Counselling and Life Coaching

Jay1_2

I have depression that is under control with antidepressants. I also have schizoid personality disorder.
I'm not in debt but only have a very small income.

Has anyone had counselling or life coaching? My life feels a bit out of control - or at least not how I'd like it (eg I hate cleaning so mostly ignore it, don't really have friends, want to work more but also not work at all, etc).

I haven't found counselling I've had through the NHS any use. I had one introductory session with a private therapist about a year ago, but didn't feel good enough about it to spend what ever it was going to cost every week.

I just wondered if anyone here could give me advice. How do you find the money for private therapy?

marcia_

Jay1_2 said:

I have depression that is under control with antidepressants. I also have schizoid personality disorder.
I'm not in debt but only have a very small income.

Has anyone had counselling or life coaching? My life feels a bit out of control - or at least not how I'd like it (eg I hate cleaning so mostly ignore it, don't really have friends, want to work more but also not work at all, etc).

I haven't found counselling I've had through the NHS any use. I had one introductory session with a private therapist about a year ago, but didn't feel good enough about it to spend what ever it was going to cost every week.

I just wondered if anyone here could give me advice. How do you find the money for private therapy?

 I had counselling with an NHS counsellor but was limited to about 3 months due to funding. She offered sessions at £20 an a session (this was many years ago) I paid this out of my DLA. Do you claim PIP? This is exactly the type of thing that would be wise to spend it on. 

M25

Any mental health support  groups in your area?

Try https://www.mind.org.uk

>life coaching

No idea what that is supposed to be but it sounds like a scam.

Cheslea2010

I tried CBT and antidepressant medications for health anxiety, and they worked quite well. If your depression is caused by past trauma, you might want to try Silent Counselling. I hadn't heard of it before, but I found it helpful for my anxiety, and it can apparently also be used for depression. I'm not sure whether certain therapies might be restricted due to your personality disorder, but I could be wrong. Unfortunately, all these treatments come at a cost, but our health is the most important thing we have and should take priority. My local authority has an 18-month waiting list for mental health appointments, so it’s no wonder people often take the quick option of relying on medication to get through.

elsien

I wouldn’t say relying  on medication is a quick option. Sometimes it is necessary to put you in the right head space to be able to think about counselling and the other therapies that might be available

Albermarle

M25 said:

Any mental health support  groups in your area?

Try https://www.mind.org.uk

>life coaching

No idea what that is supposed to be but it sounds like a scam.

Life Coaching in itself it not a scam, but opinions will vary as to its usefulness. Also the quality of the coaches will vary a lot.

lisyloo

I had a few sessions of CBT which I found quite useful.
I had private insurance but I think I could have got most of the information from a good book.
It's basically about reframing your thoughts.
Not sure how you feel about self-help books but CBT seems to be recommended by both NHS and private insurance so there is clinical evidence for it.

MSE_JC

Hi all,

While the topic of this thread is based in MoneySaving, just a gentle reminder that - per our rules about medical advice - we ask users to be mindful of discussing/mentioning clinical treatments for mental health.

Thanks,

MSE JC

Muttleythefrog

As above... we cannot really give medical advice so I'll skirt around that. I suffer mental health problems including the same personality disorder and depression. What I would say is there is much more support seemingly appearing in society to help people with mental health problems (and other problems like being overweight).... there's more social prescribing for example... options away from the conventional treatments which you've engaged with some successes and failures but that often GPs will be ready to recommend/prescribe for you. They can include walks, runs, community gardening, weight loss activities, mindfulness type activities, social groups, help with paying for things like leisure centre activities of swimming or gyms

Your GP practice can be good for signposting... so could other local mental health groups as often the help available is very localised and locally arranged. (Ask anonymously in a good local social media group for options and I suspect you'll get the main ones around mentioned.. I would reveal your gender there as many options are gender specific in my experience). I'm fortunate to live in a county that is rural and has lots of social prescribing and outdoor activities plus local counselling groups all free or low cost... now I've been diagnosed with advanced cancer I've found the options have risen markedly including for mental wellbeing! I definitely would look at options..... you have SPD... which can be characterised by superficial relationships with other people.. what you may find is that you can socially engage and get out to activities you personally would enjoy that don't force friendships beyond the superficial upon you. I think it takes a bit of skill and insight into your condition to understand what environments work for you and what will cause you anxiety and phobic type responses... it could come down to some trial and error.

So my advice is... think about what you like and want and what could help improve your life quality and then look to local sources for the support or their pointers to the local support available. If you've got venues around that enable you to bring a carer.... think about that... if you find someone who could go with you to venues you'd like and you can get them in for free then you may have locally cheap options (especially if they also do things like local passes) for lots of days out and building a single friendship that may suit... my wife is my carer but when we go to venues we split up once inside as I cannot tolerate listening to her, the endless 'I can't find my x' and she controls where we go for her not me (we remain in phone contact). If avoiding people completely have a look at apps out there which can help many people with how they think and feel... often they will be referenced in signposting from healthcare venues.

Private therapy costs - look to getting PIP if you haven't already checked to see if you should qualify... this could help cover outgoings such as these. (Citizens Advice Bureau website is a great resource for PIP and possibly help  to apply). Personal trainers can be costly but may suit you if one is good at working with those with mental health problems and you want to get physically fit too.

Horki

I have been browsing websites to see what help is available and not finding much, which is disheartening. Your idea of working out what help I need is far better because it means I have to learn more about my disability and my needs.