Our Advice Centre is open today from 10:00am – 8:00pm
Mental Health & Wellbeing
Therapeutic Support
We offer therapeutic support for 5-17 year olds (or 11-24 for care leavers and SEND).
Our youth wellbeing practitioners and counsellors are all trained, supportive and friendly. You can speak to them about any issue you’re facing, in a private, confidential session.
Common issues our practitioners and counsellors deal with include anxiety, confidence and low mood, but if there’s anything that’s worrying you, they will listen and help you try to understand why you feel how you feel. They will never judge you or your story and they are there to support you.
Our support includes:
Guided Self-Help
Our triage team will recommend a set of resources and other organisations you can contact if you feel they could support you, so you can begin to help yourself.
One-to-One Youth Work
An average of 2 sessions with a youth wellbeing practitioner that last 45 minutes. The one-to-ones will take place in your school or a venue close to you.
Group Youth Work
Lasting 2-4 sessions, you will be in a group of young people (up to 12) who have a similar situation to you. Sessions take place in school or at a local venue.
Counselling
An average of 6 weekly sessions lasting 45-50 minutes. Depending on your area, counselling may take place at a local venue (such as your school or library), or at No Limits (either our Advice Centre or Avenue Hub).
Our trained team at No Limits will guide you to the support most appropriate for you. Our counsellors will give you time to talk, cry, shout or just think. It is an opportunity to look at your problems in a different way with someone who will respect you, your opinions and feelings.
Our counselling service is BACP Accredited.
Our counsellors are all BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) or NCPS (National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society) members. All BACP members must work in accordance with the BACP Ethical Framework for Counselling Professions to ensure good practice, high ethical professional standards, and to provide a commitment to our service users: bacp-ethical-framework-for-the-counselling-professions-2018.pdf. All NCPS members must adhere to their Code of Ethical Practice: NCPS-Code-of-Ethics-Nov-23.pdf.
Meet Ellie, the Emotional Helper
Ellie is our Therapeutic Services mascot. You can find her in all our counselling rooms, waiting to say hello.
She was designed by Grace, a young person, and chosen as the winning design for our Therapeutic Services mascot competition in 2024.
Ellie is an elephant half sad and half happy, showing that all emotions are okay. She loves to comfort people when they are feeling down!
Important referral information
If you are referring a 5-10 year old in Hampshire, there is a three month waiting list.
When we get in touch, we may leave a voicemail. If you do not want a voicemail left when we try and contact you, please let us know in the referral form. When contacting to book a triage appointment we will send an email (or text if no email address is provided). Please check your spam folder for this email.
Referrals for 5-10 year olds in Southampton (SO14-SO19) and Portsmouth (PO1-PO6) will only be accepted from a social worker, GP, CAMHS or the NHS School Nursing team through Egress.
Re-referrals can only be accepted when 3 months following the last set of therapeutic support has passed. Therapeutic intervention requires elements of self-work, reflection and putting into practice any strategies taught during therapy.
How do I start getting help?
After you have filled in a referral form, it then goes to our experienced youth worker-led triage team, who will direct you to the best-fit support for you. This will depend on your age, where you live and what your main concern is.
Southampton counselling for ages 5-10
Referrals will only be accepted from a Southampton-based GP or the Solent NHS School Nursing team through Egress. Sessions are delivered in schools or No Limits’ head office at 35 The Avenue.
Want to know more about counselling for ages 5-10? Here’s Nick, one of our children’s counsellors, answering a some questions about it:
Supporting your child with No Limits
This page has information for parents and carers about counselling and youth wellbeing practitioner sessions for their child and what they can do to support themselves and their child further outside of sessions.
Take me thereA safe environment for all
At No Limits Therapeutic Services, we create a secure and inclusive space for diverse individuals, particularly black, brown, and Young People of Colour, to feel embraced and empowered to express themselves openly. Our commitment includes offering the option of connecting with therapists of colour upon request. Here, you will not only be heard but also seen, respected, and valued. We aim to support your journey of self-discovery and empowerment, addressing mental health challenges within a confidential and non-judgmental environment.
