Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm

Closed: Saturday and Sunday

Riverside Counselling Service is a registered charity that had been providing a professional, affordable counselling service to the local community since 1989. Riverside offers counselling to adults and young people from the age of 12. We are committed to providing an accessible service across the community relying on donations and grants to support us.

Counselling is about listening to you, giving you the time and space to talk about your difficulties in a safe, confidential, non-judgemental environment. It allows you to think about your situation, explore issues, and find ways of managing your problems.
Riverside’s counselling services are accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and all our counsellors work within their Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions. Our counsellors are highly trained and committed practitioners.

Counselling can help with:

Depression and anxiety
Relationship difficulties
Bereavement and loss
Stress
Physical, emotional and sexual abuse
Low self-esteem
Alcohol and drug problems
Challenging life experiences
Difficulties at school, college or home
Or when you feel that things are just not right!

Cost

At Riverside we are committed to providing affordable counselling by ensuring that cost is not a barrier to accessing our service. The fee for your registration and initial consultation is £55 for individual counselling.

If this is not manageable for you this can be discussed – the fees for subsequent counselling sessions are discussed with you in your initial consultation and calculated according to income.

Types of therapy available at Riverside include:

Psychodynamic counselling
Integrative psychotherapy
Short-term and long-term
Group work
Online and phone counselling

What next?

You could email or phone; you will then be contacted within 2 working days to arrange an initial consultation with one of our senior practitioners.

Our Trustees

Adrian Marsh (Chair)
John Morrow (Treasurer)
Phil Bridge (Policies & Procedures)
Fiona Pharoah (Clinical)
Nicki Williams-Gray (Fundraising)
Suzy Hobbs (Fundraising & Events)

Our Key Staff

Sophie Wellings Chief Executive Officer
Clare Crossley (Head of Counselling)
Emilia McIntyre  (Allocations & YP Clinical Lead)
Kate Terry (Operations Lead)

Our Patron

James Cracknell OBE

James won gold in the coxless fours in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics in Sydney and Athens.  He has run the London Marathon 3 times, the highest placed Briton (12th) in the Marathon des Sable in 2010 and in 2019 became the oldest winner for Cambridge in the boat race by 10 years. In 2019 he also took part in Strictly Come Dancing, unfortunately being voted off in the first week.

In July 2010, James was hit by a petrol tanker during an attempt to cycle, row, run, swim from Los Angeles to New York in 18 days. He suffered a contrecoup injury to the frontal lobes of his brain which left him with epilepsy, a lost sense of smell and taste, and had a significant impact on his mental wellbeing.

James said, “During my time as an Olympic rower, as teammates we supported each other, and I was a little sceptical of mental health services. Following my accident, the occupational health support I received along with the therapeutic support was invaluable in my recovery. I think there can be a lot of stigma, especially for men, in acknowledging our vulnerabilities.” 

“After my accident I really struggled with my mental health and my relationship with my family was seriously affected.  “My only regret was not committing to counselling earlier.  It could have made such a difference to many aspects of my life after my accident.  When you’re in turmoil, counselling can really help work things through.” 

 Ambassador

Emma-Jane Taylor

Emma-Jane is the Founder of a series of lifestyle business in Henley-on-Thames and has been working with children (age 3) through to adults (103+) in performing arts, fitness & well-being since 2000.

She is also an author, Don’t Hold Back published in 2018, mentor and speaker; well known for her work as a campaigner against child abuse and often seen in the national and international press because of it. Her passion for supporting children stems from her own journey and childhood difficulties. She has worked hard to turn her life around, and now campaigns to protect children.

As an Ambassador for Riverside Counselling she says “supporting Riverside is one of my big achievements in life, and a role I take very seriously. It is an honour to stand up for young people and to encourage others to do the same with supporting charities such as Riverside. Children are our future, if we don’t allow them to flourish in society then we will simply have failed them. But. If we start with protecting children and helping them through their difficulties then we will see a much healthier and happier world, fact”.

Testimonials

“We are very grateful for the excellent job that Riverside Counselling and The Space provide to our patients and know that our patients really appreciate your services.” Dr Barton, Nettlebed Surgery, Oxon

“Riverside is one of the best Counselling Services and Placement contexts I have ever come across. Highly professional, thoughtful and supportive, it offers a unique resource for clients and trainees. The support for trainees is outstanding, offering a buddy scheme, first-rate supervision, weekly CPD and clinical discussion groups. Riverside provides many opportunities for professional development with different client groups, as well as assessment experience for trainees developing their competence.” Alistair Ross Associate Professor – Psychotherapy, Director – Psychodynamic Studies Dean – Kellogg College Author – Introducing Contemporary Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy

Case Study

A Testimony of Transformation: Mum Overcomes Post Natal Depression with Help From Riverside
Read here

Equality Statement

RCS was founded in 1989 to provide access to affordable counselling for all those in the community, regardless of background or circumstances. We recognise that discrimination operates consciously and unconsciously in our society, which means some people have greater access to opportunities than others.

Our core belief is that all people are treated with dignity and respect and we are creating an organisation where inequalities are challenged, and we anticipate and respond positively to different needs and circumstances.

To find out more information about our complaints procedure please contact us at  or call  01491 876670

Reports

Our reports reflect on the progress made during the year – the sessions that we have funded, and the fundraising activities that made this possible. Below are some Annual Reports from 2022-2023. We are committed to creating an inclusive service for both our clients and our workforce. Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion strategy can be found here.

Click here to view the Annual Report for 2022/2023

Click here to view the Annual Accounts report 2023