Professional counselling with no waiting lists, delivered by a trusted local mental health charity - here when you need it, whether you’re ready to start now or simply exploring your options. Open Minds is a self-paid service for people aged 18 and over, allowing you to take ownership of your mental health without the need for referrals.
Open Minds provides trusted, compassionate support to individuals and couples for a broad range of concerns, including, but not limited to, anxiety, stress, low mood, bereavement, self-esteem, relationship issues and exploring identity. You don’t need a diagnosis - if something is affecting your wellbeing or daily functioning, our trained counsellors and experienced trainees are here to listen and support you.
You can access counselling in the way that suits you best, and we can provide you up to 12 sessions that fit around your commitments and lifestyle in-person, online and over the telephone. Most people will have between 6-12 sessions.
We also offer in-person relationship/couples counselling. In-person counselling sessions are currently offered at our Winchester and Central Southampton centres.
| Type of Therapy | Mode or Location | Days/Times available |
One to One Counselling |
Online and Telephone |
Monday-Friday 9am-9-pm |
One to One Counselling |
In-person at our Winchester and Central Southampton Centres |
Monday-Friday 3pm-9pm |
One to One Walk and Talk Sessions |
In-person at Mayfield Garden Centre, Sholing, Southampton |
Monday-Friday 9am-4pm (winter) and 9am-9pm (summer) |
Relationship/Couples Counselling |
In-person at our Winchester and Central Southampton Centres |
Monday-Friday 3pm-9pm |
At Open Minds, we offer professional, confidential support in a comfortable and safe space. Our service is trusted, personalised, accessible, and compassionate. This means that you will receive high-quality support that is tailored to your needs, works around your commitments, and leaves you seen, heard, and empowered to manage your mental health.
Open Minds holds membership with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), which means the service is committed to delivering counselling in line with recognised professional standards for safe, ethical and effective practice. Our counsellors are trained, experienced, and offer a variety of different approaches. On top of this, Solent Mind has been operating for over 20 years to help people in Hampshire develop positive wellbeing, live well, and thrive. Our local community is at the heart of everything we do, and we take pride in trust we’ve built.
Following on from an initial assessment of your needs and what you’re looking to gain from your time with us, we’ll match you with an appropriate counsellor or experienced trainee counsellor. But Open Minds is about you, and we know the importance of finding a counsellor you connect with – so you are free to request a change. Our counsellors use many different approaches, and each approach can help in different ways.
With Open Minds, you won’t be left on any waiting lists, and you don’t need referrals or diagnoses to begin sessions. You know your feelings better than anyone, we’re here to help you explore them. Getting started is quick and easy with our online booking system, and if you have any questions before booking an assessment, you can call our office on 0303 0030193 and we will be happy to arrange an informal chat with you.
With one-to-one sessions at £45, we have worked hard to ensure that Open Minds is an affordable option for those seeking to improve their mental health. Counselling provides a pre-emptive way of building resilience and positive wellbeing so that you are better able to handle life's ups and downs. Our aim is to ensure that this is a viable option for as many people as possible, with no compromise to the quality of counselling that we offer.
Compassion is one of our core values. At Open Minds, we listen carefully and we care. One of the reasons we work without diagnoses or referrals is because we don’t believe in having to prove that you need help – if something doesn’t feel right and your daily life is being impacted by your thoughts and feelings, it’s worth talking about.
Choosing to prioritise your mental health is a big step, and we’re here to help you take it! To help you decide if counselling feels right for you, we offer a free 20-minute chat so that you can get a feel for what we can do for you. You can book this chat in the same way that you’d book and assessment or a counselling session, by completing our online booking form.
If you decide to choose Open Minds, we’ll carry out a full assessment to understand your needs and the goals you would like to achieve. This assessment is conducted by a qualified counsellor and lasts 50 minutes. The cost for an initial assessment is £45.
For one-to-one counselling:
Counselling sessions are £45 per 50-minute session, and we find that individuals often have between 6 and 12 sessions. We explore the breakdown of costs further in our FAQs, because transparency around what we offer and how is important to us. Ultimately, the time and money you spend with Open Minds is an investment in better mental health, better day-to-day functioning, better relationships, and greater resilience.
Couples/Relationship counselling:
The cost of couples counselling is £60 for 60-minute sessions and £85 for 90 minutes. The number of sessions that people have can vary, from a helpful one-off to a guided course.
For one-to-one counselling, you can complete our short online booking form. For couples/relationship counselling, please call the Open Minds team on 0303 003 0193 or email us on [email protected]. We’ll guide you through the next steps and help match you with the right counsellor.
