CrossReach rescued me

“I NEVER imagined I would see Christmas 2015, I was in a dark and overwhelming place, how could I overcome my emptiness.”

These are the words of ‘Laura’, a young mother whose battle with post-natal depression could have cost her her life.

In August that year, her life changed forever when she gave birth to her son, Hamish.

“As a good friend said, ‘you were here in person but your spirit was lost, your eyes were sad and you were lost’.

“By November 2015”, she says, “Hamish was three months old and life was slowly crumbling around me. I was on a downward spiral. I spoke with my health visitor and was referred to a Community Psychiatric Nurse. Though every experience is individual, for me, I felt let down by my healthcare providers and had nowhere else to go. So, feeling defeated and desperate, I found CrossReach’s Bluebell Service.

“CrossReach rescued me and I mean this sincerely. I was suicidal.

“At CrossReach, I found myself in a non-judgemental, calming, warm and welcoming atmosphere. An atmosphere far more conducive to the care I knew I needed. My counsellor at Bluebell was truly amazing: they listened and tried to understand how I was feeling and the root of my emotions. My first few sessions were me talking to my counsellor about why I had come to Bluebell. I remember feeling, after just one session, that I had been heard and I was ‘normal’. I learnt about me as ‘Laura’ and as a ‘mummy’.

“I have learnt that to be a good mummy is accepting that I am not perfect – in fact, how can I be? Hamish and I are learning together. I am growing with Hamish and Hamish is learning how to grow and learn in his world. The one exception to this is our unconditional love for each other, from the day Hamish was conceived our bond began and is forever.

“CrossReach Bluebell have helped me, through counselling and support, find my inner strength, My counsellor told me ‘being good enough is okay’. For me these words are potent and remain with me forever.” Jackie Walker is the Head of Service, Children and Families for counselling and community.

“CrossReach has been leading the way in Perinatal Mental Health for over 30 years”, she says. “We support over 200 families every week and provide transformative therapies that improve – often significantly – the emotional and social development of infants and parental wellbeing.

“CrossReach has been key in helping hundreds of parents through a difficult time in their lives and that of their children. We help to reduce stigma, off er cost eff ective parent-infant interventions and now are looking towards off ering a cutting edge, digital online therapy.

“With initial help from the Digital Health Institute we have enlisted parents and counsellors to help us design a blueprint that will allow us to use innovative software to create online access for parents and families in all areas of Scotland who are aff ected by Perinatal Mental Health issues. Clients could self-refer and would be eligible for treatment from the beginnings of pregnancy, to two years post-birth.

“The treatment could include diff erent mediums of communication such as confidential online counselling, email correspondence, instant messaging, and connecting with others over group chat. The civic benefit of this project is that it would provide easily accessible care to those in need of it regardless of geographical distance, time restrictions, inability to leave the house, and socioeconomic background and through time could be used to provide counselling for anyone who uses our services.”

“This digital platform will comply with all COSCA’s (Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland) ethical guidelines, ensuring a high level of safety for clients and a high level of skill from counsellors/therapists. A pilot of the project is currently being developed and dependent on securing funding should be available in 2020.” But CrossReach’s counselling services are not just working with new parents. Jackie explains: “We have a wide variety of counselling services across the country that help people of all ages and with a variety of issues.

“CrossReach Counselling Services deliver high quality and eff ective counselling and support to those struggling with mental health, depression, perinatal depression, anxiety and addiction problems. We operate from three main locations in Edinburgh, Glasgow and the West and Inverness and Moray. There are also services available in community hubs throughout Scotland.

“We create trusting relationships that enable people to overcome life difficulties and adapt to change whilst recognising the uniqueness of each individual’s life and experience. We have a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of people across the country.

“Our work with children and young people in schools reduces or avoids absenteeism, and improvements are reported in concentration and relationships. Our work reduces demand on Community Mental Health Teams and other related services. It works in a preventive way, intervening early to avoid complications further down the line, reduces self-harm and suicidal intent whilst helping some pupils to better engage with their education.”

Another client, ‘Andrew’, talks about the help he received from CrossReach when he approached them about his issues with addiction.

“My experience of being a client at Simpson House has changed my life completely. I was at a stage in my life when I thought no-one cared or would listen to me”, he says.

“My counsellor, through great grit and determination managed to somehow give me hope that there was light at the end of the tunnel. She stuck by me and started to understand me and gave me the courage to move forward. She has somehow managed to get me to believe in myself again, encouraged and helped reduce my alcohol intake, stuck by and saved my life through some traumatic experiences. Without my counsellor’s amazing support, understanding and encouragement, I wouldn’t be here today.

“Even although my journey isn’t finished I’m very grateful they have given me the strength to move forwards.”

Viv Dickenson, CEO of CrossReach, says, “We at CrossReach like to be at the forefront of progress, and many of the existing services were developed in response to a specific need or opportunity. The developments have been made possible over the years through generous support from the Church of Scotland Guild, and by applying a small portion of Mission and Renewal contribution. Recently, we felt that the time had come to undertake a comprehensive review of all of our services.

“As a result of the review several proposals have now been accepted by the Social Care Council which we hope will make the counselling services even better in the long run and more able to withstand the uncertainty of the external environment. The aim of these changes is to build on the great work that currently takes place in our counselling services day in and day out across Scotland, and to ensure that we can continue to provide these services for a long time to come.” 