About the Partnership
Waterloo Community Counselling is proud to partner with King’s College London’s Service & Research Projects Hub, an initiative that connects King’s students and academics with local community and voluntary organisations to co-design dissertation projects addressing real-world challenges.
The Hub reflects King’s strategic vision of “Knowledge with Purpose: Service & Impact”, bringing together academic expertise and grassroots experience to generate research that delivers tangible benefits for local communities. Through this collaboration, students gain practical research and evaluation experience beyond the university setting, while community partners like WCC help shape projects that respond to pressing social needs and improve outcomes for vulnerable groups.
As part of this initiative, WCC proposed several research questions centred on the complexities of delivering counselling in grassroots settings. In academic year 2024-2025 two King’s Master’s students were selected to base their dissertations on WCC’s work—one focusing on staff perspectives and the other on counsellors’ experiences. Their projects explored how community counselling organisations manage professional boundaries while supporting clients with urgent practical needs.
WCC extends its sincere gratitude to King’s College London and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience for their partnership, and to the students and supervisors who have dedicated their time, care, and academic rigour to advancing understanding of community-based counselling practice.
The Value of Partnership
For WCC: Access to academic expertise, evidence-based findings, and fresh ideas that inform service development.
For students: Real-world learning experiences, direct engagement with community issues, and opportunities to create social impact.
For the community: Research rooted in lived realities, contributing to more responsive and inclusive local mental health services.
This collaboration exemplifies how academia and community organisations can learn from one another—combining scientific research and frontline experience to strengthen support for those most in need.
Spotlight on the Research Project
Both King’s researchers examined the question:
Managing therapeutic boundaries in community counselling settings: How do counsellors and counselling organisations manage their clients’ practical demands?
This topic goes to the heart of WCC’s mission—supporting vulnerable communities facing multiple layers of difficulty. For many of our clients, issues such as housing insecurity, asylum processes, or welfare access can directly affect their ability to engage in therapy. Yet as a small charity, WCC does not have the capacity to conduct internal research on these challenges. Partnering with King’s allows us to gain valuable evidence-based insights that inform how we balance compassion with professional boundaries.
This collaboration benefits the wider community by bringing a world-renowned university into dialogue with local grassroots services—sharing knowledge, expertise, and lived experience to enhance how we all support those in need.
Ruyi’s Research: “Beyond Boundaries”
One of the dissertations, Beyond Boundaries: How Third-Sector Counselling Organisations Navigate the Tension Between Professional Limits and Moral Imperatives, was conducted by Ruyi, a master’s student from King’s MSc Organisational Psychiatry and Psychology programme.
Ruyi interviewed 7 members of WCC’s office team across administration, clinical coordination, and finance roles to explore how staff navigate blurred boundaries between professional responsibility and moral duty when clients face complex, practical crises such as homelessness, asylum issues, or food insecurity.
Key themes identified in Ruyi’s research:
Impact of practical issues on counselling: Clients’ survival challenges often disrupt therapeutic work and attendance.
Structural constraints: Limited funding, staffing, and space restrict WCC’s capacity to address practical needs.
Organisational challenges: Staff frequently take on extra responsibilities outside their roles, leading to blurred boundaries.
Coping strategies: Use of material support (e.g., food bank vouchers, SIM cards) and referral networks to partner agencies.
Dual attitudes: Pride in WCC’s mission alongside frustration over limited resources.
Ruyi’s recommendations included developing data-driven boundary management, standardising referral and funding frameworks, and strengthening cross-role communication within the organisation.
Her work provides valuable insights into how WCC—and similar community counselling services—can continue to support clients ethically, sustainably, and compassionately.
Click here to download Ruyi’s dissertation.
We are grateful for this partnership with King’s, and pleased to be working together on several projects in 2025-2026.