Ascent Counselling
A service offering trauma-focused counselling for women and girls aged 16+, who live in North, East or South-East London, and have experienced domestic abuse/violence or other harmful practices, such as forced marriage, FGM and so-called honour-based violence.
Our counsellors are specialist domestic abuse counsellors. They create a safe space for survivors to explore the impact of abuse on their lives, help them to recover from the long-term impact, and make meaningful change.
The service includes one assessment and up to 20 counselling sessions.
This service is delivered as part of the Ascent Advice and Counselling partnership.
What is trauma-focused counselling?
Trauma can result from experiences that are overwhelming or frightening, that leave you feeling powerless, without control or unsafe. This can include many different forms of abuse and may relate to a single event or experiences that happened over a long period of time.
Traumatic experiences can have a lasting impact on how safe you feel in the world, and sometimes this impact is not fully felt until much later. You may find it difficult to relax or feel constantly alert for something bad to happen. Alternatively, you might feel numb or disconnected from yourself and your life. Trauma can also contribute to anxiety, depression or low self-esteem, and affect your relationships with others.
Trauma-focused counselling offers a safe, supportive and non-judgemental space to understand how your experiences have affected you and the ways you have responded or coped. Over time, it can help you process what has happened, reduce the hold that past experiences have on your present life, and move towards the future you want.
Talking about trauma can bring up difficult feelings and leave you feeling vulnerable. You will not be expected to talk about anything before you feel ready, and your counsellor will work at a pace that feels manageable for you. For this reason, trauma-focused counselling is most suitable when you feel ready to engage with the process.
Who can access this service?
We work with women and girls aged 16+ who:
- Have experienced domestic abuse/violence or other harmful practices at any point in their lives.
This includes physical, emotional, psychological, sexual* and financial abuse, coercive control, post-separation harassment and stalking, forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and so-called honour-based violence.
*If you, or someone you are supporting, are looking for counselling specifically for sexual abuse/violence, including childhood sexual abuse, please contact the London Survivors Collective: Looking for support after sexual violence?
- Have a significant connection with one of the 21 London boroughs we cover.
Significant connection means you live, work, are registered with a GP, attend college/university or your children attend school/nursery in the borough:
| North and Central London | East London | South East London |
| Barnet Camden Enfield Haringey Islington Kensington & Chelsea Westminster | Barking and Dagenham Hackney Havering Newham Redbridge Tower Hamlets Waltham Forest | Bexley Bromley Croydon Greenwich Lambeth Lewisham Southwark |
Refer to the FAQ section below for more information about our referral criteria.
Note: Ascent Counselling is unable to provide crisis intervention support or give emergency appointments. If you, or a survivor you are supporting, is in immediate psychological crisis and potentially at risk:
- Contact GP, or
- Call NHS 111 and select option 2, or
- Contact the local Mental Health Crisis Line
- Professionals can refer individuals in crisis to their local Community Mental Health Team (CMHT).
- In an emergency, call 999
How do I access, or refer someone to, this service?
Due to high demand and limited service capacity, we can only accept a small number of new referrals each month and these spaces fill very quickly.
The North London cluster boroughs open approximately six times per year, while the East London cluster boroughs and the South-East London cluster boroughs open approximately three times per year.
If you would like to self-refer to this counselling service, or you are helping someone you know access support:
Send an email to counselling@solacewomensaid.org or call 0300 330 5479, letting us know your eligible borough(s). We will advise the date that we can accept new self-referrals from your area, so you know when to check back.
If you are a professional who would like to refer a survivor to this counselling service:
You will need to request to join our mailing list by sending an email to counselling@solacewomensaid.org – please include the London boroughs you support.
Note: This is not a marketing mailing list, we will only email you to notify that we have capacity for new professional referrals and provide our referral form.
We are unable to process or review referrals that are received when our wait list is closed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How much does this service cost?
Ascent Counselling is free to access.
How are appointments delivered?
Our counsellors work remotely, allowing us to offer greater flexibility in appointment availability.
Assessments and counselling sessions are typically delivered via a secure video platform.
Video appointments support a more connected therapeutic experience by allowing both the counsellor and survivor to see one another’s facial expressions and body language, which are important aspects of communication. They also provide an experience that is more closely aligned to in-person counselling and can help support the development of a strong therapeutic relationship.
Where a survivor is unable to access a laptop, tablet, smartphone, or reliable internet connection, or where telephone appointments better meet their accessibility needs, we may be able to offer sessions by telephone.
What is the duration of counselling?
Counselling sessions are 50-minutes, and they are held weekly on the same day and time.
