Free helpline from expert counsellors at Relate Northamptonshire for Northamptonshire residents
With 60 years’ experience of supporting people across the county, Relate Northamptonshire has a widely developed service for couples, families, individuals, children & young people and employees. Our 22 staff have a wealth of experience in supporting individuals with mental health problems as well as helping couples and families build better relationships.
Responding to Covid
We actually shut down our face to face appointments a week before lockdown officially began, perceiving that people in a confined room was not a good idea. Within 3 days of closing down 100% of our work, we were back up and running, providing all of our work digitally or via telephone appointments. Our team were incredible at adapting to this new way of working. This put us in an excellent position to support people as requests for our services began to rapidly increase. We quickly identified the substantial mental and emotional impact the pandemic was having on people, demonstrated by a surge in enquiries for our counselling services.
A key part of that offering is our free helpline for people impacted by coronavirus, paid for through emergency Covid funding. Available for adults over 18, these free 30-minute telephone appointments with a qualified Relate counsellor provide three things:
- active listening – not just hearing but full concentration on all that you are communicating, with all of the experience and insight from our expert counsellors to fully understand where you are;
- psycho-education – explaining some of the relevant psychology of your experience and how that knowledge might help you overcome your individual challenges;
- signposting – our counsellors have an excellent knowledge of all the services available to support you in this time, and will be able to point you in the right direction should you require further support.
This service is open to anyone whose mental health & sense of wellbeing have been impacted by coronavirus.
A Positive Impact
It’s been wonderful to have so much positive feedback from clients about the free helpline service. Here are just some of the things they’ve said:
“I thought I was at the end, then I reached out. Now I feel like I’m back at the beginning.”
“You picked up on me putting myself last, which I didn’t realise I did; you very quickly pointed this out… It was perfect. I wish I’d called earlier.”
“[It helped me] to be able to tell the truth and verbalise what’s been swirling around my head, someone to actually listen to what’s been bottling up inside me.”
“I found it very useful; it’s put me in perspective again and I have got back in control before it got out of hand. It’s nice to have the service to hand. It will help out a lot of people like me… A bit of guidance to get me back on the straight and narrow.”
Planning for the Future
Throughout lockdown, we have been amazed at how readily people are adapting to receiving support digitally. Our current plans are therefore to continue providing all our services remotely until March. In fact, we will never return to 100% face to face – the opportunities and possibilities opened up to us through remote appointments are brilliant for both us and our clients.
Unfortunately, we anticipate that demand for our services will continue to rise in the coming months. With continued local lockdowns and outbreaks, Covid will impact our communities’ emotional wellbeing, mental health and relationships for some time to come. Our team’s new digital skill set, combined with their longstanding counselling expertise, means we can support our county through this challenging season.
Top tips to protect your mental health
So how can you look after your mental health and support your clients?
- Give yourself time. Anxiety and stress are a part of all our lives at the moment. Giving yourself time to process how you are feeling and why is really important. In many ways, this is the function of our helpline: it gives people focussed time to find new perspective on what’s happening around them.
- Notice what causes you stress and what brings contentment. This mindfulness can help you to place boundaries around stressors to limit their impact – and build into your day the things that feed you. If supermarket shopping causes anxiety, plan half an hour afterwards to relax with a book. If the news makes you feel stressed, limit yourself to 10 minutes in the middle of the day. If your hobby really helps you relax, plan it in as a regular part of your week.
- As teams, we can do a huge amount to support each other. Verbal affirmation can make someone’s day; giving a few minutes to finding out how someone is means they feel valued; a phone call instead of an email helps someone feel connected. Find what works for you and your colleagues, and be deliberate in caring for one another.
- Know how to access appropriate help. There are plenty of excellent free services available for all sorts of situations. Keep a note to hand of a variety of contacts so that you can signpost clients or colleagues to the services they need.
This situation is unusual for our nation: everyone is impacted by the pandemic. Every family, every relationship and every individual is under stress. Recognising this, and appreciating the impact it has on you and those around you, is really important.
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