The aims of Pathways are:
- To provide a structured Counselling & Listening Service.
- To offer formal and informal opportunities for Counselling & Listening.
- To ensure a professional service within a clear, structured framework of referral, assessment, and supervised working.
- To ensure appropriate confidentiality as part of the code of ethics and good practice.
- To ensure Counsellors & Listeners are appropriately trained, qualified, and undertake on-going professional development, supervision, and support.
- To promote and publicise the service, its aims, and accessibility.
- To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the service against agreed performance indicators.
- To provide supervision and support for team members.
- To offer non-judgemental acceptance of a client without necessarily condoning their actions.
- To facilitate choice and the exploration of options for a client, without giving advice. (There may be occasions where a basic level of advice is given, such as suggesting the client should seek clarification of physical symptoms from their GP, but usually advice is not part of a Counselling Service).
- To serve the local community as an expression of Christ’s love in action.
- To provide a service of excellence, based on Christian ethos and practice. That service will be available to all individuals, groups, and organisations irrespective of their faith or belief.
- To affirm the central truths of the Christian faith as expressed in the Bible. Pathways recognises that God is revealed to all people in the unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Counselling Service offers sessions on an agreed, formal basis, initially for a period of 6–8 weeks, depending on the presenting issues. After the fourth or fifth session there will usually be a review and further sessions may be agreed. Most of the Pathways Counsellors are able to offer both short- and long-term work. Short-term is for 6-12 sessions and long-term 3+ months as appropriate.
In cases where the Service is not equipped to assist a particular client, then we will do our best to provide the client with an alternative contact.
