Who
For D/deaf people looking for personal one-to-one counselling.
Where to go
Deafworks does not offer personal counselling, but look at the list below of places you could contact.
SignHealth Counselling (www.signhealth.org.uk)
“SignHealth Psychological Therapy Service provides 1:1 interventions for cultural, British Sign Language (BSL) users in the UK. BSL interpreters are not required and as such psychological treatment is therapeutically effective as the working alliance can be developed in a shorter time frame and the cost is reduced as there is only 1 professional in the room. Clients are seen at a venue close to their home, usually their GP surgery and funding is sought from their local Primary Care Trust (PCT). All therapists are qualified to a minimum of Diploma in Counselling and fluent in BSL. Visit the SignHealth Psychological Therapy webpage. www.signhealth.org.uk”
Domestic Violence
Log on to SignHealth above and look for “DeafHope” – a new project for women victims and survivors of domestic abuse.
Trudi Collier (www.trudicollier.com)
Trudi Collier is a Deaf qualified counsellor. She offers one-to-one counselling delivered in BSL and is able to meet clients anywhere in Scotland. Contact her at trudi@trudicollier.com or at the Lothian Deaf Counselling Service.
National Deaf Services
Look here for more information.
Signs of Hope
A Westminster (London) counselling service. Google them and contact Nikki Dhillon for more information.
Training as a Counsellor
A Diploma course with 18 D/deaf students is currently ongoing in Coventry.
Tower Hamlets, London
We are told Pauline O’Halloran offers a counselling service both within and outside Tower Hamlets. More information welcomed.
Counselling for people with cancer
Updated information about RAD’s new counselling service for Deaf people affected by cancer. A poster is available at
http://www.royaldeaf.org.uk/images/stories/SocialCare/Deaf_cancer_poster_Blue_Yellow_border.pdf
Couples Counselling
And finally, a request from Pauline Latchem: “”I am a qualified and practicing Humanistic Counsellor. I am currently doing additional counselling training with InterPsyche in order to qualify as a Couples Therapist. I need 50 hours of practice to gain the qualification. I am able to offer confidential free therapy to any couples who feel they might benefit from working with a Deaf signing therapist to improve their relationship with each other. I can offer up to 50 free hours in total – most couples benefit from 5-10 sessions. Do get in touch asap at pauline.latchem@googlemail.com”
I received this info recently from SignHealth which might help:
“We are aware that there are a number of people interested in undertaking counselling training in BSL but at the moment there are no plans to start a year 1 (certificate) any time soon. This is not to say that there will be nothing arranged in the future and I suggest that anyone interested email http://www.SignHealth.org to register an interest. If there are a number of D/deaf people who are able to afford to do the training and have enough time etc then it might be something that Inter-Psyche and SignHealth would be able to put on again”.
Selected articles
2001
‘Healthy Emotions’, BATOD, May 2001, pp. 1, pp. 2