To book a 20-minute chat to see if Open Minds is for you, you can use the same booking form and simply select the 20-minute chat option.
Counsellors use different approaches and each one can help in different ways. Approaches include:
A gentle, supportive approach that helps you talk through your feelings at your own pace
A practical approach that helps you notice unhelpful thoughts and develop new coping strategies
Helps you explore how past experiences may influence how you feel and behave today
Uses techniques from several approaches so the counsellor can tailor sessions to what works best for you
A short‑term, goal‑focused approach that helps you build on your strengths and move toward positive change
Use breathing and grounding techniques to help manage stress, anxiety, and difficult emotions
Designed to keep you feeling safe and supported if you have experienced trauma or distress
Incorporates aspects of humanistic, cognitive-behavioural and psychodynamic therapy, and categorises the human personality into three stats - Parent, Adult and Child, which can help you understand how you interact with others
Encourages people to think about their feelings, and take responsibility for their thoughts and actions, with an emphasis on self-development and achieving your highest potential rather than on problematic behaviour
Helps you find a new, positive perspective on problems and bring about changes in your life
Our FAQs answer common questions about counselling, including who our counsellors are, how sessions work, confidentiality and what to expect if you’re new to counselling. This section is here to help you feel informed and reassured.
Using the information you share with us in your initial assessment, we match you with a counsellor whose experience and approach best fit your needs. If you feel the match isn’t right, you can request a change.
Please let us know as soon as possible if you need to cancel. There is a minimum notice period of 24 hours before the session to let us know if you cannot attend, otherwise a cancellation fee will be incurred. Our cancellation policy will be explained to you when you start.
Sessions typically involve talking through your thoughts, feelings and experiences with your counsellor, who will support you to explore what’s going on and find ways forward. You set the pace and there is no right or wrong way to begin. Your counsellor may also share various tools, resources, and strategies to help you manage and cope with the things you are experiencing. During the session, the counsellor will also complete an assessment form (Core10) with you, which will be used to track progress in areas such as anxiety, stress, worrying thoughts and sleep.
Everything you discuss with your counsellor is confidential except in specific circumstances where we are legally or ethically required to share information — for example, if there is an immediate or serious risk of harm to you or someone else. Your counsellor will always explain these limits clearly when contracting with you. In most cases, we will be able to talk to you first about our intention to share information and gain your consent. Any decisions to share information with other agencies will always be based on your best interests
Trained counsellors have completed their Level 4/5 Diploma in Higher Education qualification. Some counsellors are also accredited with their professional membership bodies such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or working toward accreditation.
Trainee counsellors are in the final year of completing a Diploma in Higher Education course in Counselling and provide counselling as part of their supervised clinical placement. Trainees receive regular supervision from experienced Clinical Supervisors to ensure safe and effective practice.
Yes. Trainee counsellors:
We charge for counselling because, even as a charity, providing a safe, professional service involves essential costs such as clinical supervision, insurance, room hire or online platform fees, administration, safeguarding processes and the systems needed to run the service. These costs exist regardless of whether the counsellor you see is qualified or in training. Any surplus is invested back into our charity.
Although trainee counsellors are still developing their skills, the charity still invests heavily in supporting trainee counsellors in their studies and careers to support the communities that want to use our services in respect of their mental health, and ensuring they practise safely.
Trainees require more supervision, structured support, training and close oversight, which can actually make offering trainee-led counselling just as resource-intensive — sometimes more so — than providing a qualified counsellor. For that reason, the cost to the organisation is similar, and we keep the fee the same to ensure fairness, sustainability and continued accessibility for everyone who needs the service.
Our service is designed to be easy for people to access by keeping fees as low as possible as a charity, offering both in‑person, telephone and online sessions, allowing self‑referral without needing to go through a GP, and providing support from both qualified and trainee counsellors to reduce waiting times, all while ensuring every counsellor is well‑supported, supervised and committed to offering a welcoming, inclusive space for anyone who needs help.
Our British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) membership also reflects our commitment to maintaining recognised professional and ethical standards in all aspects of the counselling we provide.
You can use our online booking form to get started by booking an initial assessment. If you have any questions or would like to speak to a member of the team beforehand you can call 0303 003 0193 or email [email protected]. You can also call or email to arrange or discuss couples/relationship counselling.
If you have questions about Open Minds, you can contact our team by phone or email. You can call us on 0303 003 0193 or email [email protected].
Please note that this service is not for crisis support. If you need urgent help, contact your GP, call 999, or reach out to Samaritans on 116 123. You can also access our crisis services at The Lighthouse and South West Hampshire Safe Haven.
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