Help & Advice
Mental Health &
Counselling
The Rainbow Project provides the only LGBTQIA+ Co-counselling service in Northern Ireland. This means that all our counsellors are members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and work with an LGBTQIA+ affirmative approach.
Mental Health & Counselling
A Safe Space to Talk
The Rainbow Project provides the only LGBTQIA+ Co-counselling service in Northern Ireland. This means that all our counsellors are members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and work with an LGBTQIA+ affirmative approach.
Counselling offers an opportunity to talk in confidence about challenges, losses, problems or issues that concern you.
Due to unprecedented demand, our counselling waiting list is currently 3-5 months. We appreciate your patience and understanding while our team supports those currently accessing the service.
Speak to Our Team Today
Our Services
What our Co-cultural Counselling service offers
- Individual counselling: We offer one-on-one talking therapies with our qualified staff counsellors, or student counsellors in placement.
- Face-to-Face or Remote delivery: We can offer face-to-face sessions at our 2 Belfast based offices and our Foyle office, as well either telephone or video sessions for people unable to travel to our offices.
- Adults and Young People: We work with adults and young people over the age of 13.
- Co-cultural experience: All of our Counsellors are members of the LGBTQIA+ community themselves, and engage in CPD around issues facing our community, bringing both lived experience, and professional training into the counselling room.
- We work with a broad range of issues: Clients may choose to have counselling with us to work with issues such as sexual orientation, gender identity or internalised queerphobia, but we can work with a broad range of issues, such as depression, anxiety, self-harm, relationship worries, major life decisions, bereavement, and much more. Some clients may want to work on these issues, knowing their identity won’t be a barrier to being treated with dignity and respect in the counselling room.
FAQ’s
Your Questions, Answered
Starting counselling can feel like a big step, and it’s natural to have questions. We’ve answered some of the most common queries about our counselling service, including what to expect, how to access support and how sessions work. If you can’t find the information you’re looking for, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Who are the counsellors?
All of our counsellors identify as LGBTQIA+ and hold professional qualifications in counselling, or in the case of our student counsellors, are working towards their qualification. All of our staff counsellors hold or are working toward accreditation with the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP), or another recognised professional body. Finally, our counsellors are fully insured to practice and receive on-going training and external, independent supervision.
The team is a mix of gay, bisexual and transgender counsellors, giving broad representation across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
What if The Rainbow Project is not for me?
Deciding to see a counsellor is a big step and finding the right counsellor for you is extremely important. We invite you to make an initial appointment with our Health and Wellbeing team to find out more about our services and whether it is suited to your needs. If your issues involve isolation, one of our social groups may better suit your needs. If you are unsure if counselling with The Rainbow Project is right for you, the Health and Wellbeing team can arrange for you to speak with a counsellor and assess if we are the best place to provide counselling for you.
Finding a counsellor who will be LGBTQIA+ affirmative can be made easier by checking out PinkTherapy who have a directory of affirmative therapists.
Other directories such as https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/,
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb, and https://www.bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists can let you search through private counsellors local to you, and filter to show counsellors who have identified themselves as LGBTQIA+ affirmative.You may find it helpful asking some of the questions listed here of your prospective therapist. The therapist may not always answer the question, but you will get a sense of how they respond to you, even if you don’t get a direct answer.
If your workplace has an Employee Assistance Program, or offers counselling as part of a Health insurance benefit, you can often access counselling very quickly through these EAP programs at no cost to yourself. While not guaranteed, EAP providers may be able to identify counsellors in their roster who are LGBTQIA+ affirmative.
How much does counselling cost?
Counselling provided by The Rainbow Project is funded by the Public Health Agency and is free to clients. We offer 6 sessions but can extend this to 12 if your counsellor feels it would be beneficial.
Make a Referral
Taking the First Step
To refer yourself or someone else to our counselling service, please click on the relevant link below and provide us with the required information to create a referral.
If you haven’t used our services before, or in the last 12 months, someone from our Services Teams will arrange a session to gather relevant details and put your referral on the waiting list for counselling.
As you approach the top of the waiting list, the counselling team will reach out to ask your availability and preferences for counselling to stream you towards the right counsellors that match your needs. Clients currently being approached for this information have been waiting 8 months.
After this information, the wait to begin counselling can vary between a few weeks and a few months depending on the availability of counsellors and your preferences.
For young people under 18 years of age and vulnerable adults we actively encourage appropriate third parties (e.g. parents/carers, teachers, social workers, GPs, youth workers, etc) to facilitate referrals for young people under the age of 18 years.
If you have further questions before making a referral, please email counselling@rainbow-project.org with any queries.
Please note that The Rainbow Project is not a crisis service. If you are in crisis, please contact Lifeline on 0808 808 8000 or Samaritans on 116 123. Alternatively, please seek support from your GP, or present at your local A&E.
Help & Advice
Other Ways We Can Support You
Everyone’s journey is different, and you may find that other services we offer can provide additional support, information or opportunities to connect with our community. Explore some of our related services below.
