The Harbour, established in 1991, provides a free and professional psychodynamic counselling  and psychotherapy service for people affected by a physical life-threatening illness.  This includes people living with a life threatening illness, people close to them and people who have been bereaved within the last 2 years through a physical life-threatening illness. Our service is for individuals and couples who are aged 18 and over.  The majority of people who use the service come from Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath although some come from further afield including Wiltshire, Somerset and Wales.

To the best of our knowledge, The Harbour's service is unique in the South of England. The Harbour complements other related health services in the statutory and voluntary sectors, offering the essential psychological care which can help the process of coming to terms with a deeply distressing and disturbing situation.  Counselling and psychotherapy at The Harbour is a talking based therapy which aims to support and help people resolve their difficulties by understanding more about the conflicts and difficulties in their lives.  Counselling and psychotherapy can offer a regular reliable space and time in which to think about the impact of a life-threatening illness.

Our aims are to:

• explore the impact of having a life-threatening illness

• pay attention to fears, anxieties and concerns

• explore any difficulties in relationships. including with family and friends

• pay attention to how clients think about and relate to any treatment

The Harbours service is delivered by qualified and experienced counsellors and psychotherapists and adheres to The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Code of Ethics and Practice.  The Harbour also offers supervised placements for counsellors and psychotherapists in advanced training.