About Us

About the PF Counselling Service

The PF Counselling Service is a registered charity which was established in 1986 as The Pastoral Foundation. It became known simply as ‘the PF’ many years ago, when it was no longer receiving financial support from the local church congregations.  Our vision is to enable people to embrace life more fully through the growth, changes and healing that can take place through the counselling process, regardless of background, experience, or ability to pay.

Counselling at the PF is provided by fully trained and qualified voluntary counsellors, supported by volunteer receptionists, a governance Board, and a small staff team. The service is available to individuals over the age of 18, and every client is invited to make affordable donations to support our work.  We are located in the Morningside area of Edinburgh.

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Counsellors…

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Receptionists…

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Introductory Leaflet

PF Leaflet

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Annual Review 2022/23

PF Annual Review 2023

 

Click here to download a PDF of our A4 Introductory Leaflet.

 

Click here to download a PDF copy of our latest Annual Review.

COSCA (Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland)

COSCA Recognised Organisation

The PF Counselling Service has Organisational Recognition from COSCA, the professional body for counselling and psychotherapy in Scotland.  We adhere to the COSCA Statement of Ethics and Code of Practice, and expect all our counsellors to work to this or a similar recognised Code of Ethics.

To achieve and maintain Recognition we are accountable to COSCA on an annual basis, and every three years they undertake a thorough review of our practices, policies and procedures.

The PF Charity

OSCR

PF Counselling Service is the operating name of the Pastoral Foundation, which is a company limited by guarantee (SC122762) and a registered Scottish charity (SC008875).

The formal objectives of the charity are:

  • To relieve persons in need of emotional, social, psychological or spiritual support by the provision of a professional counselling service; and
  • To promote and provide education and training for volunteer counsellors with a view to raising the standards of counselling for the benefit of the community and, in particular, of those who are the recipients of counselling.

The charity seeks to achieve these objectives by:

  • Providing a counselling service available to individuals over eighteen years of age
  • Making counselling more accessible to members of the community irrespective of their ability to pay
  • Supporting volunteer counsellors in their work in counselling clients
  • Providing and developing supervision of counselling
  • Abiding by the COSCA Statement of Ethics and Code of Practice
  • Encouraging volunteer counsellors to go forward for individual accreditation through BACP, COSCA and UKCP
  • Providing practice placements for student counsellors from training organisations which meet the nationally accredited standards for counselling
  • Providing workshops or conferences on topics related to counselling, supervision and personal development

Our formal Annual Accounts and Trustees’ Report can be downloaded by clicking here.