Time to talk: Care first encourages conversations on mental health

According to Mind (www.mind.org.uk) one in four people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England. Time to Talk Day is one of the nation’s biggest mental health conversations. Happening every year, it’s a day for friends, families, communities, and workplaces to come together to talk, listen and change lives. Join the Time to Talk webinar to find out more.

Time to Talk Day 2024 will take place 1 February 2024. It’s run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness and is being delivered in partnership with Co-op for the third year running. Across the UK, it’s delivered by See Me in Scotland, Inspire in Northern Ireland and Time to Change Wales.

The more conversations we have, the better life is for everyone. Talking about mental health isn’t always easy and sometimes it’s even harder to say how you really feel. But a conversation has the power to change lives.

Time to Talk Day is the perfect opportunity to start a conversation about mental health. A conversation about mental health could potentially make a big difference. This article looks at the benefits of counselling and how speaking with a Care first Counsellor could have a beneficial impact on your mental wellbeing.

Counselling is often considered an effective tool to help support with stress, low mood, anxiety and depression. Counselling can also be used to support a variety of day-to-day issues including; relationship problems, family issues, bereavement, work related issues, difficult life events and many more. Care first employ BACP accredited Counsellors who are all Management trained and qualified with the minimum of a Diploma. Everyone has very individual needs for support, Care first provides short term focussed counselling, so the Care first Counsellor will assess your circumstances when you call to establish what the most appropriate form of support will be for you. It might be that you just need a brief conversation with the Counsellor that day, or it could be that you may benefit from a few more sessions.

How counselling can have a beneficial impact on your mental wellbeing

See your thoughts from a different point of view
Speaking to someone else, especially a Counsellor who is impartial and independent away from the situation can help to give you a different view point and may help you to think about things in a different way.

Feel less alone in your problems

Sharing any issues you may have with a Counsellor may help you to feel better because you have discussed it with someone else. A Counsellor can often be a good person to share your problems or worries with as they are impartial and non-judgemental. It may also help by getting “everything off your chest” and talking about your feelings can help you to feel less burdened by them.

Increased level of self-awareness
Speaking with a Counsellor can help you to see yourself and your situation from the outside looking in. This can be very beneficial at making you more content with yourself and may benefit your overall self-esteem.

Help you to take control
Counselling can help by identifying the elements in your life to focus on that you can control. This can help you to move forward.

Talking is good for you
Talking about issues may help you to start dealing with them. By not talking about issues, we tend to go over and over them in our mind which is not good for our mental wellbeing and can also affect other aspects of our overall wellbeing such as our sleep patterns for example.

Challenge your mind
By speaking with a Counsellor you may think about things from a different perspective and challenge your own mind to why you feel the way you do, how you might approach things differently, or what might be causing you to feel the way you do.

Can empower you
Talking therapies involve the individual and the Counsellor playing active roles. By you having to play an active part in the counselling may help you to feel empowered at a time when you may feel like you have lost control of your life or parts of your life.

Different Emotions
Counselling can help you to cope and manage with a variety of different emotions from grief, guilt, anger, sadness, confusion and low self-esteem to name a few.

Join the Time to Talk Day webinar 

If you would like to view the Webinar on ‘Time to Talk Day’, it is being delivered live on Wednesday 31 January 2024 at 12pm-12.30pm, please register for the Time to Talk session here. 

If you are unable to join the webinar live, a recording of the session can be accessed using the same link above after the webinar has taken place.

How can Care first help?

If you feel you may need some emotional or practical support, you can contact Care first on the Freephone number. Care first is a leading provider of confidential, professional counselling, information and advice services. Whilst our BACP accredited Counsellors are available 24/7 to provide support with emotional issues, our expertly trained Information Specialists are available 8am-8pm Monday-Friday to provide advice on any practical issues that may be causing you a stress or worry and help you feel more in control of a situation.

Students 

All students have access to the WLV Student Life Connect platform, developed by the University of Wolverhampton in collaboration with Care first.  This is a free counselling, information and advice service offering support for issues arising at university, home, or work. Find out more about mental health and wellbeing support available from the University at wlv.ac.uk/mhw. 

Staff

All employees at the University of Wolverhampton are eligible to use Care first, our services include; telephone counselling, information services and online support. Call Care first on the Freephone number provided by your organisation and you can speak to a professional in confidence. Find out more about support available on the Staff Wellbeing Hub.