Counselling & Why It Worked For Me

Hello lovelies!

Today's post is kind of a big deal because it's something I've wanted to talk about for a long time on my blog. But up until now, I've been too nervous to write about something which is so sensitive to so many, myself included. I want to write quite a few posts on mental health and I hope that as my confidence grows these posts might help and inspire at least one person.

For almost two years now, I have battled with depression and anxiety. A lot of factors contributed to it and it very nearly ruined my life. There are a million and one ways to fight mental health issues but I'm just going to tell you a little bit about something that's helped me.

After a really bad year, I referred myself to counselling through my university. I wasn't really sure about how talking to a stranger about my feelings would help me, but after hitting rock bottom, I decided that anything was worth trying.

Within a few days of applying online, I had a triage appointment, where I was asked about what I'd been through and what I felt I needed help with the most. I was then "matched" with a counsellor who the service thought would suit me best and would be able to help me, and it was so reassuring that I wasn't just being randomly assigned to someone.

Helen, the lady that I was assigned to, was absolutely wonderful. She made me feel at ease straight away, took things at my pace and reassured me that it was okay to cry. Tiny things which make a massive difference. The first session was pretty intense, but I went home feeling so much better about getting emotions off my chest that I'd been bottling up for months.

Over the course of nine months, Helen and I began to work through every little thing that was causing problems and contributing to my depression and anxiety. I had trouble sleeping, she gave me tips to help. I had panic attacks, she taught me breathing exercises to keep them under control. I struggled to get out of bed in the morning, she told me to set myself tiny goals for every 15 minutes, even if it was just getting in the shower, so that I could get myself to uni. Again, tiny things, but it was practical help that I could use.

All the while we were figuring out why I felt the way I did. I talked everything out with Helen, even things which I thought I had forgotten about or seemed really insignificant. She helped me think about things differently, so that I could come to terms with certain things that had happened to me.

I slowly began to feel like my old self again. And I know that I wouldn't be at this point without counselling. Even now, if I'm having a bad day or I'm in a busy club and can feel the panic starting to rise, I still use the advice that Helen gave me to keep it under control.

I'm certainly not saying that counselling is for everyone, but it can be an absolutely brilliant way or accepting your past and start to move forward. Just having someone to confide in helps immeasurably. I cannot thank Helen and UCS Sheffield enough, they've been absolutely invaluable to my recovery.

I'm sorry that this post is uber-long and a bit of a ramble! I'm pretty nervous about posting this, so please let me know what you think, or if you need to have a chat about what I've talked about, or anything else, you can tweet me (publicly or privately, it's up to you) @SianKathrine

Love,
Sian Kathrine xo