"I felt like I had the support to go forward"

I have a history of drug use and unfortunately my partner passed away so was originally referred to inclusions for bereavement counselling.

Caroline was lovely and easy to talk to, moving on from this my key worker from Inclusion visions thought it a good idea to attend an emotional regulation course with Natalie and Ollie. Unfortunately it didn't work out, but Natalie and Ollie wanted to help me in moving forward and I have now had a full assessment with them and have a plan in place to help move forward. I found both Natalie and Ollie absolutely positive and very helpful and understanding, also again easy to talk to. I cannot thank them enough for putting in their time to help me with my issues.

If there's one thing I can say to help improve service it would be to never change, keep doing what you are. I was really anxious about opening up, but they made me feel comfortable and relaxed. It's not easy bringing up old emotions that have been locked away for so long although we got there in the end! This is a huge credit to them in how well they know how to make someone feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable without being judged in any way.

I felt like I had the support to go forward no matter how hard it gets and I'm quite disappointed that I will be changing therapist when my counselling to ally starts. I struggle talking to new people but so far my experience with Inclusion Thurrock is really positive so I know the next one will be just as easy to talk to.

Even though I am currently drug free and have just completed my methadone reduction programme, the future does not seem so dark. I can't really think of anything that needed improvement as my experience has been completely positive. It was a shame that the emotional regulation course didn't work out, but this is not a reflection on your services at all, unfortunately I think it was down to lack of commitment from other attendees.