Counselling support to new and expectant mothers, fathers and carers from our central Edinburgh base.

Our dedicated team of therapists offer specialist counselling support to new and expectant mothers, fathers and carers from our central Edinburgh base. For over four decades CrossReach has supported the perinatal mental health and well-being of the whole family – get in touch today to see how we can help.  

It has massively changed how I feel about myself and my relationship with my child. It helped me through an unbelievably difficult time

Perinatal mental health is crucial for the well-being of parents and their babies. This period, encompassing pregnancy and the first two years of a child's life is a time of significant emotional, physical, and social changes. Many parents experience mental health issues during the perinatal period. If you are struggling, you are not alone. We have experience in working with anxiety, depression, birth trauma, bonding, isolation, loss of self and the stress of transitioning into parenthood. Our team can help you to manage the challenges, promoting your overall health and happiness and the emotional and developmental outcomes for your child. Clients can refer themselves or through a health professional from pre-birth to their child being 3 years old. 

What to expect? 
To make sure that we are the right service for you we offer you an 'Initial Appointment’ discussion where you will be able to meet with one of the team to tell us a little more about what has brought you to counselling and to explore what service might be good for you. This is an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have. If you have difficulties accessing childcare support for your appointment, please let us know. We have a number of spaces in our Care-Inspected perinatal creche available to access during counselling sessions. If our service is suitable and you would like to go ahead you will then be offered a weekly 50 minute one to one session with a Counsellor or Art Therapist. 

Your appointment with us: 
Appointments are weekly and last around 50 minutes. We will discuss the day, time and frequency of these sessions with you when we first meet. We consider different types of support that might suit you, from one-to-one psychotherapy or counselling, to art therapy and group therapy. Both the counselling and crèche are located at our perinatal base at 8a Palmerston Place, Edinburgh. Counselling is also available by telephone or online. 
 
What pathways do we offer? 
We offer both a Donation and Self-Funded pathway into the service. When referring we ask you to specify which route you wish to take.  

Donation Pathway 

CrossReach Counselling rely on donations from our clients and supporters to deliver counselling across Scotland. You will be asked to donate towards the cost of your session, at a rate that is affordable for you. This will be discussed at your first appointment. However, inability to pay will never be a barrier to accessing our service.  

Our Donation pathways has an estimated waiting time of around 4-6 months from referral.  

Self-Funded 

With our Self-Funded service, your first appointment will normally be arranged within 2 weeks. Not only does this service have great benefits for you – fast and flexible access to counselling with one of our qualified and experienced counsellors – it also helps fund our donation-based service, so we can provide counselling to those who might otherwise struggle to access support. sessions are charged at a fixed rate of £60 a session and we recommend you are able to pay for a minimum of 6 sessions. Specialist Care-Inspected creche sessions are also available to use alongside counselling sessions for a small fee. 

My daughter dearly enjoyed spending time at the creche and built a positive bond with the practitioners and volunteers. I felt always at ease and relaxed during my sessions, knowing that my daughter was happy and in safe hands

 
Additional specialist perinatal groups for those accessing the service: 

  • Stay and Play: Offering play experiences in different environments, our stay and play group supports parents to meet others as well as enhance infant relationships and child development. Click here for more information. 
  • Infant Massage: Our baby massage programme is well respected, well researched and has been endorsed to be a high quality parent education programme. Click here to find out more. 

Art at The Start  

Art at the Start is a programme run in partnership with Dr Bells Family Centre (link Dr Bell’s Family Centre – Supporting Families in Leith Since 2006) We offer Art Therapy Groups for primary care givers and their children under three - offering joint play activities through art making, helping to increase emotional wellbeing for parents and supporting the infant/parent relationship. This group is open to those living in the EH6 and EH7 postcode areas.  

For more information or to refer please contact us on  

8a Palmerston Place
Edinburgh
EH12 5AA

0131 225 7043 

COSCA Logo

pnd@crossreach.org.uk  

Accessibility Information 

The building is not currently wheelchair accessible and is located at basement level. Unfortunately, there is no lift access. Disabled Parking is available outside the building. Online appointments are available as an alternative.