Referral Process
To refer yourself to for 1:1 counselling, please give us a call or complete the enquiry form and we will contact you to complete the referral. We can then arrange an initial appointment at a time that suits you and answer any questions you may have before your first visit to the service.
We appreciate it if you can contact us yourself but if you need someone you trust to contact us on your behalf, we do ask if you can be with them while they make the call to confirm your consent that you would like to proceed with the referral. We will ask for some contact details, and a few general questions about your health so that we can make your first appointment as stress-free as possible.
We understand that you may need to bring someone with you to the first appointment which will take place in The Gatehouse at the Dunfermline Business Centre. For regular appointments, we ask for you to please attend these alone as this is found to be more effective for the counselling process. Due to the size of our premises, we have no waiting area for friends or family members, although there are some cafes nearby, or they are welcome to wait in the reception area of the Dunfermline Business Centre.
*Please note that we can only accept referrals from survivors of childhood sexual abuse who can also travel to Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland for counselling sessions*
*If you are a young person age 12-17, or submitting a referral on behalf of a young person, please visit the Young People page of our website and use the dedicated form*
Your Choice
You can choose to refer for counselling, groupwork, or both, and we aim to offer you the first appointment with the service coordinator within one month. After that, there may be a wait of 6-8 weeks for your regular appointments to start, and we will offer you some possible community support sources in the meantime.
If you are a witness in legal proceedings, we cannot accompany you to court, but we will help you to find the right person who will support you while this is happening. Organisations which may be able to help include Victim Support Scotland, Circles Advocacy, and Fife Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (FRASAC).
We offer Emotional Resources, Art Therapy and Journalling, Skills, and Trauma Centred Trauma Sensitive Yoga groups which run at specific times for a set number of weeks. All the groups are in-person at the Dunfermline Business Centre, apart from yoga which takes place online.
We don’t prescribe the number of sessions that you will need, as this is one of the things that you will be able to monitor with your counsellor during your work together.
We do ask you to let us know if you can’t attend one of your appointments here. If you miss two sessions without letting us know, you may have to wait for another counsellor or group to become available. If you attend a session when you are affected by drugs or alcohol, we will bring your session to a close and ask you to come back the following week instead.
Privacy & Confidentiality
We believe firmly in your right to privacy when you discuss your concerns here, whether this is in 1-1 counselling or in a group. Your records are stored anonymously and will be made available for you to see if you wish, in line with our Open Access policy. Records will be kept for seven years after your final session.
Our Confidentiality Policy has four clear legal exceptions: terrorism, drug money laundering, risks to the safety of children, and road traffic offences. Any information that you give us which relates to these activities must be passed on to other agencies. Nothing else can be discussed with anyone outside Safe Space, whether they are a family member, a GP, a teacher, or someone else that knows you unless you sign a form here which gives us your permission for this.
As a specialist service, we aim to work to a very high standard. We are members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland (COSCA), who oversee the professional work of the organisation, and all our workers have regular supervision.
If something goes wrong, however, we always want to know. Safe Space workers have in-depth training in professional boundaries and will welcome your feedback. They will also make sure you have a copy of our Complaints Procedure which explains how we try to resolve any problem you might experience here.