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Long term serious illness
I can help you and together we can look at what you're feeling
Contact Me
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You are not alone
I’m here to listen

Maybe you are in the middle of treatment where your body can sometimes feel like 'parts of a car' seeing a conveyor belt of different specialists and you want them to view you as a whole person?

You may be a carer trying to support a loved one and not knowing quite what to do?

You may have 'got the all clear' and are mystified about why you just can't relax? What is making you relive everything you've been through over the last few months/years?

Waiting

You may be awaiting diagnosis and confirmation of an illness so that you can finally understand where you are at. What the future may hold and what prognosis you face in then somehow trying to take control of your life going forward.

I have experience of long-term illness both professionally and personally and I understand your feelings of not knowing, possible catastrophising and immediately jumping to the worst-case scenario.

You may be held in a system that only goes at the pace of the system and will not speed up no matter how intense your fears or need to know. It can be demoralising, you can feel unimportant and unheard.

Having a voice

Simply being treated humanely, with respect and having your feelings validated can be so helpful within the system where sometimes you can feel like you're over exaggerating, causing a fuss about nothing or being told 'it's in your mind'.

I hear you, I can help you and together we can look at what you're feeling. I can help you in your life now and going forward. You are not alone.

A different future

I counselled for several years for Macmillan Cancer and I realised that the variety of issues raised in people often had very little to do with the cancer itself.

I met people who'd experienced earlier mental health difficulties and been suicidal previously but now wanted to fight as hard as possible for every last drop of life. People who suddenly decided to retrain in a different career seeking a new challenge, end an unhappy relationship to have a healthier life going forward or immerse themselves in something with purpose such as creating a brand new charity.

I also helped several carers in coming to terms with their new life. Becoming a carer for a loved one, feeling frozen out of the system because their opinion and voice wasn't always sought. The helplessness if sometimes it appeared their loved one wasn't looking after themselves or had given up or was approaching end of life.

Serious long-term illness affects those with the illness in many, many ways and the same applies to the loved ones of those living with serious illness. The one certainty with a long-term condition is that it brings change into your life. The future can appear blurred.

Hope

You may be feeling many different feelings from anger to fear to relief. One of the common feelings I heard about was that of guilt. Feeling it wasn't OK to feel those feelings, people experiencing cancer shouldn't wallow and should somehow just get on with it. The feelings are there because you are experiencing or have experienced trauma and loss.
You can accept all of your feelings because they are valid.

If you try to suppress them, they can seep out in other ways.

The straw that broke the camel's back!

It's OK to feel whatever you are feeling and we can look at your feelings together.

You may simply need time away from your life to vent, cry, focus, make sense of what has happened when your life felt like a blur or simply think about how you go forward.

You may benefit from coping methods to help you deal with your feelings and the first point is in you recognising them and accepting them because you are a human being who has experienced something very traumatic in your life.

Whatever your personal experience, I am here to be alongside you with us looking at your concerns together. You can begin to recognise your needs and I can help you with that.

If you're ready to reach out for support that will help you going forward, just click the button below, share your details and I shall get in touch with you.

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