Are you struggling with chronic illness and want support around being kinder to yourself, recognising your needs and getting them met?
I understand the effects that chronic conditions can have on all parts of our lives. You may be grappling with a new diagnosis, or battling with medical admin to try to get some understanding and treatment of your symptoms. You might have been just about coping for years but your condition has now worsened.
Maybe you’re struggling with “shoulds” – you “should” be able to do more, you “should” be spending your limited energy on work or other people’s needs so that they stay in your life. It’s common (and heart-breaking) for friends to become distant or disappear when chronic illness comes into the picture, and I understand that it can leave you feeling lonely, unsupported and questioning if it’s just you. You may have a dynamic condition, never really knowing how much energy you’ll have and on “good day” sometimes wondering if you’re making it all up.
If you’re struggling with eczema, I understand from my own experience how much it can disrupt your life. The physical symptoms such as the itchiness, discomfort and visible signs of eczema can lead to a range of emotions, such as frustration, grief, embarrassment and isolation. You may be struggling with sleep, self-consciousness that impacts your relationships or the after-effects of childhood bullying. Eczema can take a huge toll on your emotional well-being and it’s really common to struggle with anxiety and depression. It’s often a vicious cycle of stress causing flare-ups, and the eczema leading to worsening mental health – I have a blog post about eczema and mental health here.
How I can help
Whatever chronic condition you’re dealing with, together we can explore the challenges you face, build resilience and self-compassion, process the grief of what you may have missed out on, improve your self-esteem and develop strategies to reduce stress and anxiety.
Email counselling can be really helpful if you’re struggling with energy as you can build up your email whenever you have the spoons. It can also help if you’re having an eczema flare-up and don’t want to be seen or feel up to talking. I also offer online and phone counselling, you can mix and match types of sessions whenever you want.
How to get started
You can book here for a free discovery call. I understand that phone calls aren’t accessible for everyone so you can also ask any questions and discuss scheduling etc via email – contact me here and I’ll email you back. I also offer a half-price introductory session so we can talk about what’s going on for you and you can decide if I’m a good fit for you as a counsellor.