frequently asked questions

f2f has been set up by a group of experienced practitioners who have worked together for many years providing high quality counselling services for individuals throughout the UK. f2f is owned privately and is registered in England and Wales under Company number 04002666. The registered office is at 2 Dovedale Studios, 465 Battersea Park Road, London SW11 4LR.

At f2f, we offer you professionally managed, pre-paid, one to one counselling in your locality. Our service is confidential, timely and takes the hassle and uncertainty out of finding the right counsellor for your needs. We also offer couples and family counselling. You can also pay for counselling for another member of your family.

Individual face to face counselling/telephone counselling is £60 per session; couples counselling is £90 per session and family counselling is £100 per session. All prices are inclusive of VAT.

Counselling sessions are only provided if you have paid for them in advance.

 A typical session lasts 50 minutes but the cost of the session is fixed, even if it should be shorter or longer than this.

The information f2f holds on you is kept confidential. To be part of our network, all our counsellors provide us with evidence of their current membership of one of our approved professional bodies. Their membership requires them to abide by the Code of Ethics of their particular body. This includes the provision of confidential services so you can be re-assured that the discussions you have with your counsellor are kept confidential. Only in very rare circumstances, for example, when we are required by law or by court order or if you are likely to harm yourself or others are we obliged to release information about you. Otherwise, no one will know you are using our service unless you choose to tell them.

When you are ready to book a session, you will be asked to fill in a form with your contact details, the nature of your problem and where you would like to be seen. This section also includes your payment details, including your credit/debit card number. It is your responsibility to ensure that all information you provide to f2f is accurate.

Any information we hold on you is restricted to clinical and designated staff only. face2face counselling ltd is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998. Please also refer to our Confidentiality, Privacy, Security and Data Protection Policies.

Yes. As part of our initial vetting process, we reserve the right not to offer you counselling. We also reserve the right to stop providing the counselling for you at anytime during the counselling process. Should we decide that we are no longer able to provide you with counselling, we will notify you in writing immediately and you will be refunded in full for any remaining pre-paid sessions.

Our counsellors are a mix of British Psychological Society (BPS) chartered clinical or counselling psychologists, counsellors or psychotherapists accredited with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) - the highest level attainable – and psychotherapists registered to practice with the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) or the British Confederation of Psychotherapists (BCP). You will be offered counselling with a counsellor who has the qualifications and experience which we believe is most suited to you from the information you have provided.

Yes, face2face counselling limited is an organisational member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP). We abide by its Code of Ethics, as well as our own clinical protocols which have been developed over many years.

Your counsellor will use the most appropriate counselling model for your particular area of concern. CBT will be used if your counsellor is trained in it and assesses that this is what you need.

You must notify our Customer Relations Team immediately at info@face2facecounselling.co.uk if you are unhappy with the counsellor we have provided for you. You are able to change your counsellor once, but no more. If you insist on making a further change, we reserve our right to refuse you further use of our services. You will be refunded for any remaining sessions already paid for and not used.

No. You will be offered another counsellor.

You need to give your counsellor at least 24 hours notice if you are not able to attend a pre-arranged session and the time and date of the session will be re-arranged. If you cancel within 24 hours or do not attend a pre-arranged session, the session will be re-arranged but you still have to pay in full for the session you did not have.

Please also refer to the Payment & Refund Policy, which forms part of these terms and conditions.

The cost of all pre-paid counselling sessions which are not required will be refunded to you in full within 30 days following confirmation from your counsellor that you wish to cancel your remaining sessions.

This is very rare. However, should it happen, it may be due to a misunderstanding or unforeseen circumstances. Please email our Customer Relations Team immediately at info@face2facecounselling.co.uk We will ask the counsellor to make contact with you to rearrange another session at no further cost to you.

The length of counselling depends on the nature of the difficulties you are experiencing and the number of sessions you and your counsellor agree are required to achieve a successful outcome. Most people find that sessions provided once a week for up to eight weeks or so are usually sufficient. Some people benefit from more frequent sessions, others may require counselling lasting several months or longer.

Yes. To do so you would need to revisit this site and ask to see the counsellor you saw before.

If you wanted to see the same counsellor again without involving us, you would have to wait for at least a year from your last session before doing so. This is because in our contract with our counsellors, they agree not to see a f2f customer without involving us for at least 12 months after a customer's last session.

If you decided to see your counsellor without involving us, we would ask that you inform us first. This is because we have set up f2f to ensure that we oversee the clinical progress of your case monitored on your behalf. Should you still wish to see your f2f counsellor, without our involvement, we would have no responsibility for the counselling provided. Our counsellors are also obliged to inform us should a f2f customer wish to see them separately.

Throughout the UK.

You will not normally have to travel further than 10 miles (or 30 minutes travelling time) within your locality to see your counsellor, unless you agree to the contrary.

In some cases and especially if you live in an isolated area, you may be asked to travel further. It is also possible, though rare, that there are no counsellors in your locality who meet our selection criteria for the type of counsellor you require. If this is the case and you do not wish to travel further than your locality, you will be offered telephone counselling as an alternative.

