"I am wary of this experience colouring my future experiences"

Having counselling with Inclusion Matters.

1. In my opinion an unprofessional 'mental health well being practitioner' or however they are called, who told me over the phone (he was not a qualified counsellor nor did he know anything about me) that I should stop seeing my family as they caused me distress.

2. Gave me an appointment which I turned up to on time, then kept me waiting because he'd forgotten to cancel it with me, then brought me in to his office to apologise but kept me another 15 minutes because he felt guilty.

3. Waited 4 months for counsellor who was very keen to label me. I didn't really feel listened to in the sense that she really understood. I think she just listened then made a snap decision about what was upsetting me and then that was it. eIt felt that everything else I said afterwards was appraised in the context of her initial assessment of me being a person who is a survivor of a trauma. Allocated me an appointment time that I couldn't attend and so I had to go onto the waiting list of another counsellor then go through the initial assessment session again.

4. Second counsellor shut me down. I felt very bewildered and extremely sad afterwards. Because I had had such an upsetting experience two weeks before with my first counsellor I was quite contained in explaining everything again to the second counsellor who (lacking congruence) mirrored my self-containment during the session which I interpreted as coldness so I became increasingly more and more shut down' without understanding what was happening. I came to counselling because the people I'd previously gone to before to help with my 'life problems' reacted with silence or judgement and so minimised my feelings of grief and depression. This counsellor did exactly the same thing, and to add insult to injury told me to 'structure' the sessions in future so that I would get more out of them, and that I 'didn't know what I wanted or where I was going' (You don't say? I'd just told her that).

Right now I feel like ringing them up and cancelling my counselling appointments because I just feel like they are not helping, or do I give the counsellor another chance or do I ask for another counsellor and go through that all over again?

I am wary of this experience colouring my future (if any) experiences with I. M.

Signed: extremely sad, confused and depressed client of Inclusion Matters