"Counselling for Anxiety"

I started to feel low and stressed following the breakdown of a 25 year relationship with my husband. I was facing up to many life changes and struggling to cope with a huge range of emotions, with guilt being the most powerful. I'd always led a very organised and easy life, always conformed to people's expectations of me. I set myself extremely high standards and would feel a failure if something did not go as planned. I felt as though I'd taken a perfect life and smashed it to pieces. I lost friends and a whole way of life. I had to take on a new job having not worked since having children, I had to learn to deal with taking on the management of my finances and so many other things I'd not had to cope with. I felt the weight of responsibility for having my children's happiness on my shoulders and the shame at the disappointment I'd caused my family. My life just felt a total mess and it was all of my own making. I didn't know how to make sense of it all.

I saw the social prescriber at my GP surgery and they recommended Inclusion Thurrock to me. I was offered counselling after an initial telephone assessment. Over a number of weeks we explored my feelings and worked through everything, I can't pretend it didn't feel uncomfortable at times, because opening your life to a stranger is somewhat alien, and bursting into tears when a nerve was touched was quite embarrassing! I often went home feeling either extremely drained or fairly positive. Gradually that positivity has outweighed the low points and I feel that at the end of my journey I've almost been cleansed and re-built as a person. I understand myself so much more, and have learnt that I'm actually worth an awful lot more than I thought I was. I would highly recommend the service Inclusion have provided to me and would like to thank Steve from the bottom of my heart for all his patience and understanding.