Our online team is made up of counsellors and psychosocial workers - the same ones who deliver support face to face and over video but who also specialise in offering text-based support.
You'll receive the same therapeutic support from us, but it will take place on our online platform through a webchat, like the ones pictured below.
You can access live sessions, structured in the same way a therapeutic session would happen face to face, or you can opt for our flexible weekly messaging, sending messages to your worker at times that work for you and receiving responses later in the week.
Our online therapeutic support is also available across the whole of Greater Manchester.
What’s different about online support?
It’s a text-based conversation in a chat window you can always access and has a shorter registration form to complete yourself (i.e. parents / professionals can’t complete it!)
The support can be flexible (including live chats, exchanging weekly or fortnightly messages or both), giving you a safe confidential space in a way that works best for you to access.
It uses both psychosocial and counselling approaches and we'll be able to find a worker that offers an approach that best works for your needs.
And,like all support at 42nd Street, we’ll treat you with respect, give you a say in your support and offer it in a way you feel safe and boundaried. We’ll be transparent about what support we can offer as well as what we’ll do if we’re ever concerned about something you’ve told us.
How does signing up work?
After registering online on our online platform one of our Welcome Team will get in touch, letting you know we've received your referral, giving you up-to-date info on our wait times, give you a chance to ask any questions and follow up anything they may need to from your registration form.*
After this they'll be a few weeks' wait until a worker will arrange your initial appointment. This is a chat to understand a bit more about how we can support you and help us identify who will be best placed to offer this support.
Once one of our team is available they'll be able to start your support (this will usually be a few weeks after your initial appointment)
*If we're ever worried that you or someone else may be at risk of serious harm, we'll follow our confidentiality processes which may involve trying to reach you or others outside of the platform
What do sessions look like?
There are two forms of online support to choose from. These are:
- Weekly messages – this involves sending as many messages as you like to your worker during the week, then receiving a message back from them at a time that you both agree on each week. You can read and reply to their response at any time throughout the following week.
- Live text chat - pick a time during the week when you can chat live with your worker via text. These regular sessions last for about 1 hour.
You can also combine these in a way that works best for you.
Online support typically lasts between 6-12 weeks. If you decide that you want to talk face-to-face instead, this can be arranged with your worker.
We also offer a Weekly Drop-in; a one to one space, available to any young person to speak to one of our team right away. You can find out more details of how to access this here
Use the button at the bottom of the page to make a referral or sign into your account
Is this for me?
Our online text-based support can be used by any young people who…
- are aged 13-25
- are looking for a more flexible form of support
- would prefer to chat to someone online rather than face-to-face
- are comfortable typing messages
- aren’t necessarily looking for long-term support
- are looking for either counselling or psychosocial therapeutic support
- are keen to start support sooner (our wait times are typically less than our face to face service)
If you try a text-based way of accessing therapy and find it doesn't work for you, that fine! We can move you across to our face-to-face team without impacting your overall wait time. You can also transfer over to online text-based support if you're ever struggling making it to face-to-face session too.
