Bright Eyed & Bushy Tailed FAQs

How can you be contacted?

We can be emailed at cooperativecounsellingcoop@gmail.com or you can telephone us on 07546968050/49. We hope to call you back no less than 2 working days later and to make arrangements for an introductory meeting within a week.

Can I choose whether or not I have a female or a male counsellor?

Yes. It’s important for you to get someone you like working with.

What happens when I finish my counselling sessions?

When the agreed amount of counselling sessions come to an end, there will be a review meeting. This gives you a chance to tell the people who are at the meeting (Mums, Dads, Grandparents, Carers and Teachers, etc) if you found the counselling helpful or not; what bits you enjoyed, what bits you didn’t enjoy. You can also decide what other bits of the counselling time you may want to share and celebrate. The review meeting is also a chance to see if you would benefit from having more session or not.

What happens to the things I say and do in the room?

What is said in the counselling room is ‘confidential’: that means no one outside of Bright Eyed & Bushy Tailed gets to hear about what you have talked about unless you are happy for them to know about it. This included Mums, Dads, Carers and Teachers. Yet there is one big exception to this rule. If your counsellor becomes worried about your safety or the safety of someone else that you have talked about, they will have to tell someone else, so that you (or the person you spoke about) can be protected.

So what happens if I say yes?

If you say yes then you and your own counsellor will arrange a time when you can spend up to an hour in a room together. This will be once a week for however many weeks has been agreed. This is your chance to talk about things that you want to talk about, or to do activities that help you understand things better. It doesn’t always have to be serious. You can just be yourself and the counsellor will just be themselves and you can see what happens each week.

Some child and young people use art, music and games to help them. Others like to tell their story just like they were telling it from a story book or a film. If you have a special interest then the counsellor could work with that.

What if I do want to take part really, it is just that I am nervous?

It’s okay to be a bit nervous at first. We will probably be a bit nervous to begin with, too. After all, we don’t know each other yet.

What if I don’t want to take part?

Then you don’t have to.  It is always your choice to take part.

Who should set the goals for counselling children and young people?

Bright Eyed & Bushy Tailed works with everyone’s goals: the young person’s, the parents and guardians and the counsellors.  We do not expect all the goals to be the same, but we do expect that the young person’s wishes will be the most important of all.

What could I hope to get by having counselling?

Some of the recognised goals of counselling children & young people are:

  • To help you deal with difficult emotional issues
  • For you to feel okay about yourself
  • To help you change patterns of behavior and thoughts that have a negative effect on your life
  • To allow you the opportunity to explore your issues without us making judgments.
  • To enable you to develop and fulfill your potential

Is there anything I should know before I start counselling?

Yes. One important things to know about is that you might feel worse before you feel better. This is normal in counselling. The good news is that your counsellor will be there to support you when you are feeling low and they will also be there when you feel better.