Our free of charge trauma recovery counselling is currently available to Forth Valley residents only. If your client is residing outside the Forth Valley area then we cannot cover the full costs of therapy. Our therapy will be offered at the reduced charity rate of £30 per hour, and HSTAR will take responsibility of remaining costs of services. We understand that this may still be a significant expense for some individuals. However, until we secure additional funding, we regretfully cannot extend our free therapy support to beneficiaries residing outsside the Forth Valley.

A woman referred by your organisation must be over 16, must be a resident of Scotland and be in a safe place (we support survivors of trauma or abuse). The average waiting time from receving the first therapy session may take up to 6 weeks, the Intake Assessment call will be made within 4 weeks from the referral date. We prioritise inclusion and diversity across all our services and we welcome women: survivors with historical experience of domestic or sexual abuse, childhood sexual abuse or harmful practices from minoritised communities who have experiences of racism, discrimination, or social exclusion from refugee backgrounds with experience of trafficking or other human rights abuses from migrant backgrounds where English is not your first language (we offer therapy in 20 languages), currently coping with bereavement. 

Whilst we assess on a case-by-case basis, it may be that HSTAR Scotland is not the right place for you at this time. In order to avoid long waiting times and disappointment, please consider the following when making a referral. We may decide to turn down or postpone a referral where a woman: has a current complex mental health diagnosis, severe substance abuse issue or severe eating disorder is seeking counselling in order to support a court case or is court-mandated for therapy is currently living with a perpetrator of domestic or sexual abuse. Also you need to be sure that your client is in a safe place, and there is no risk of self-harm or/and suicidal thoughts/ behaviour. Our intake assessment is not a guarantee of counselling, but we will always work with you to find the right service, whether at the HSTAR Scotland or at another organisation. 

We recommend you and your organisation to assess each referred woman carefully for our therapy, so we can avoid her distress and disappointment. At HSTAR Scotland we regard inquiries and counselling discussions as private and confidential.  Any information provided will be treated in confidence.  No information of any kind is given to anyone outside of the charity unless specifically requested in writing, although in rare circumstances we reserve the right to widen confidentiality if there appears to be a serious risk of harm.