Waiting, and finding the wait hard
Your referral went in months ago and the waiting has quietly become part of the problem. We can begin now, and you keep your place in the queue.
Online counselling : United Kingdom
Someone to talk to
in the UK, without
the long wait.
If you have been searching for private counselling near me and finding either a waiting list or a full diary, this may help. I am Mehwish Salman, a psychotherapist and counsellor holding UK CPCAB Level 4, and I work online with clients from Glasgow to Cornwall, and most people are able to start within days of their first message rather than waiting months for a first appointment.
Qualified practitioner
CPCAB Level 4, UK
Registration No. 433TM4D-128-303701
UK CPCAB Level 4 qualification
No referral and no waiting list
No referral needed
Strictly confidential
How do I get counselling in the UK without waiting?
You can refer yourself directly to a private counsellor with no GP involvement and no waiting list. NHS Talking Therapies also accepts self referral in England, though waits for ongoing counselling commonly run to several months. Many people start privately while their NHS referral progresses, then choose which to continue.
Who I work with
Who I see across
the United Kingdom.
These are the situations that come up most often in my UK caseload.
Worn down by a job you cannot leave yet
Long hours, a manager who does not want to hear it, and a mortgage that makes leaving feel theoretical. We can look at the load itself and at what it is quietly costing you.
University further from home than expected
Term time pressure, a first winter away, and a family who worry when you admit you are struggling.
Duty pulling against your own life
Obligation to parents, expectations about marriage and career, and the guilt that comes with wanting something different. Here you can skip explaining the culture and use the hour for what actually hurts.
Two people too tired to talk properly
Gottman informed couples sessions, arranged so you can both join from wherever you happen to be that evening.
Capable, and still short of your ceiling
Therapy is not only for repair. Senior professionals use it for steadier focus, cleaner decisions and a pace that does not quietly cost them their health.
A long habit of saying you are fine
Plenty of men come to counselling later than they might have, often once something has given way. Starting late works perfectly well, and you are very welcome here.
Waiting for a referral, or tired of waiting?
Most UK clients start within days of their first message, with no referral needed.
Private and NHS
How private work sits
alongside the NHS.
Private counselling does not replace NHS care, and it will not interfere with it either. You are very welcome to hold an NHS referral and see me at the same time. Nothing here affects your place in that queue, and I keep no shared records that follow you around the system.
What private work buys you is speed and choice. You pick the counsellor, you keep the same one throughout, and you set the number of sessions rather than fitting a fixed course. NHS Talking Therapies is genuinely good at structured short term work for anxiety and depression, and for some people that is the better fit. If our first session suggests you would do better there, or with a clinical psychologist or your GP, I will tell you.
Anyone who needs medication, a diagnosis, or urgent crisis care needs the NHS rather than me. Counselling works at a slower pace than a crisis, and a good counsellor says so early.
Private and NHS side by side
How the two routes
actually compare.
Both are legitimate. This is the honest comparison so you can pick, rather than a case for going private.
| NHS Talking Therapies | Working with me | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free at the point of use | 99 dollars a session, self funded |
| Typical wait | Weeks for an assessment, often months for ongoing counselling | Usually days from your first message |
| Choosing your counsellor | Allocated to you | You choose, and you keep the same person throughout |
| Number of sessions | A set course, commonly six to twelve | You decide, and we review as we go |
| Best suited to | Structured short term work, and anyone needing medication or a diagnosis | Open ended work, and anyone who wants to start now |
My approach
Methods chosen for
the problem, not the fashion.
UK counselling has no shortage of labels. What matters more than the acronym is whether the method suits the person in front of me, so I hold several and choose between them as the work moves.
Talking therapy
Unhurried sessions where you can say anything at all, and I help you find the shape of what you are feeling.
Stress management
Small, practical things you can use between sessions to ease the daily load and look after your energy.
Breathwork
Simple breathing practices that settle the nervous system when thinking alone will not reach it.
Mindful somatic work
Hakomi based approaches that follow what the body holds, useful when emotion sits below language.
Family therapy
Sessions that gently look at the patterns a family repeats together, rather than treating one person as the problem.
Couples therapy
Gottman informed work on communication, conflict, trust, and the friendship underneath the relationship.
You can hold your NHS place and start now.
Nothing here affects your position in that queue. Send a few lines and we will find a time.
Two minute check in
Wondering whether
therapy is for you?
Six short questions about the last two weeks. Plenty of people take this while waiting for an NHS referral, simply to put words to what has been happening. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
This check in gives you language for what you are noticing. It does not diagnose anything, and only a proper assessment can do that.
Question 1 of 6
Over the last two weeks, how often has worry stayed with you through the day?
Nature, breath and the nervous system
Finding your footing
when something strong
is running inside.
How do you learn to stay calm when you feel something strong rising?
Calm is a skill rather than a personality trait, and it is taught through the body before the mind. Slow breathing, grounding through the senses, and contact with the natural world all lower the physical arousal that fuels panic and anger. Practised in ordinary moments, those skills become available in hard ones.
Most of us arrive wanting the feeling to stop. What tends to help more is learning to stay upright while it moves through, since a wave that is ridden passes far sooner than one that is fought. Nature does a surprising amount of this work on its own, and Britain makes it easy enough: a canal path, a park at lunchtime, or twenty minutes of daylight before the afternoon closes in. Winter here shortens the days sharply, so getting outside early matters more than getting outside for long.
Settling the body first
Simple breathing practices that lower arousal in minutes, so thinking becomes possible again.
