Home > Our services > Adults > Counselling
Our counselling service helps local people to get the mental health support they need.
The Ruils Counselling Service supports adults needing mental health support in Richmond Borough. Over the last year our 12 volunteer counsellors have worked with 120 clients, giving them a safe and supportive space to talk about their issues and find ways to cope. Our service supports a range of people and needs from Disabled people to family carers.
Please be advised that we are only able to accept internal referrals.
If you would like to access the service, please speak with your GP about getting a referral to the Social Prescribing service and they will support you to access counselling.
If you are a client and need emergency support, please call 999. If you need urgent support outside of our office hours, please get in touch with the Adult Social Care team.
Urgent Support Contacts
- 999/A&E – if you have seriously harmed yourself
- GP – you can request a referral to see a psychiatrist and/or Community Mental Health Team
- 111 – for non-urgent support and advice
Samaritans
- Call: 116 123
- Email: jo@samaritans.org
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)
- Call: 0800 58 58 58 (5pm to midnight every day)
Papyrus – for people under 35
- Call: 0800 068 41 41 (9am to midnight every day)
- Text: 07860 039967
- Email: pat@papyrus-uk.org
SOS Suicide of Silence
- Call: 0300 1020 505 (8am to midnight every day)
- Email: support@sossilenceofsuicide.org
Shout Crisis Text Line
- Text “SHOUT” to 85258
“I feel that the counselling I had has had such a positive impact on my life that I feel positive. I am achieving things – I organised a successful event at the weekend and I am ready for anything. (My counsellor) helped me with my mental health, she helped me to process some difficult memories. She knew what I needed. I actually don’t have the words to describe the good she did.”
Counselling client
Our counselling service offers a lifeline to hundreds of local Disabled people in need of support each year.
We are completely reliant on generous donations to keep our counselling service running. Paying for mental health support can be a massive barrier for people and we want to make sure that our clients don’t have this added stress. Any and all donations go directly toward the running of the service and keeping is accessible for all.
A one-off gift of £257 will pay for a series of 12 Counselling sessions for a Disabled person, or a carer of a Disabled person, giving them a safe space to be heard and find ways to cope.