"Primary Care Psychological Therapies"

I’ve been receiving psychological support with a lovely psychological therapist over the telephone for the past eight months . 

I don’t want to personally name her online in case that would make her uncomfortable; however I wanted it highlighted how well this service works .

I’ve had mental health help since I was 16so for fourteen years - various kinds of therapy; various negative experiences and two or three reasonably good.

This most recent run is exceptional . My therapist and I have together been able to work through a great deal, all managed over the telephone (which I believe helps as I feel a bit more comfortable sitting on my own bed!) . She has helped me to understand my diagnoses, and to understand why my brain works as it does . She has empowered me to seek support and care for my past experiences, has validated my trauma, she’s helped me to realise I deserve respect and understanding - and has demonstrated to me that I am a person worthy of compassion and care . I’ve been able to open up fully about things - she is the only therapist I have ever cried openly with - and have talked about stuff that I’ve never managed to discuss with another person . 

By her acknowledging how awful some of my experiences were I’ve come away feeling a hundred times lighter, just the validation is an enormous relief . 

She has helped me to realise that anxiety management isn’t a sticking plaster but a lifestyle change and a total overhaul of my thinking patterns - and has been able to explain that to me in ways I can understand and appreciate . She lets me listen to her ideas and thoughts and then then work through them privately in my own space between sessions - which means I fully take in and appreciate what I’m learning - and can generalise it to day to day life immediately . 

I think I will be forever grateful - at a time when I felt extremely isolated and at rock bottom, just to hear a friendly voice for an hour once a week was a tonic in itself . 

My therapy is coming to a natural end however I’ve been assured that I will be supported through the transition period and guided towards further, more trauma focused therapy - so I don’t feel I’m being left to it so to speak . Rather, I’m being set on a new journey with - hopefully! - skills that will see me through the end of this therapy and beyond .

If this could be highlighted to management I would be enormously grateful, mental health gets a poor reputation in Grampian but this is an example of when it’s been done hugely correctly . I am training in a relatively similar role; I take my hat off to my therapist and hope that when I qualify in my role I’ll have even half the impact that she does !! 

I’m more than happy to privately provide a name if this would be useful for revalidation or appraisal or something .

Thanks again x