Our clinical team decide the optimal number of sessions for each service user, up to a maximum of 20 sessions.
Do you offer evening and weekend appointments?
The service is open Monday to Friday and closed on weekends. We operate during daytime hours, with some limited evening slots.
Do you work with interpreters?
Unfortunately, we are unable to offer trauma-focused counselling through an interpreter. Our counselling relies on direct communication between the survivor and the counsellor, particularly when exploring sensitive or traumatic experiences.
If a survivor would usually need an interpreter to communicate comfortably and fully, our counselling service may therefore not be suitable.
What happens after submitting a referral?
We usually process referrals within 3 working days. We review the survivor’s circumstances to consider whether trauma-focused counselling might be safe and helpful. If so, we invite the survivor to attend an assessment with one of our counsellors, where this is explored further.
If a survivor’s case is accepted following their assessment appointment, they will be placed on our counselling wait list.
If we are unable to accept a survivor’s referral either at the referral or assessment stage, we will explain why and signpost alternative services that will be better equipped to meet their needs.
How long is the wait time to start counselling?
We support survivors on a first come, first served basis.
The assessment usually takes places within 6 weeks of the survivor being referred.
After attending an assessment, the wait time to start counselling is typically 3-5 months.
Do you provide treatment for PTSD?
The type of counselling we offer can be triggering for survivors who have PTSD or experience PTSD symptoms. If a survivor experiences symptoms frequently and severely, we recommend they speak with their GP about a referral for PTSD treatment first.
If PTSD symptoms have a manageable impact on a survivor’s day-to-day life, they are welcome to refer to our counselling service, and we can explore whether trauma-focused counselling would be safe and helpful for them.
Do you work with survivors who have other mental health conditions?
Our counsellors are specialist domestic abuse counsellors. Some mental health presentations require assessment or treatment by secondary mental health services before trauma-focused counselling can be offered.
We consider each survivor’s mental health support needs on a case-by-case basis.
If we are unable to accept their referral, we provide a rationale and signpost alternative services that may be more suited to the survivor’s needs.
Can I access this service if I am currently experiencing abuse/violence?
For trauma-focused counselling to be safe and meaningful, you would need to be in a safe and stable environment, where you are not at high risk of ongoing abuse and violence.
Counselling would not usually be appropriate where there is ongoing physical violence, sexual violence, threats to kill, stalking or harassment, or if abuse is escalating.
Where there is risk of ongoing harm, the priority should be safety planning, advocacy and risk management, rather than processing trauma. Solace’s Advice team is available for practical advice and support: Advice Line – Solace Womens Aid
We may be able to offer counselling if ongoing abuse is non-physical, such as emotional abuse, financial abuse and coercive control. We assess your level of safety during the referral intake process.
Can I access this service if I am pregnant?
We are unable to offer counselling if you are more than 36 weeks’ pregnant.
Although trauma-focused counselling can be highly beneficial, it can also increase emotional distress. We aim to ensure counselling can be completed safely, including an appropriate ending, before the expected birth of your baby.
We are also aware that pregnancy, particularly the third trimester, is a very sensitive period. We would advise you to think about whether this is the right time for you to start trauma-focused counselling.
If you are pregnant at the time of the referral, we review on a case-by-case basis whether the service would be able to offer a course of counselling before you reach 36 weeks gestation.
Can I access this service if I gave birth in the last few months?
The first 6 months after birth is a significant period of adjustment for both you and your baby. Trauma-focused counselling can increase emotional distress, which may affect your capacity to meet your own and your baby’s needs during this time.
We can support survivors whose children are over 6 months old. You would be welcome to access this service once your baby is over 6 months old.
Can my children be with me during appointments?
Our policy is that children and babies cannot be present during counselling appointments. This is for safeguarding reasons and to help create a safe, confidential, and distraction-free space, giving you the best opportunity to engage fully in counselling.
Our counsellors are unable to hold appointments if you are caring for your children, so it is important that you organise alternative childcare for babies and children who require supervision. This includes during school/nursery holidays, as our service is open year-round.
I accessed this service in the past and would like more counselling, can I re-refer?
You are welcome to re-refer to our counselling service a year after you finish counselling.
For example, if your counselling ended in June 2026, you will be eligible to re-refer from June 2027 onwards.
Opening hours
Monday to Friday 10 am to 2 pm
Additional information
Service audience
Women, Young people age 16+
Service provides
Counselling
Service available in these London boroughs
Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Bromley, Camden, City of Westminster, Croydon, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Havering, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Redbridge, Royal Borough of Greenwich, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest