WELCOME TO COAP'S ONLINE COUNSELLING SERVICE

COAP COUNSELLING - What is it all about?

COAP now offers a Free Online Short-term Counselling Service for young people aged 11 and upwards living in the UK who are having difficulties living with someone else's addiction.

If you would like to write to others in similar situations, sign up and visit our forums at http://www.coap.co.uk/forum and http://www.coap.co.uk/just_joined.

Addiction has its many faces...

Addiction has its many faces...it may be addiction to alcohol, drugs or a form of behaviour such as gambling or shopping. Talking about problems can be difficult, especially when you are talking about your loved one's addiction, as people can feel upset, embarrassed or feel that there is something to hide.

If you want a definition of addiction visit NACOA's website (http://www.nacoa.org.uk/ - in the information section).

You may find it easier to talk online

You may find it easier to talk online about your feelings rather than face to face. Online counselling may be useful if it is hard to travel or physically get to a counselling centre. Our COAP counsellor will be there to support you and you may find some ideas of how to cope with your situation.

What does COAP short-term online counselling offer?

If you would like some specific support with a problem, you may want to 'speak' online, in private, with our counsellor.

We invite you to try 2 email sessions and then see how you feel. If you decide you would like more you can have up to 6 sessions, where you send an email once a week and the counsellor responds to your email.

What will happen and how will it work?

1. You send the COAP counsellor a first email at sam.coap@googlemail.com that let's the counsellor know what you would like to talk about for the sessions. We ask that in your first email to us you include your personal contact details; your name and surname, your age, your address and a contact number.

2. The COAP counsellor will read your email fully and send an email back within 48 hours.

3. You and the counsellor will then have the sessions.

The COAP counsellor will ask you to describe how you are feeling and invite you to share your thoughts. If you want to ignore any of the counsellor's questions you can. There are no right or wrong answers, you won't be told off for any of your feelings. Some weeks may be 'light' when you are feeling OK and there is not much to say. Other weeks may be 'heavy' when lots has happened and you want to get things off your chest. You decide how much to write.

This is FOR YOU.

The sessions are FREE.

THE MAIN POINTS ARE:

• It is private and confidential
• The counsellor will not tell you what to do
• The counsellor will listen and try to understand
• The counsellor will try to help you see your problems in a different way
• The counsellor will try to help you find a way to help yourself

There is help and support out there for you, and coming onto COAP is a brave step to take in that direction. Well done for reaching out - you're not alone.

How long or short can the emails be?

We invite you to write between 1000-1500 words for each email exchange with the online counsellor.  

Why do I have to give my personal contact details?

We ask for your personal contact details at the beginning of your counselling email sessions so that we are able to contact you if we feel either you or another child is at risk or in danger. We would contact you by email and talk about how we can help you or the other person be safe. We have a number of options at these times, which we might need to discuss with you directly by email and/or phone. It is our policy to keep children and young people safe.

Confidentiality Policy

What you talk about with the COAP counsellor is confidential and remains with the COAP online counselling team, unless you are at risk of being hurt or abused. This means that the counsellor will not tell your friends, family or social service. The counsellor will have a supervisor who checks the support emails, but your name will not be mentioned. If you or someone else is in danger...the counsellor will be concerned about you and may want to talk with you about getting more help.

Online counselling

If you want a definition of counselling you can find it here http://www.bacp.co.uk/education/whatiscounselling.html.

Online counselling is very different from face to face counselling.

The Legal Stuff...

The COAP counsellor is an Accredited Counsellor with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

This means our counsellor works within BACP 'Ethical Framework for Counsellors', and aldo the BACP Guidelines for Online Counselling and Pyschotherapy. If you want to know more, look up www.bacp.co.uk.

Our counsellor has also been specifically trained to counsel online and has an Online Counselling Skills Certificate with www.ocst.org.uk.

Want to know what records COAP keeps?

COAP keeps a record so you don't have to keep going over the same stuff every time you talk to us. Records are kept on an electric file unique to COAP. COAP keeps your record for 3 years.

We are unable to provide you with copies of your email sessions as we cannot verify your indentity.

We also use the database to collect anonymous statistical information to help us improve COAP services.

Need an immediate response?

Contact the Samaritans - www.samaritans.org

Online counselling is not intended for individuals with severe and enduring mental health difficulties or for those who are actively suicidal. It is also not for individuals who are in crisis, or who need an immediate response to their email. If you feel you are in danger of harming yourself contact the Samaritans.