PAVING the way for mental health support in Launceston, Step into Learning Counselling (SILC) was officially launched on Monday, October 18.

Step into Learning has been successfully running counselling courses for a number of years and have now created SILC to provide a free, beneficial counselling service to the community of Launceston.

The mayor Leighton Penhale was on hand on the day for the official ribbon cutting and was delighted to be able to support such an initiative in the town.

He said: “As a town, as a community, we appreciate places like this. Training people to listen is so vitally important. When you’re not feeling 100% — and I speak from experience — having people who will actually listen and people who will actually care about your situation is great.

“If someone can listen to you, lift up your spirits, then you can start to rise up again and go forward — this is vitally important!”

The new counselling service will offer a safe, confidential place for people to talk about their life and anything that may be confusing, painful or uncomfortable. It will offer people the opportunity to talk with a trained counsellor who will listen attentively. There are seven counsellors on hand, who each have 100 free hours of counselling to provide in order to complete their training.

The trainee counsellors are in the final year of their diploma qualification, are fully insured, receive regular professional supervision and are members of, or are in the process of joining, a governing body such as BACP or NCS. The counselling is available to those aged 14 and above.

One of the counsellors Nadine Newman, of Gunnislake, said on the day: “So many more people need counselling now after the pandemic. And it’s all ages too, a lot of younger people have been affected by the changes experienced in the last 18 months.”

Fellow counsellor, Natalie Merritt of Launceston said: “It’s great to be able to provide this service in Launceston, there seems to be a lack of provision around here.”

They both agreed that the support they had personally received from Step into Learning through their training had been incredibly beneficial. Natalie added: “It is hard to find placements to complete your training — this is not only a good service for the town but the team have been so supportive of us, its great.”

The counselling rooms offer a warm and comforting welcome and the entrance to the service is located around the back of the building to support confidentiality and encourage people to access the service without fear or embarrassment.

CEO Stephen Howard was proud to present the new service but said he thinks it will be a slow start: “It is a bit like penguins on the edge of an iceberg, they are all waiting for one to take the first leap. It will take time for people to build up the courage to visit but we have worked hard to make this a welcoming environment.”

Stephen added: “The message we really want to get out there is; there are strict legal practices which are being followed to the letter. We have a counselling coordinator who interviews each client before they come in to us to assess their needs. Our counsellors deal with a wide range of issues, but will never be presented with something they haven’t been trained for.”

Mr Howard explained: “We have seen, especially in this area, an overwhelming need for support for those with anxiety and relationship problems, and that is something we are capable of focussing on.”

He added: “I do want to say the town council and the mayor have been incredibly supportive and really got behind this so I would like to say a special thank you to them.”

For more information or to access support call 01566 770729 or [email protected]