Yes

No, it is your option as to whether you have face to face counselling or whether you make use of the telephone counselling service we offer. However, we would typically advise you to have face to face counselling as it is the most effective of the two forms. We do not make any representations or guarantees to you about the effectiveness of telephone counselling. Please see the Telephone Counselling Disclaimer.

We ask that counsellors call you within 3 working days. If you have not heard from our counsellor within 3 days, please email our Customer Relations Team on info@face2facecounselling.co.uk.

This depends on you. When your counsellor calls you for the first time, you will be able to arrange your first session at a time that is convenient for you and your counsellor. Most people usually choose to see their counsellor within a few working days of paying for their first session.

If you have paid by credit card rather than by debit card, credit card payment regulations require us to ask you to book your first session to take place within 30 days of payment. Before you make any payments, you are required to ensure that you will be able to attend a counselling session within 30 days.

If you want to cancel your counselling sessions altogether and you tell us this in writing within 7 working days of paying for your session or sessions, you will receive a full refund.

If you pay for sessions and these begin within 7 working days of you having paid for them, once a session has taken place you will not be entitled to a refund, should you then cancel.

If you notify us that you want to cancel more than 7 working days after making payment, you will not be entitled to a refund.

If you do change you mind, you must let us know immediately by email to: info@face2facecounselling.co.uk.

Please also see our Payment & Refund Policy.

In the unlikely event that this should happen, you will receive a full refund for any remaining sessions not used.

No, the counselling service is personal to you and is self referred. You cannot arrange counselling for anybody else.

On purchasing your first session, you will be sent a Personal Identification Link (PIL) by email, which allows you to access your personal profile and make further payments, without having to re-enter all your information again. By clicking on this link, the payment process is made easier and quicker for you, each time you visit.

Yes, but you will need to forward the email containing your PIL to the computer you plan to use. Please take care to keep your PIL safe and secure as you are solely responsible for its use and for protecting its confidentiality. You must notify us immediately at info@face2facecounselling.co.uk should it be disclosed to or used by a third party. We cannot have any liability to you for breach of confidentiality where it results from your PIL being given to another party.

Please go to ‘Book your Session’ and then click the link ‘I’ve lost my PIL’ and fill in the short form. You will then be sent your unique link to enable you to book more sessions.

Sessions are paid for in advance. At the start of counselling, you pay for your first session only.

If you agree with your counsellor that less than 4 additional sessions are required, you will need to pay in full for the number of sessions you have agreed. If 4 or more sessions are required, you can pay for all of them in advance or, if not, then at least a minimum of 4.

If, towards the end of your counselling, you need less than 4 sessions to complete your counselling, then you can pre-pay for the balance of the sessions due.

We use PayPal as our credit card payments partner. PayPal uses internationally recognised security checks to ensure your payment details are kept secure. Along with PayPal, we are committed to the ongoing prevention of fraud.

We try to make our website available at all times but cannot guarantee this. The content of our website is protected by copyright law and intellectual property rights and you will gain no rights in respect of these by using the website.

We have links on our website which we think may be of interest to you, but we make no representations or promises to you about these websites, their content or the party who runs them.

Please also see our Website and Cookies Policy.

You can use our services as soon as you have a credit/debit card.

You are able to book sessions for yourself on an individual basis using your PIL. Your spouse/partner will need to book his/her sessions separately by clicking onto “Book your session” and then onto “Book your first session”. After paying for the initial session, he/she will then be able to pay for further sessions individually, using his/her unique PIL.

The counsellor will discuss with you the most suitable way forward. This may mean that one of you will have to be referred to a different f2f counsellor. In any event, should individual counselling be agreed as the way forward after your first session, the person who did not make the original booking will have to make a fresh booking for him/herself to continue with individual counselling.

Not normally, although in the case of couples and family counselling you can do so as long as you also attend the first session of counselling. In other circumstances, for example, if you wish to buy sessions for your partner or another member of your family, please contact our Customer Relations Team at info@face2facecounselling.co.uk.

This is rare.  As soon as you feel you are unhappy about your counselling, let your counsellor know and why. If you are still unhappy, contact the f2f Customer Relations Team at info@face2facecounselling.co.uk who will urgently look into the matter for you.  Although we will endeavour to resolve matters to your satisfaction, we are not able to guarantee that you will be refunded for any or some of the sessions you have paid for.  Your statutory rights are not affected.

No. If you are not happy with your counselling session, contact our Customer Relations Team at info@face2facecounselling.co.uk.

Please contact our Customer Relations Team at info@face2facecounselling.co.uk. Although counselling proves to be beneficial to many people, there is no guaranteed result or solution and we do not make a promise to you as to what the effect or outcome of the counselling will be and have no liability to you in this respect.

Please read our Complaints Policy. You may then decide to contact our Customer Relations Team.

Either by emailing info@face2facecounselling.co.uk or by telephoning 0207 924 3906 during office hours (9.30 - 5.30 Monday – Friday)

Yes, as we need to email you your PIL

Customer Relations
face2face counselling limited
2 Dovedale Studios
465 Battersea Park Road
London SW11 4LR