Beacon Counselling Trust (BCT) is a mental health charity operating in the North West of England that specializes in early intervention, education, and clinical programs. It is a partner member of the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN) which enables it to provide nationally available support and referrals to other services throughout Great Britain.
BCT is a leading provider of free, confidential gambling-related support, including therapy, counselling and practical support around other areas of life which gambling can impact, including couples/relationship therapy, debt management support, and suicide bereavement support.
Services are offered across a range of delivery methods, including face-to-face, remote, and telephone counselling.
As well as supporting individuals to stop gambling they can also support those impacted by another’s gambling, as well as offering support beyond simply stopping gambling through long-term focused recovery and wellbeing programmes, including Trek Therapy.
Beacon Counselling Trust also offer a range of free-to-access training programs for professionals who are public facing and may encounter clients and service users experiencing gambling related harm.
Services for those affected by another’s Gambling
Like all good providers Beacon Counselling Trust recognises that living with, or supporting someone who is engaging harmfully with gambling can be stressful and exhausting experience for all involved..
Dealing with the gambling of someone else can have a significant impact on your own mental and physical health and can cause many different practical issues within your life.
BCT understand the importance of supporting not just the person gambling, but those around them too and accordingly offer free and confidential advice, support, and treatment to people who have been affected by someone’s gambling including family member, partners, and friends.
Therapeutic interventions:
BCT employs qualified therapists and psychological practitioners who offer various therapeutic interventions, including one-to-one and couples’ sessions, and group support. Their Support Service around Gambling Related Harms is structured into four stages (as described below in their own words):
Stage 1 – Referral There is no wrong door for you to refer to us, whether this be via the gambling helpline, self-referral, or through another professional. When this first point of contact takes place, you will go through a short screening process by our treatment team.
.Stage 2 – Assessment A full, comprehensive assessment by a trained practitioner is then carried out to fully assess your gambling behaviour or the impact of another individual’s gambling behaviour. There is no waiting list and you will be booked in within 2-5 working days. You will be made aware of the support available at BCT and the different treatment and support pathways.
Stage 3 – 121 Sessions Once you have completed your assessment with our treatment team, you will be allocated to one our qualified therapists for your 1-2-1 sessions. Halfway through your sessions, your therapist will review with you what progress you feel you have made and what you would like to gain from the rest of your sessions. If for whatever you reason you don’t feel on track, additional measures and support can be put in place.
Stage 4 – Long Term Support Once you have completed therapeutic support, you will be made aware of the additional programmes that could benefit your recovery long-term including group support, Trek Therapy (nature-based therapeutic support), peer-based support and a range of community-based programmes to support you in your ongoing recovery journey.
Training programs:
BCT delivers training programs, including their acclaimed and accredited “Bet You Can Help” program, to professionals and communities to help them support individuals affected by gambling harms.
They also participate in education and programmes tailored for specific communities at higher risk of harm, such as serving military personnel and veterans through their Battling The Odds programme.
In essence, BCT is a multifaceted organization dedicated to providing a range of mental health support services, with a particular focus on gambling-related harms and suicide bereavement
GLEN’s View
GLEN is fully supportive of Beacon, and many of our members report having received excellent care and support. Their staff numbers include many with their own personal Lived Experience of having suffered gambling related harm, and several (like Sian in the videos below) who now work for Beacon were themselves helped by accessing their services.
As ever, our view is that any organisation which is open to learning from Lived Experience, treats Lived Experience with full respect, and which actively employs staff who have their own experiential experience of many of the issues which those they will be there to help are currently living though can only ever be a positive and hope inspiring thing.
Testimonies from those who Beacon Counselling Trust have helped include the following volunteered statements:
“Thank you, Beacon, for your support. My life has turned around and I no longer gamble after years of trying to stop. The time was right and the service I received was first class.”
“Very professional and friendly service. Helped me a lot and I highly recommend”.
“You have really helped me with kicking my gambling habit and I couldn’t thank you enough. I think I had already decided it was time to change and had installed gamban prior to the counselling sessions.”
“I rang on behalf of my son whom I was worrying about but talking to the counsellor has helped a lot in my coping with this.”
“Beacon saved my life and made me a better person with a better quality of life away from gambling. Thank you”
“The sessions I had very really helpful so thank you so much for them. Gambling is hopefully behind me now. Today is the 219th day I haven’t gambled and the urge has subsided so much.”
GLEN have always found Beacon to be a willing partner, and a supporter of Experiential Learning. We have no problem with recommending them to anyone seeking help or even just advice.
We do though understand that written words can only go so far in giving reassurance about whether a service might be right for you. Which is why we were delighted that Beacon Counselling Trust agreed to take part in our “In Conversation…” video series where we attempt to peel back the often impersonal facade of an organisation’s public facing information and introduce viewers to some of the actual human beings who either work for, or who have accessed services delivered by providers in the Gambling Harms space.
“In Conversation…” Videos
The following three videos will hopefully help bring the human element out by introducing you to Lauren, Beacon’s Treatment Manager, and also to Sian, who was helped by Beacon in her own gambling addiction and related legacy outcomes and who now works as their Education and Training lead.
The first video is a short summary of what Beacon can offer and features both Lauren and Sian, with the other videos being longer versions of the full conversation which each had with GLEN.
We hope they help you to feel more able to reach out for support, details of how to do so feature after the videos.
WATCH: Sian and Lauren talk about Beacon Counselling Trust
WATCH: Lauren’s full conversation with GLEN talking about Beacon Counselling Trust
Contact Details
Telephone: 0151 2260696
Email: support@beaconcounsellingtrust.co.uk
Website: https://beaconcounsellingtrust.co.uk