Bereavement Counselling

The Centre continues to offer:

• 1-2-1 Bereavement counselling

• Peer support Group workshops

• Pastoral Befriending/Pre-bereavement counselling

all of which are by appointment only.

Who can make a referral and how

GP/Social Prescriber/IAPT Talking Therapies/other associated Medical Services.

Referees MUST USE the Drop-In Bereavement Centre Referral form, please click here to print/download a Referral Form . Our organisation does not accept self-referrals.

Email all referrals to [email protected]

How many sessions of 1-2-1 Bereavement counselling?
We initially offer 6 sessions with extended sessions dependent on the complexities of bereavement.

Completing a Referral Form

Referrals by a Doctors Surgery must be completed by the GP or Practice Manager/Social Prescriber. Do not give the referral form to clients for completion.

• It is important for the referee to provide their full name, title, organisations’ full postal address and contact number.

• Client’s GP details should also be provided on the referral form.

• Include if client has a history of mental health/addiction/self-harming (if applicable), full contact details of Mental Health Key Worker/Psychologist/Home Treatment Team. If this does not apply to the client, kindly state on the form "No history of mental health known at time of making the referral.

• In line of safeguarding, it is important for our Organisation to work closely with external support services i.e. Mental Health Community Key Worker/Home Treatment Team should a client present being at risk during the counselling sessions.

• Please state if bereavement is Covid related

• In the case of IAPT Therapists completing the referrals to state on the form if the client’s file will be closed from their services once acceptance of client by our Services.

• State which method of counselling the client requires – kindly circle on the referral form. Face to Face or Telephone.

• If known to you, provide the client's email address.

• Always ensure that the client is aware that you are making a referral to our organization and is also aware of the waiting period for a counselling appointment. It is your duty to enquire with our services the waiting list time period.

• Ensure the referral form is emailed not posted whilst we continue to partially operate remotely.

• Incomplete Referral forms will NOT be accepted and will be returned to the referee, which will delay the client’s waiting period for a counselling appointment.

• If you have any queries in relation to the Referral form, please contact us where we will be happy to help you.

Our Eligibility Criteria

We have an open-door policy and accept referrals from across East London.

Clients need to be aged 18+ to 80 yrs.

Charges – We do not presently charge for our services but to help us maintain continuance in the running of the bereavement counselling services, donations are welcomed from clients accessing the counselling as we are not Government statutory funded.

How can a client make a donation towards his/her counselling sessions

• In-house donations for face-to-face.

• Local Giving

• Cheque made out to The Drop In Bereavement Centre

We do offer clients the opportunity to access private paid counselling upon request - please contact the Centre for further details.