Coming back to the room
Sensory techniques that interrupt a spiral before it gathers pace, usable anywhere and unnoticed by anyone.
Healing that draws on the outdoors
Daylight, green space and movement built into the week, because the nervous system responds to place as much as to insight.
Sessions and fees
Clear fees, and no
waiting list to join.
Sessions run by secure video, so all you need is a quiet room and a pair of headphones.
Single session
One to one counselling
$99
one to one session
one to one session
- Zoom or Google Meet, whichever suits your setup
- Times arranged around your working day
- Notes and tools you can use between sessions
Ongoing work
Regular sessions
$99
each session
each session
- Weekly or fortnightly, by agreement
- The same counsellor throughout
- Reviewed together as the work goes on
Couples and family
Relationship sessions
On request
booked ahead
booked ahead
- Gottman informed couples work
- Family sessions for repeating patterns
- Partners are welcome to join from two places
Booking and payment policy
Payment
Payment comes through at least 48 hours ahead, and that is what holds your slot for you.
Currency
Charged in US dollars, at the same rate for every client wherever they are. Your bank converts at the day's rate.
Cancellations
Life happens. Let me know as early as you can and I will move your session. A last minute cancellation without a genuine reason is not refunded, because the time stays reserved for you.
Late cancellations
If a session is cancelled at the last minute without a genuine reason, I am not able to refund it, since the hour stays reserved and cannot go to anyone else.
Questions about qualifications or fees?
Ask them before you book. I would rather answer plainly than have you wondering.
About
The person you
would be working with.
Mehwish Salman
Psychotherapist and Counsellor
I qualified as a psychotherapist and counsellor and I hold UK CPCAB Level 4 in therapeutic counselling, registration number 433TM4D-128-303701. I work with adults, couples and families, and I shape each session around the person in front of me rather than a fixed script.
My continuing professional development covers stress management, breathwork, Hakomi based mindful somatic approaches, family therapy, and couples therapy using Gottman methods. That range lets me bring the right tool to the right moment rather than stretching one method over every situation.
British clients often ask where the training sits. CPCAB is a UK awarding body, so the qualification, the supervised hours and the assessment were all completed to a British standard, which is the same standard I work to with every client anywhere.
UK CPCAB Level 4
Adults, couples, families
Integrative practice
Online worldwide
Questions
Questions people ask
before their first session.
Are you BACP registered?
I hold UK CPCAB Level 4 in therapeutic counselling. CPCAB is a UK awarding body: it awards the qualification, and practitioners then choose whether to register with a membership body such as the BACP. Titles like counsellor and psychotherapist are not legally protected in the United Kingdom, so I would rather state exactly what I hold than let a label do the work. My registration number is 433TM4D-128-303701.
Can I claim this on insurance?
Most UK health insurers only reimburse practitioners on their own approved panels, so treat these sessions as self funded unless your insurer confirms otherwise. Some employers reimburse counselling through a wellbeing budget, and a simple receipt is usually all they ask for.
Do you work with clients outside England?
Yes. Sessions run online, so clients in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland attend on exactly the same terms. Anyone outside a major city usually finds the choice of local counsellors thin, which is precisely where online work helps.
Can I have sessions in Urdu?
Yes, and you can move between Urdu and English inside a single session. Some British Asian clients find that a feeling only arrives in the language they first learned it in.
What if I need to be seen urgently?
Contact NHS 111 and select the mental health option, or your GP. If you are in immediate danger, call 999. Ongoing counselling with me can start once you are safe.
What happens in the first session?
We spend the hour getting oriented. You describe what brings you here, I ask about your history and current situation, and together we name what you want to be different. You control how much you share on day one, and you decide afterwards whether to continue.
Is everything I say confidential?
Yes. Sessions are strictly confidential. What you bring to a session stays between us.
How many sessions will I need?
Some people find that six to eight sessions cover a specific issue. Others stay longer for deeper work. We review progress regularly and you decide when to stop.
How much does private therapy cost in the UK?
My fee is 99 US dollars a session, and it is the same for every client wherever they live. There is no assessment fee and no separate intake charge, so the session fee is the whole cost. Your bank converts to pounds at the day's rate, which means the figure on your statement moves a little week to week, and payment reaching me 48 hours ahead is what confirms the slot.
How long is the wait for NHS Talking Therapies?
It varies a great deal by area. Many services see people for an initial assessment within a few weeks, while the wait for ongoing counselling commonly runs from around four weeks to several months. In England you can refer yourself without going through your GP, and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland you normally need a GP referral first.
Should I choose NHS or private counselling?
If you want structured short term work for anxiety or low mood and can wait, NHS Talking Therapies is genuinely good and costs nothing. Private work suits you better if you want to choose your counsellor, keep the same person throughout, decide the number of sessions, or simply start now. Many people do both, and holding an NHS referral does not stop you seeing me in the meantime.
Are counselling and psychotherapy protected titles in the UK?
No, and this surprises people. Anyone may legally call themselves a counsellor or psychotherapist here, which is exactly why qualifications matter more than job titles. I hold UK CPCAB Level 4 in therapeutic counselling, registration number 433TM4D-128-303701, and I would encourage you to ask any practitioner what they actually hold.
Booking
Two easy ways
to get started.
Send the form below or message me on WhatsApp. There is no referral to arrange and no waiting list to join, so most UK clients are booked in within a few days of writing.
Book on WhatsAppNot sure yet? Ask anything you like first. There is no pressure to book, and questions are always welcome.
- thehealingtreepk@gmail.com
- WhatsApp, the quickest route
- Sessions by secure video, wherever in the world you are