Ask Jigsaw: Don’t want to go back to counselling

Wednesday, 22 July 2020

Hey, this isnt even a question but ive been feeling so odd recently and its impacting my behaviour, like my eating habits are all over the place, I’m either crying or really feel like crying every evening and my relationship with my family hasnt been great either.

I tried counselling before and it didn’t really work out for me that well at the time… and when i told the counsellor about my eating habits, they said they think its due to anxiety?? but i don’t know what i’m anxious about??

i acc dunno what to do but I don’t think i want to go back to counselling, as i don’t want to have to deal with emotions or things from my past resurfacing, if that makes any sense? I’m kinda afraid that things are a lot worst than i try to think they are but i’m also aware that fixing that would take ages and i just don’t want to feel worse before i can feel better?

thanks x

xoxo

Hi xoxo,

I can hear a lot of pain and confusion in your message. It sounds like your mental health has been having a negative effect on many aspects of your life, including your relationships.

Alan

Jigsaw Clinician

It can sometimes take a bit of time to find the right type of counselling for you.

Counselling types

I’m sorry that your previous experience with counselling wasn’t great. There are many different types of counselling and therapy available. Some focus on managing current feelings or behaviours. Some take more of a focus on exploring the past, and many combine different approaches. It can sometimes take a bit of time to find the right type of counselling (and counsellor) for you. So please don’t let a previous negative experience put you off from accessing support in the future.

Alan

Jigsaw Clinican

Unless we find a way to deal with what has happened, those emotions can keep popping back in to our lives and affecting us.

As you identified, sometimes it can be painful to deal with things that have happened in the past. We can try and push those feelings away and ignore them. The tricky thing is that unless we find a way to deal with what has happened, those emotions can keep popping back in to our lives and affecting us. I hear that you don’t want to access counselling as you don’t want to feel worse. However, it sounds like things might be getting worse anyway?

Resources

There are lots of resources out there, like self-help books and mental health apps. These might give some tools to cope with feelings of low mood or anxiety in the short term. However, at some point when you are ready it would be worth accessing support to figure out some of the underlying reasons that are leading you to feel the way that you are.

I hope this answer has been of some help. It has taken strength for you to get this far and I hope you can continue on your journey to feeling better.

Take care,

Alan, Jigsaw Clinician