Therapies and allied health
Counsellor
Someone to talk to about how this is affecting you, usually easier and quicker to reach than a psychologist.
A counsellor offers structured, confidential conversation about what you are going through. The training and regulation differ from a psychologist's and so, usually, does the waiting time. For many people a counsellor is the person they can actually see this month, which matters. It is not the only thing that matters.
How you reach this person, and who pays, depends on where you live. Set your country in Location and Compass will show what applies there.
What they can help with
- Talking through the impact of diagnosis without having to protect anyone's feelings
- Grief, including grief for things lost while you are still here
- Relationship strain, and conversations that feel impossible at home
- Support for carers and family members in their own right
- Bereavement support, before and after
When you might meet them
- At any point. There is no threshold to reach first
- When you find yourself managing everyone else's feelings about your diagnosis
- When a carer or family member needs their own space to talk
- Around a specific decision that has become emotionally stuck
Things you could ask about
- Have you worked with people with a progressive condition before?
- Can we do this by phone or video if getting there becomes hard?
- Is there a cost, and is there a limit on sessions?
- Can my partner see someone separately?
Not to be confused with
Not a psychologist, and the difference is more than a waiting time. Counsellor is not a protected title in Australia or South Africa and is not statutorily regulated in the UK, so training varies a great deal. If you are persistently low, not sleeping, having thoughts of harming yourself, or wondering whether medication would help, ask your GP or your MND team for an assessment as well, rather than instead.