Not right now. Sorry!

Ah. A slightly more complex question. Importantly, you are not a broken washing machine. You are a human. Maybe you’ve been through some bad things that make you feel like you are broken, but you are NOT defective. It is not an inherent failure to react to your environment and experiences.

That aside, it’s crucial to note that therapy is not a passive process. You can turn up every week for 3 years and talk and talk and talk, but ultimately it’s up to you to reflect on the things you have learned or processed in the therapy room and begin to implement any changes you wish to make in your day to day life.

For some people they just need a couple of months of therapy. For others, they might enjoy the process of challenge and development and stick to it for years. It really is an individual journey.

Yup! The things you say in your sessions will be kept confidential within the parameters of the service. There are some legal exemptions to this. For example, where child safeguarding is concerned. Your therapist will talk you through our full confidentiality policy so you know exactly what you can expect.

Unfortunately not - we do need you to choose either online or in person. Whilst occasionally in person therapists might be able to accomodate an online session if for example, you’ve got an injury or you’re away from Notts for the week, this is more of an exception than the rule. We also sometimes get asked if you can start online then come in if you feel up to it later down the line. Unfortunately this isn’t possible, as our remote therapists are often not even based in Nottingham. The only way we could accomodate this, would be to switch your therapist, which most people are unlikely to want after they’ve built a rapport with somebody already.

If you’re a student of UoN or Nottingham Trent who doesn’t live here during term time that’s not a problem. You can still utilise the service until you graduate. If you choose to not stay in Notts after graduation, we’ll have to part ways, but we’ll make sure to help you out with referrals for a new therapist wherever you’re heading.

It’s really up to you. We don’t provide a guide based on income because we recognise that income isn’t always indicative of how much disposable income you have. Pick a figure between £12.50-£30 that you can afford each week.

Appointments are once a week :)

Yes. Right now, The Offload Project is largely ran by volunteers who kindly donate half a day of their time or so per week. This means that we can’t accommodate scheduling in sessions ad hoc. We know that this is going to be a barrier for those who can’t commit to a particular time slot each week. Apologies if this means we’re not able to help you right now.

Waiting times at Offload can vary, and depend largely on your availability.

Based on recent data, the average wait time across all clients is around 3 months. However, this is an average, not a guarantee - some people are matched more quickly, while others may wait longer depending on what they need.

One of the biggest factors is when you’re available: Daytime appointments are often available within around 8 weeks, and sometimes sooner

Evening appointments are our most in-demand, and typically have a wait time of 4 to 8 months

Another reason we cannot offer more precise estimates of individual waiting times, is that our therapy is open-ended. This means clients can stay for as long as therapy is helpful. While this is a key part of making therapy meaningful and accessible, it also means we can’t always predict exactly when spaces will become available.

We’re always working to improve access and reduce waiting times, but as a small, community-based non-profit, this is something we have to build steadily and sustainably.

If you’re hoping to start sooner, it’s worth considering whether you might be able to attend during the day. Some clients are able to do this through workplace wellbeing policies or flexible working arrangements. Not all employers offer this, but if it’s an option for you, it can make a significant difference to how quickly we’re able to match you with a therapist.

Most of ‘em. That’s why we’re able to offer therapy at such a low price. Each Offload trainee is (if we do say so ourselves), bloomin’ marvellous and come from highly respected training institutes. Most have worked in some capacity with people long before they began their counselling journey, with many being in support roles already.

Ah it happens from time to time doesn’t it? The truth is somebody could be the best therapist in the world and they still won’t be the right therapist for everybody. If you find that you and your therapist aren’t a good fit, let us know via email and we’ll happily slot you in with somebody else. This might mean you have to go back on the waiting list for a little while until somebody becomes available.

Nope! We do advertise ourselves as low cost, long term counselling and psychotherapy, but that’s just because it’s very difficult to find this available elsewhere. But if you just want therapy for a couple of months or so that’s absolutely fine too!

Absolutely not! We work with a huge variety of clients at Offload. The only time this would become a problem is if you were in an active mental health crisis (e.g., actively suicidal, in a state of active addiction without specialised addiction support, in a state of psychosis etc). But that’s not to say we wouldn’t ever work with you, it’s just that therapy isn’t the advised course of action in these instances. Therapy requires you to dig deep and reflect on what can often be really hard things. In a crisis, that’s way too big of an expectation to put on you and can even make things worse. If you’re in crisis, we really advise you to seek out some help to stabilise yourself and come back to us.

Heck yeah we are. To our queer Notts community - we love you, we are you, we support you.

We do, but these are extremely limited so are subject to longer waiting list.

We get it - sometimes you’re sick or have a holiday planned. Let us know with more than 24 hours notice and you won’t be charged for your session. We do charge for appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours notice. We also stipulate that if you cancel three or more appointments in any six week period, you will be discharged from the service and given the chance to re-refer later down the line if you are more able to commit to weekly therapy. This is for a few reasons. The biggest is that we’re a largely unfunded community interest company. We rely on therapy fees to keep the service going, and having people attend very sporadically impacts this. We want to help as many people as we can with the resources we have available, and our cancellation policy is to try and protect that.