A counsellor who
fits you.

Why we started

Getting counselling in the UK can mean a long wait, or paying for someone chosen from a directory with very little to go on. If you also want to be understood in your own language, or you want someone who will not need your background explained from first principles, the choice narrows sharply.

Ostwalden was set up to widen it. We look for counsellors across languages and backgrounds, and we put enough in front of you — how they trained, how they work, what they have experience of — that you can make a real choice rather than a guess.

We are a young organisation and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. What we can promise is that the standards below apply from the first session we ever arrange.

Language and culture

Not a translation service.

Working in someone's own language is not the same as interpreting for them. The words people reach for when they are upset, the things a family does not say out loud, what counts as a reasonable expectation — these do not survive translation well.

So we look for counsellors who can work in the language you would choose, and who have some real footing in the world you come from. It is not a guarantee of a perfect match. It is a much better starting point than none.