"I have completed the full course and yet still experience anxiety more than ever"

I was referred to The Archway Centre by my GP for help with my social anxiety. Having attended my maximum allowance of six sessions, I do not feel like this place has helped me at all.

For a start, the person I saw did not give the impression that they genuinely cared at all. I found them to be impatient and condescending, and I didn't feel they listened to what I was saying at all. They seemed to get angry when I tried to point this out which, as an anxiety sufferer, just made me withdraw into my shell even further. When you suffer from anxiety, you do need to feel at least some empathy (or at the very least a genuine desire to help) from the person who's supposed to be helping you, but I found them to be very cold indeed beneath what I thought was a "friendly" facade.

I would also like to echo what I have read in previous comments about this place being in the middle of a shopping centre. I can't believe that the NHS would put an anxiety clinic somewhere like this - I am sure that this will have put people off even attending sessions. I know people who live in the area and was terrified of seeing one of them each time I went up there. I have seen replies to suggest that there is an alternative option available in the south of the city, however I was never made aware of this despite having raised this point during sessions.

Overall, this has been a terrible experience for me. I have completed the full course and yet still experience anxiety more than ever. I hope the NHS will conduct a full review of this place and sort out problems with location and staff, as I think at the moment this place is counter-productive. Having read other reviews on this site, this seems to be the general consensus.