Medical & health professionals
Timely, professional help
For young people, sometimes life can feel completely overwhelming. Without someone to talk to, it can feel impossible to cope. We know that getting the right support to young people fast can significantly improve their ability to manage their mental health and wellbeing in a healthy and productive way.
Set up with the help of a local GP, for the last 25 years Youth Talk has been providing free, confidential counselling to 13-25 year olds in the St Albans area, delivered by experienced professionals without judgement.
What we offer
- Self-referral service – young people refer themself to us. There are no criteria that have to be met for a young person to self-refer – they just have to complete an online form, email us or call.
- Confidentiality – Youth Talk is a safe space to talk. All conversations are kept private and the young person doesn’t have to inform anyone.
- Sessions from Monday – Friday from 10am – 7pm.
- Completely free of charge.
- Swift access – we try to see young people for an initial meeting within three weeks – quicker than other services such as CAMHS.
- Longer term support – young people have an average of 24 sessions with us – but for those who need it we will see them for longer.
Productive partnerships
Stronger together
We work closely with Hertfordshire County Council, St Albans District Council and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to provide mental health services for young people.
Informed by young people
We are proud to have an active Youth Panel advising us and helping us to make important decisions about our work and the ongoing development of the charity.
We are a charity
We rely on our local community to help fund our work and keep Youth Talk open. If you know of anyone that would like to support the charity or help to fundraise for us please do let us know. You can also download a copy of our fundraising pack here.
Since I started my counselling sessions with Youth Talk last year I have seen a tremendous amount of improvement within myself. I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity. I have been so fortunate to have my counsellor because I don’t think I would be the person I am now, compared to last year if it wasn’t for her incredible optimism and calm energy.
