Couples Counselling in South Shields and Online

Couples counselling is for two adults who want to understand what is happening between them and change it. Every relationship style is welcome, and both of you receive the same warmth, respect and care.

Why couples come

• After a crisis
• The same argument keeps returning
• Closeness has faded
• A decision lies ahead
• Wanting to separate well

How sessions work

• The first session hears each person’s view, agrees what you both want and checks that couples counselling is the right route.
• Sessions are with both partners together, and separate individual sessions are not part of the pathway.
• The therapist works for the relationship, takes no side, gives no verdict on who is right and does not decide whether you stay together.
• Sessions slow the conversation down, make sure each person is heard and name the patterns that keep repeating, so you can both try something different.
• If either of you feels the balance has slipped, saying so in the session is part of the work.

What stays confidential

Sessions are confidential to the three people in the room. As in all therapy, the rare exceptions are:

• a serious risk of harm to you or someone else
• a child or vulnerable adult needing protection
• a court order, or where the law requires it

Between the two of you, the work runs on a no-secrets basis:

• Anything one of you tells the therapist alone, including by email or message, may be brought into a joint session.
• The exception is safety. If either of you is at risk or there is a safeguarding concern, the therapist speaks with each of you alone.
• A disclosure of fear, violence or coercion made to the therapist alone is not brought into a joint session.
• Brief records are kept for the couple. Either of you can ask to see them.
• Because a joint record includes the other person, what can be shared from it is decided case by case.

When joint work is not suitable

Couples counselling is not offered, or is paused, when:

• one partner is afraid of the other
• there is ongoing violence, coercion or intimidation
• drug or alcohol use is currently out of control
• one partner has already decided to end the relationship and wants the sessions only to announce it
• court proceedings between the partners are live

Each person is then offered individual support, or pointed to the right service. If you are in danger, call 999. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free, twenty-four hours a day, on 0808 2000 247.

Online sessions

• Sessions use secure video (Microsoft Teams), ideally with both of you in the same room on one screen.
• Choose a private space where nobody can overhear.
• Joining from two places is possible if agreed in advance, for example when one partner is away.
• If the connection fails, the therapist phones the number given at booking, and the session continues by phone or is rebooked without charge.
• Nothing is recorded, and confidentiality works the same way as in person, including the no-secrets basis.

How online and telephone sessions work has the practical detail.

Terms in brief

• Sessions are paid at booking and start on the hour.
• Give 48 hours’ notice to cancel or move, or the full fee is charged to the partner who booked.
• Either partner can end the work at any time, and a closing session is offered so that it ends well.

Full fees and cancellation terms are on the Fees page.

Registration

Couples counselling is covered by the same registrations as all counselling here: BACP Registered Member, MBACP, and NCPS Accredited Registrant, MNCPS (Acc.). The About page sets out training, approach and the inclusion the practice works to.

Not sure whether couples counselling or individual work is the better start? The free 10-minute introductory call is there for exactly that question.

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