"Losing my son to suicide"

My son died by suicide, he was my world and it has always been just the 2 of us, so when this happened my whole world broke into a thousand pieces as well as my heart and I didn’t know how I would even get the the next hour.

My friend did the self referral on my behalf to the Manchester bereavement, who contacted me very quickly to arrange my first session via phone.

I was informed I would be entitled to 10 sessions.

I have been fortunate enough to have more due to the coroner referring me as well.

I have never had any form of therapy or counselling before so didn’t know what to expect, over the period of time speaking with my therapist they were very easy to speak to/listened to everything I said, I felt like they became a friend.

On days when I was really struggling, I knew that I could reach out to the team before my next session, the fact I knew that I had an appointment booked kept me going.

When our sessions had finished I was gutted, but my therapist informed me if I ever need to talk I could call the service, which makes me feel better knowing there is someone to talk to if needed.

I am now 5 months on from losing my beautiful boy and am feeling in a better place.

I’ll be honest I still don’t know what to expect from counselling, but knowing that there was someone there to talk to other than family or friends was and is a huge comfort.

Thank you.