Talking Together Wirral

"Currently using this service and have found it very beneficial. It’s early days for myself but I can see progress even in this short space of time. Iv a long way to go I feel, but have gained a few techniques that I’ll keep practicing. It’s a tough road for anyone but please reach out and don’t suffer in silence. This service is invaluable, with the way mental health services are being treated I feel lucky to have TTW AVAILABLE to us."

"I went inti the service for a second time with severe depression after suffering for many years. My therapist told me that I need to work on social anxiety management, but I’d never had consistent social anxiety before, only mild symptoms here and there. I tried communicating this, but the therapist insisted that social anxiety was my main issue. Just last week, I received an emergency family call that my dog had passed away. I had to cancel my therapy appointment 3 hours before my appointment, and stated it was due to an emergency. Following this, they said that due to “policy” they have to discharge me from the service due to “last minute cancellation”. They also said that my therapist will be in touch the same day to further discuss this. It’s now been almost a week and my therapist as well as the service them self have not made any contact to me. I’m so unhappy with this service. At the time when I need the most support, they’re just dropping me. I doubt I’m the first to experience this and I unfortunately I probably won’t be the last. It’s my second time using this service and I can honestly say: don’t waste your time with it. I hope that whoever manages the running of this service sees this review as I honestly think that this service is appalling. I had better therapy sessions back in high school by a wellbeing mentor, and that’s saying something."

"Shout out to Megan Carrigan who was my amazing support throughout my GAD sessions. She was so friendly and professional and I have benefitted massively from her help."

"To have a therapist for vulnerable men to be perfunctory as default is a treacherous situation. I was told acute cronic chest pain and high blood pressure was a panic attack so I never went back to the doctors. (I think I forgot to say I worked in a university and always sent to students with chest pains to hospital to be safe and professional). I also didn't mention that I am available to friends in big business to detract them and offer understanding when they call me in hysterics because they are marginalised. I single handed tempered my mother's anxiety for 13 years yet I found this organisation made me feel bullied and childlike. Although the counsellor was personable I am sure in another setting, I felt exhausted at having to float themes to him which were never expanded. Grief, trauma and abusive experience are intertwined. I gave an articulate explanation of my experiences when I was contacted originally by the organisation. I am fully aware that the violence I have experienced may colour my grief processing but now I am more confused and can only depend on the possible organic expiry of trauma. At first I thought the absence of emotional response was beneficial because it stopped me getting upset. At the weeks progressed I realised there was no cross referral to what I had previously said. All the threads should have prompted questions. I felt pressured to give a monologue every session. Without prompts or affirmation I imploded and dismissed my issues for fear of the wrong response. This lead to subliminal rebound rumination about traumatic experience. I was told after looking after my mother for 13 years completely alone, when she started dying at the end of lockdown I had a normal and typical experience. Try living with this experience and see how normal it feels. I have to juggle fitting into social conventions whilst having a 'train wreck' in the back of my mind. When I felt pressured I had the most vivid and horrific memory jump into my mind and had to politely end the session. The problem with the lockdown experience is everyone thinks them had an extreme experience. I am more than happy to to speak for carers who were left completely responsible for whether their loved one lived or dyed. Getting healthy food delivered was a full time job. All I wanted was one more sunny day when I could take my mother out but she died. The therapy was a quietly degrading and dangerous experience. Apparently abused men just need to keep silent. I sent an aggressive email to them which nowhere near explained my despair at how I was treated but a really articulate one to The Times (who value me professionally) are sweet and don't have a chip on their shoulder. I won't have the memory of my mother dismissed by someone who values his own life experience before his client's. I was reduced to a flood of tears at the end of the last session but I didn't have a panic attack interestingly. I guarded my Mum when she was alive and when her brave and noble death was dismissed as generic I turned into a furious foul mouthed sailor (online) to defend her memory. Please don't attach a standard message of sympathy to this because I am done with your organisation. You can get your chance to reply to the press. Heaven knows I will not try to cure myself by going into counselling but what I do practice when dealing with people who are in a state of high anziety (which promotes bad memory) is to use distraction and not to ask direct questions. I am not in a position to subjectively assess my situation right now. That is why I asked for help. Tell clients with chest pain to go to the hospital. Do not tell them it's a panic attack. (I had asked for a female therapist to avoid problems opening up but was ignored). Abused men need to get referred to a gendered abuse specialist. Not Talking together Wirral. My article is about sectors of society can't get help because of nuanced (inverted) snobbery and outdated gender stereotypes."

"When i first spoke to my therapist. The first thing she said to me was "we dont have much time. 8 weeks only". Not a great, reassuring start. Then everytime she phoned me for our session she was 15 minutes late. I finished work at 6. My session was at 6.30. Every week i waited 45 minutes for my appointment in my car. As it took me more than 30 mins to get home and i drive through the tunnel. In 2020 i had spoke to the mental health line provided by work. They told me i needed a certain type of therapy. One which nhs/ this place couldnt help me with. I feel like ive been failed by this service once again. I could only choose one path of therapy, (due to the limited time I was constantly told about). I had to choose either to deal with my depression or deal with my trauma. She asked me what i wanted out of therapy. I said i wanted tools. So we went the depression way, i got NOTHING in terms of tools. I am still on meds and feel terrible. Your sessions do not end when you are feeling better, they end at 8 weeks. When i confronted her about the tools in our last session and saying i have none, she said "you have relaxation" NO. I need help and worksheets to work through my thoughts. All this was over the phone aswell. Just appalling. If these mental health services dealt with everyone that had more issues than one in one go. Wouldnt there be more chance of less people returning for therapy?Better to read books and find your own tools. Or go private."