FAQs

Counselling and psychotherapy are umbrella terms for a range of talking therapies. They're delivered by trained practitioners who work with you over the short or long term to help you bring about change and improve your wellbeing. Therapy gives you a safe, confidential space to explore difficult feelings, reflect on how you respond to life, and understand the way you relate to yourself and others.

Their work can overlap, but the training differs. Counsellors and psychotherapists both use talking therapy to help you work through emotional difficulties. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who can diagnose mental illness and prescribe medication. Psychologists study the way people think and behave and may offer particular therapies, but typically don't prescribe.

At Kay's, our team are trained counsellors and psychotherapists. If you think you may need medication or a formal diagnosis, your GP is the best first port of call.

When you have a desire — no matter how small — for things to change, you can access our services. It can help to ask yourself a few questions:

Are you unhappy? Even if you're not sure why, therapy can help you find the cause and work towards resolving it.

Are you finding it hard to cope? If getting from one day to the next feels like a struggle, therapy can help you build coping strategies and uncover anything underlying.

Do you understand why you feel or act as you do? Counselling can help make sense of patterns you can't quite explain, so you're able to change them.

Yes — counselling is a private, confidential space, and confidentiality is central to building trust with your therapist. There are a small number of limits, which your therapist will explain clearly in your first session. In rare situations — such as a serious risk of harm to you or someone else, or where the law requires it — your therapist may need to share information, and wherever possible they'll talk this through with you first.

Private counselling with us isn't shared with your GP or added to your medical records unless you ask us to. Like all reputable practices, our therapists also have regular professional supervision, where they may discuss their work without identifying you.

No. As a private practice, you can contact us directly to book — there's no need for a GP referral or to be on a waiting list.

Therapy isn't about being given advice. Your therapist's role is to listen and help you find your own answers — gaining insight into what's going on for you, so you feel able to move forward in the way that's right for you.

It usually takes a couple of sessions for your awareness to grow and for you to start noticing changes in your life. Progress can feel gradual rather than dramatic — small shifts in how you feel, think or respond to things are good signs. Your therapist will check in with you along the way so you can reflect on how it's going together.

Yes, completely. After a session you might feel relieved and heard, lighter, or energised by a new insight — but you may also feel tired or tender if the session touched on something difficult. That's a normal part of the process. If feelings ever become hard to manage between sessions, you can reach out to us.

The relationship between you and your therapist matters a great deal, and it's okay if it takes a moment to settle in. If you feel another of our therapists might suit you better, just let us know and we'll do our best to help you find the right person.

Your first session centres on your therapist getting to know you — your needs, what's brought you to therapy, and a little of your history. This helps establish which approach will suit you best, so you can begin to move forward. Before your first session, we'll send you a few short forms so your therapist has some background ahead of meeting you.

Yes. Our therapists work in an integrative way, drawing on many different theories and methods and tailoring their approach to you. If there's a particular style of therapy you'd like to explore, just let us know and we'll build it into your sessions where we can.

It depends on what you're working through and how ready you feel to explore it. There's no set limit on the number of sessions — many people start to notice improvements within a few, while others choose to continue for longer. You decide when the time is right to bring your therapy to a close.

Absolutely. Feeling nervous before your first time is completely normal — it's a step into the unknown for most people. Almost everyone feels far more at ease once they've had that first session. If you'd like things to change for the better, you're welcome to give us a call and talk it through.

Yes — we offer sessions both in person at our Jewellery Quarter room and online by video call, depending on what suits you best. You can read more on our Online Counselling page.

We ask that you don't bring children to your sessions. Children take in what they see and hear, and sessions can bring up emotional or sensitive topics you may not want them to be present for. If arranging childcare is difficult, we can offer you a video call instead.

Your first session is paid in full when you book, taken over the phone. All future payments are made in advance by bank transfer — we'll email you the details.

Rather than a deposit, the first session is paid in full at the time of booking, over the phone. After that, payments are made in advance by bank transfer.

Our counselling room is in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham:

By tram or train: the metro and train stops are around a 2-minute walk, reached from Snow Hill station in the city centre.

By bus: services 8A and 8C (Inner Circle) and 101 from the city centre serve the Warstone Lane clock nearby. Services 16, 74 and 75 run along Constitution Hill and Great Hampton Street, close to Vyse Street. The City Hop (No. 16) from the city centre to the Jewellery Quarter costs £1.

By car: there's parking right outside. It costs £2.10 an hour during the day until 6pm, and is free to park after 6pm.

Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm, and Saturday to Sunday, 9am to 3pm. Appointment availability within those hours varies by therapist.