"I felt safe to share"

I had a new clinical psychologist. I felt that the first 2-3 sessions were more about them coming at me with what they have been taught, until I shared a psychiatrist I saw on TV who used visuals and then they came back the following week and gave me feedback about the psychiatrist. This showed me that they had listened and took onboard of what I said. This is at the point where we started working together and I felt heard. 

They were the first therapist in Inclusion - I have seen a few in Inclusion over the years - that actually went away and looked into things I have mentioned in the session and gave feedback to me in the following week. I felt trust and empathy. I feel that they didn't come with any preconceived ideas or complacency from doing the work for years.

I was able for the first time to really go into depth about living in Thurrock as a Caribbean women feeling oppressed, living with institutional, systemic racism, also I was able to explore my exhaustion and feelings of disempowerment that leads to low self-esteem and causes problem to my mental health. I explored the lack of service in Thurrock that I feel that need audited due to not representing the community or having understanding of cultures and religious groups or ageism.

My therapist and I worked in an holistic approach which I encouraged not to be just focusing on my mental health issues work with me as a whole person.

I have a disability that is recognised legally by law, Inclusion admissions/ staff send out text link and forget to send out email even though it's on my records to send out the link via email. Staff needs to be more mindful of it as it can cause client to be more anxious and it can be another way of losing client because not everybody is communicative. Not everyone is technology savvy. It might be worth checking with client how well they can use technology. I have never been asked this question. 

Coming to the close of my session, I started to feel more empowered to stick by my values. When attending interviews not using the system (One shoes size does not fit all) and to be more myself as a Caribbean mature women.

Moving forward I still feel that I need support in therapy as I suffer long term depression and anxiety. The reason I feel I need to support is so I don't take my life. I do try to tap into community for external support but there is nothing that reflects me. Hence why I stay in my bubble and don't really leave my house. I feel oppressed living in Thurrock as there is no support groups for women unless you have been abused there is no neurodiverse support groups and nothing for a person coming from a Caribbean background. There are no general diverse community groups to attend that offer fun and support to a person of colour. It's important for people's wellbeing to have a sense of belonging living as part of the community. This is no reflection on the therapist as they did listen and we shared different types of music and gave feedback, I shared movies titles to watch around racism, this really helped my therapist to understand while working with me. For the first time using Inclusion I met someone who did not take offense or take it personally, who kept an open mind and worked very well with me. 

I would also like to add that my therapist gave me a written feedback. I was unaware that therapist can do this as I found this to be positive and reflective. I think it would be helpful for all service departments to have this blanket elevation feedback to the clients.