"Without these services, I don't know where I would have been"

When I broke my ankle back in 2023 I had many operations which left me  physically, mentally, emotionally, financially and socially overwhelmed. So I contacted my GP who referred me to the counselling team.

It took many month for me to be able to see a counsellor, but when I did get my counsellor it helped me so much as  it supported me to see things definitely and I could  understood why I was the way I was. It took a long time for me to see  this.

When my sessions were over  with the counselling team I was referred to the occupational therapy, this is where I meet Katrina. Right from the start Katrina was amazing. And I love the fact that she had tried many of the things that she taught me  on her  herself and family. Some worked, some didn't for me but not everything works for one person.  I also like that I was able to to teach and show her things that she had not seen. But most importantly I enjoyed my chats with Katrina about life in general, for example my stress, anxiety, my emotions, family situation, my dyslexia and how I might have autism and how I can be  assessed for it. Katrina taught me how to journal my emotions  and take each day as it comes. And how to  break each day up into hours and not look at the whole day.

There was a lot of other things Katrina had taught me, they are so many I can't remember them all. The ones I remember are think of a task and everything you need to do in that task. Another one is for example when you're on the bus think of everything about the bus from the colour, to the windows, the people that are on the bus and what the people are wearing. She also introduced me to the picky  boards, I have 2 of them  now. I found  Katrina to be  a very caring, lovely  individual and  her  listening skills are epic. I wish there was more like her. 

I was so glad that my GP  noticed that I needed this support  and referred me to this service. Without these type of services I don't know where I would have been today. 

From my experience  you only get what you put in to any sort of emotional support  as theses services are only helpful if you are willing to put   the hard work in. It's not as easy as  some people might think as some sessions  can leave you tired, drained  and emotional. You need to be willing  to change your thought  process,  look at  what you can change to make you feel better about yourself, plus do the homework  assignments. The whole process  can leave you feeling  vulnerable at the beginning but it is worthwhile doing.  So if you are not willing to put the hard work in it might not work for you.

The only thing that I would change is the fact that there needs to be more occupational therapies, counsellors and pain management people so that more people can have access to these facilities and you don't need  to be on a long waiting list .

Not sure if this is in the same content but the counselling I also  received was also amazing. And I learned so much from that also.