Counselling is available for patients and their relatives/partners/family to assist them in coming to terms with life after a brachial plexus injury. Couples counselling can be directly associated with the more personal and intimate difficulties that may be experienced.

Counselling is also available for patients and their parents/siblings who attend the Young Adult clinic at the New Victoria Hospital.

What is counselling?

Counselling is a working partnership in which you are helped to explore and manage what is happening in your life. Counselling takes place in a private and confidential setting to help you deal with any issues you may be experiencing such as:

• Coping with your reactions to your diagnosis e.g. fear, changes to your body, anxiety about treatment, anger, loss of control and independence.
• Exploring personal issues e.g. sexuality, relationships, work and pleasure activities, your goals and ambitions.
• Family and relationship issues e.g. how to talk about your thoughts and feelings to your family, intimacy with your partner, role changes within the family.
• Dealing with practical issues e.g. seeking benefits, driving assessment.

Acceptance, respect and trust are built between you and the counsellor and you will be enabled to look at many aspects of your life, relationships and yourself which you may not have considered or been able to face before.

Couples counselling can be directly associated with the more personal and intimate difficulties that may be experienced.

Counselling is also available for patients and parents or siblings who attend the Young Adult Clinic at the New Victoria Hospital.

Why do people have counselling?

There are many times in our lives when we all feel we need someone to listen to us. You may be finding it difficult to deal with your diagnosis and you may be feeling as if your life has turned ‘upside-down’. Things you can normally cope with such as going to work, household activities, looking after your family and socialising may become more difficult and have less meaning for you.

Your intimate relationships might alter because of changes in how you look and the way you feel about yourself. You may want to carry on with life as normal but feel frustrated that you can’t. Many people with a brachial plexus injury may have feelings that they are not in control of their life at this time and this can be very difficult to adapt to.

Bottled up feelings such as anger, anxiety, grief and embarrassment can become very intense and counselling offers an opportunity to explore your feelings with the possibility of making them easier to understand.

A counsellor can help you to find a way to make things less difficult to deal with.

Do I need it?

Many people are put off counselling because they feel it’s a sign of weakness or that they’ve failed to cope with things on their own. This is far from the truth as admitting to yourself that you need help is a strength, not a weakness, and the courage to seek help shows that you are taking control of things. You recognize that at this point in your life you need someone to talk to, to help sort out your thoughts and feelings.

Having counselling is a really positive experience for many people. It can be of real benefit to have some dedicated time devoted just to you - some time to spend thinking about how you feel, what you want and what’s happening in your life right now.

You should consider counselling if over a prolonged period you:

• Feel anxious, depressed, sad, tired or angry.
• Are finding it difficult to cope with everyday issues such as work or socialising.
• Have problems with sleeping and concentrating.
• Have financial, sexual or relationship problems.

What is involved?

The confidential counselling consultation will take place in private with just the counsellor and you together. Usually, you can expect to see the counsellor for an hour or so at a regular time every couple of weeks. You may have a weekly session for a set period of time (often 6 or 8 weeks), or you might have sessions for as long as you and your counsellor agree that you need them.

You may just need some ‘one-to-one’ supportive counselling sessions. This basically means that you need a caring and patient person to talk your worries over with in privacy, knowing that what you say is confidential. The counsellor may not use a particular counselling method here but they are a trained person who will listen to you and help you work out some solutions which can be very helpful.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive describes the mental process that people use to remember, reason, understand, problem solve and judge things.

Behaviour describes your actions or reactions to something.

CBT aims to help you change how you respond to situations or emotions.

It helps you understand how your thought patterns may be contributing to feelings of depression or anxiety. This therapy also teaches you how to calm your body and mind using relaxation and breathing techniques. This helps you to control your feelings more, think clearly and generally feel better about things.

In a counselling situation, CBT is often used to help people overcome:

• Difficulty in keeping emotions under control e.g. anger, sadness, fear, guilt.
• Feeling very stressed.
• Depression.
• Panic attacks and anxiety.
• Sleep problems.
• Low self esteem and body image.