Our approach is shaped by intersectionality, recognising the interplay of social identities, and follows the “A Black Empathic Approach” by Mavinga (2009). We are committed to recognising, valuing, and sensitively responding to the multifaceted nature of racial and cultural experiences, specifically those of young individuals identifying as Black, African, South Asian, Caribbean, or a person of colour.
FAQs
Watch our short video where Prerna answers some quick questions about counselling at No Limits and see below for more FAQs to help you better understand our service.
This depends on why you need support and which option is best for you. You will be advised and kept updated when support will happen.
This means a member of our team assessing your need for support, what type is needed and how soon. Our triage team is made up of experienced youth wellbeing practitioners, counsellors and admin staff. All members of the team are specially trained to support you and direct you to the right place.
After you have been through triage and counselling has been identified as the type of support you need, you will be booked in for a counselling assessment. This assessment is so our counsellors can get to know you and see how they can help. It will be with a member of our triage team and will take place in person at The Avenue, online or over the phone. During the assessment, you will work with them to plan your counselling and you will then be placed on our counselling waiting list.
Find out more about triage by watching our short video with Hannah:
– Safe Havens: Our Safe Havens can offer you out-of-hours group and one-to-one support. They are in three locations across Hampshire.
– Advice Centre: Our Advice Centre on Southampton High Street is open six days a week and youth workers can help you with any issue you’re facing, without having to make an appointment.
– School & College Drop-Ins: We’re in schools and colleges across Southampton either weekly or fortnightly, where you can speak to one of our youth workers.
– Online Resources: We have mental health and wellbeing resources on our website, so you can start to help yourself.
Contact:
– The emergency services – If you are at immediate risk or harm, phone 999 and ask for an ambulance.
– Papyrus suicide prevention – Phone 0800 068 4141
– Shout – Text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258
– Samaritans – Phone 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
– Childline – Phone 0800 11 11
Yes! We’re part of Hampshire Youth Access and work with partners across Hampshire and Portsmouth to provide counselling. You may be seen by one of our partners in your local area. At the triage stage, our team will ask you for consent to pass your referral on to the partner for your area. To refer for counselling in Hampshire and Portsmouth, complete a referral form here.
Funded by
You have selected an option that is best dealt with by our therapeutic support services. We will redirect you to the information page about these services, which gives details about getting in touch by phone.
You have selected an option that is best dealt with by our therapeutic support services. We will redirect you to the information page about these services, which gives details about getting in touch by phone.
We offer services to young people who live in Southampton, Hampshire, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. For information about similar services local to you, please visit Find help | Youth Access. Youth Access is the umbrella body for organisations like No Limits and you can search here for a local organisation that can help you.
We offer services to young people who live in Southampton, Hampshire, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. For information about similar services local to you, please visit Find help | Youth Access. Youth Access is the umbrella body for organisations like No Limits and you can search here for a local organisation that can help you.
We're sorry, but we cannot help the person you are referring as they are above our age range.
If you would like us to refer them to another organisation in Southampton who may be able to click continue to complete this form, we will then pass their details on.
We're sorry, but we can only help young people under the age of 26.
If you would like us to refer you to another organisation in Southampton who can help you click continue to complete this form, we will then pass your details on.
If the young person is not willing to talk to us, then we cannot take the referral. However you can contact us on 02380 224 224 if you would like to talk to a youth worker for advice.
Without this consent, we will not be able to respond to you and cannot continue.
Click go back and select yes to continue.
Without this consent, we will not be able to respond to you and cannot continue.
Without their consent, or a good reason for you to give us the parent/carer’s own personal information, we cannot let you give it to us. This form will be submitted with the young person’s information and support needs, but without the parent/carer’s information.
If the young person does not want to have their parent/carer involved in this referral, you will need to pick a different way for us to contact them