The Albany Centre

20/11/2025

Sometimes its easier to share with a stranger than with those who are closest to you...

18/11/2025

Ever had someone say, “You’re such a good listener, have you ever thought about becoming a counsellor?”

If that’s you, here’s the thing no one told you:

👉 You don’t need to commit to a full professional qualification to find out if counselling is your path. A one-year Counselling Skills programme (part-time: one evening a week + one weekend a month) gives you space to:

✨ Explore whether you like it
✨ Build genuine relational skills
✨ Discover whether professional counselling training is right for you - without the pressure of a long-term commitment

If you’ve ever felt that pull toward helping others in a deeper, more meaningful way… this is a safe, structured, supported way to start.

Curious? You might be closer to this profession than you think. Check out our Foundation Certificate in Counselling Skills starting in January (link in the comments).

15/11/2025

If you feel strongly about the recently announced government cuts to funding for therapy for adopted children, we'd love to hear your thoughts. As an agency, we at the Albany Centre are committed to supporting families going through adoption and special guardianship orders, so this is close to our hearts.

And if you're a qualified therapist and would like to do more to support these children and their families, you can find out more about our post-graduate diploma in Adoption counselling here.

Working with adoption and special guardianship for qualified counsellors and psychotherapists

14/11/2025

The recently announced cuts to funding for specialist therapy for adopted children will be devastating. Huge kudos to Anna Maxwell Martin and Clare Solomons for raising this important issue this week.

13/11/2025

With so much division in the world, it’s always good to have a reminder on what happens when our own compassion fluctuates…

Why is there so much hatred in the world today? We hate because it is surprisingly easy to have "compassion fatigue", to lose our compassion for others. Jon'...

30/10/2025

An important note on the effects of numbing, from Jon's Substack. If you know anyone who would benefit from access to affordable counselling, get in touch with Mosaic Counselling CIC

When we stop feeling to survive, what happens to our humanity?

24/10/2025

ADOPTION

The government has announced that the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) will be extended into the 2026/27 financial year.

Adopted children have often faced complex emotional and psychological challenges, and it's vital that they receive the right therapeutic support. If you're a qualified counsellor, The Albany Centre has a course designed to help you support anyone affected by Adoption. Developed with Barnardo's, it can be completed in your own time - it usually takes around 3 months, alongside your usual work commitments - with professional support from our tutors. Here's what one participant had to say:

"…packaged in a way that made it easy to follow…. very beneficial that I could work at my own pace and pause to take notes"

Here's the link to find out more: https://thealbanycentre.com/courses/post-graduate-diploma-in-adoption-counselling/

Working with adoption and special guardianship for qualified counsellors and psychotherapists

16/10/2025

Can we ask a favour? We have a new page for our low cost counselling service Mosaic Counselling CIC. We'd like to get helpful posts in front of more eyes, so we'd love it if you could follow there as well as here. And do share with anyone you know who might be in need of affordable counselling. You all know what a great job our placement students do! Thank you 🙏

30/09/2025

Have you seen Jon's Substack writings? If you have feelings about the current state of world affairs (and who doesn't, right now?!) you might find this a thought provoking read. Jon says:

"We often talk about war in terms of victories and defeats. But underneath the tanks, treaties, and territorial claims lies something more human: fear, longing, and the struggle to feel safe.

In my latest piece, I explore what we are really fighting when we fight — whether in relationships, communities, or nations."

👉 Read the full article here:
https://jonwilsoncooper.substack.com/p/war-what-are-we-really-fighting

We’d love to hear your thoughts — what do you think lies beneath most conflict?

War: What Are We Really Fighting?