Marches Counselling Service (MCS) is a charity offering professional, confidential and affordable counselling and psychotherapy. MCS aims to help people based in Hereford, across Herefordshire and the Marches, who are experiencing distress who feel that working with a counsellor or psychotherapist would help them to manage challenging times in their lives.
MCS was founded to make to make counselling and psychotherapy accessible to all. We are a not-for-profit charity and rely on client fees to provide our service. We fundraise to keep costs low and help subsidise those on low incomes. We ask those who can pay the full cost of counselling to do so, but we understand this isn’t always possible. Being a small charity with low overheads, a good financial ethos and much needed funding support, we keep our costs as low as possible whilst providing a professional service.
An initial assessment enables a deeper consideration of an individual client’s situation where we discuss possible ways forward which will meet their needs, then match clients to an appropriate counsellor.
We work hard to avoid a waiting list and aim for new clients to be assessed and in subsequent therapy sessions as soon as possible. Clients are not limited to the number of sessions they come for and can access long-term therapy work where needed.
Counselling is an opportunity to work with someone you can trust. Together the client and counsellor look at how the client reached their present situation, what it means for them, and what they might want to change. Through counselling a client may develop fresh coping skills, discover new perspectives, change unhelpful patterns and feel better in themselves.
It was life changing for me. Things I had taken for granted in myself, about the world were challenged, but gently, so I became much more confident
This includes approaches where you focus with your counsellor or psychotherapist on coping techniques, as well as those which look more in depth at present or past patterns in your life and relationships. The aim is to help you understand and deal with where you are now, so your relationship with the future can be different.
This is when a group of people who share some common difficulties come together with each other and a counsellor to consider where they are in their lives and think about ways forward: sometimes using specific techniques like mindfulness, sometimes in a more open way.
Remote or online therapy includes counselling appointments over the phone or using audio-visual platforms such as Zoom. These have been introduced during the Covid pandemic to ensure one-to-one counselling can still continue when it hasn’t been safe to meet in person. They will continue for those for whom it is a preferred method, or in situations where illness or transport create difficulties in meeting in person.
This allows two people to work together with a counsellor on their communication. It can help you understand one another better, change patterns in how you relate and find more satisfaction in being together. This is not always about keeping the old relationship, but about finding a positive way to live differently.
Counselling provides a safe place to talk and work on many issues such as:
Office open 9am – 1pm. A confidential answer machine operates outside these hours.
57 St Owen Street
Hereford HR1 2JQ
Available M-F during daytime, in person or online.
There is limited evening & weekend availability.
