How we can help

Counselling

• EDNE offers free 1 to 1 confidential counselling sessions to people with eating distress who live anywhere in the North East of England aged 16+
• You do not need to have a medical diagnosis of an eating disorder to access this service.
• Counselling sessions can take place in person at our offices in Newcastle, outreach bases at Chester-le-Street, Stockton, Hartlepool, or online via Teams.

All our counsellors are fully qualified; registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) or equivalent; and either accredited or working towards accreditation.   

They are also experienced in working with people who have eating distress and disorders, and undertake regular continual professional development in specialisms including: working with neurodivergent clients; working with LGBTQ+ clients; gender issues; children and young people; working with family members; anticipatory grief and bereavement, and more.

Our counselling team have different approaches as their base core model. These include person-centred, and transactional analysis. All our counsellors work integratively – we use our base model and other counselling theories we have trained in to complement our work and adapt our interventions for each individual client. Some of the other theories we use include creative methods, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and attachment theory.

To access this service please register with us.

I’m registered – now what?

Once registered, you will be sent an email link to arrange an assessment appointment with one of the counselling team. In this appointment, the counsellor will ask you more about the difficulties you are experiencing which will allow us to work out how to support you best.  This appointment usually takes place via Teams but can be arranged to take place in person.

At the end of your assessment appointment, the counsellor will work with you to decide what would be best to support your needs. If counselling is appropriate, you will be placed on our waiting list and contacted as soon as possible by one of the counselling team.

Newcastle University students

We offer a specialist service within the Student Wellbeing Team at the Kingsgate Centre.

Please request an assessment appointment with the Counselling team and express your concerns about your eating distress with them. They will then pass appropriate referrals on to our specialist counsellors, who will contact you directly. Contact the University Counselling service to fill in the enquiry form: Counselling | Newcastle University

If you would prefer not to access EDNE through the University, you are welcome to register with us directly.

Durham University students

We offer a specialist service based in the Palatine Centre.

To access this service, please register with EDNE directly and state on this form that you are a registered student at Durham University. If you would prefer not to access EDNE from the university buildings, you are welcome to let us know on your registration form and we will accommodate your need to be seen elsewhere.

Private counselling and EMDR therapy

We offer a private counselling service with appointments available during the day and on Wednesday evenings. This is open ended counselling so you can work with your counsellor for as long as you need.

Our private counselling is delivered by members of our counselling team, all of whom are qualified and experienced in working with a wide range of eating distress and disorders. The cost of our private counselling service is £45 per session.

We also offer EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapy.

EMDR was developed as a therapy for treating trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder and can help you process and recover from past traumatic experiences that are affecting your mental health and wellbeing. It can help with a range of mental health conditions including depression and anxiety.

It involves using side to side eye movements combined with talk therapy in a specific and structured format. Find out more from the EMDR Association UK.

Therapy is with EDNE’s Counselling Lead Rachel Cowey who is EMDR trained and working towards becoming an accredited EMDR therapist. The cost is £55 per session and EMDR is delivered over 20 sessions.

To enquire about private counselling or EMDR therapy please contact Rachel.Cowey@edne.org.uk.

Groups

Our Support Groups are an informal, relaxed and safe space that focus on learning about mental health, eating distress, coping strategies, self-care, and other topics. They are open to people waiting for counselling.

The sessions do not focus on food, weight or shape and we do not go into details about anyone’s individual eating distress.

We offer the group at various times and locations as we want to make sure anyone who wants can join them. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact us.

Our Peer Groups run monthly and are held online and in person. These are open ended and designed for people who want some ongoing support after finishing counselling. They are facilitated but non-structured with lots of time for conversation and connection.

All our Groups are run by our experienced Group Worker Eva-Liis. We understand it can be daunting coming to a group with people you don’t know so Eva-Liis can arrange to have a chat with you beforehand if you have any concerns or questions.

“It was more informal and relaxed than I initially thought. Everyone (facilitators and peers) were relaxed and comfortable to be around”.

Group attendee

Not quite ready yet?

If you aren’t sure whether counselling or groups are for you at the moment, you might like to keep in touch with what we are doing on our social media sites. We update these regularly with information, and resources alongside support.

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