidential information is stored securely within the Service, kept for five years and then destroyed or deleted. If you have any questions about this please raise them with your counsellor. Anonymous statistical information is kept electronically and used to aid the efficient running of the Service.
All records are kept securely with access only available to 'Your Call' staff.
How confidential is counselling?
'Your Call' takes confidentiality very seriously. All client information is treated in confidence. This means that we do not disclose verbal or written information without your permission or consent. The only exceptions to this procedure are where there is a legal obligation to disclose (very rare) or when a counsellor believes the client or other people are at serious risk. In these circumstances the consent to pass on these concerns will be sought from the client before information is disclosed, if at all possible.
What does the Counselling Service expect from me?
Please call us using the freephone number at your allotted appointment time. If you can't call, please contact us in advance to cancel or rearrange the appointment. It is important to ensure that you are in a secure room where you will not be overheard for the duration of the appointment, and that you will not be interrupted by anyone during the call.
What if I would prefer face to face counselling?
If you would like to find a face to face counsellor then contact the professional bodies COSCA or BACP for details of counsellors local to you. You will find links to COSCA and BACP on the Your Call useful Links page.
How can I volunteer as a counsellor?
We welcome new volunteers who are disabled people and either qualified counsellors or in training. Although Your Call is based in Edinburgh the call centre technology means that it may be possible to volunteer from your own home anywhere in Scotland. Please see our page on volunteering as a counsellor. For further information please send us your details using our contact form
I am not a counsellor are there any other ways that I can get involved?
Yes. Your Call welcomes your support. Have a look at our Your Call volunteering page where any volunteering opportunities are advertised. If you would like to make a personal donation then please send a cheque to Your Call at the main LCIL address. If you are an organisation and would like to discuss payroll giving or corporate sponsorship then please send us your details using our contact form. Thank you.
