Diana thanks TALKWORKS for helping her to manage anxiety

Diana recognised that she was struggling with unhealthy behaviours and reached out to TALKWORKS for support. Through challenging her thoughts and identifying healthy habits, she was able to learn how to manage her anxieties.

"My name is Diana. Before starting therapy with TALKWORKS, I was struggling with feelings of anxiety, which had been intensified by the regulations imposed by the COVID pandemic. I found that there were not that many ways of meeting new people and interacting with other human beings and I was starting to feel isolated and lonely.

What made me get helped was noticing that I was gradually slipping back into unhealthy behaviours, which in my case manifested as disordered eating. Although I was aware of the negative impact of being alone and I could recognise early signs of disordered eating, I no longer felt able to deal with these issues on my own. I felt like I did not have healthy strategies to cope with these new developments.

This is why I decided to enlist in TALKWORKS’ help. This was the best decision I could take at that stage. It helped me acknowledge the problems I was dealing with, discover the root causes of the problems and it offered me practical tools and exercises that I could do to further understand where the issues were coming from, how to identify them and how to deal with them in a healthy manner. It also helped being held accountable by another person and I was more motivated to put in the work every week. The home practice and the reflection upon my own thoughts and behaviours made me realize why my problems were recurring and made me understand why I needed to change some of my behaviours.

In the end, I really liked that the maintenance plan I developed with my therapist contained incredibly tailored measures that reflected my passions and interests and that I knew I could turn to remember healthy ways of dealing with anxiety. I am happy to say that I have noticed a substantial improvement in my behaviours, way of thinking and coping strategies, thanks to the ideas discussed during therapy. The most difficult part of it was getting over the fear of changing my mindset and behaviours that had become so ingrained. But during the therapy sessions I was really able to challenge this and it made all the change. I will forever be grateful to TALKWORKS for showing me how to take care of my wellbeing.

 

If you would like to access support from TALKWORKS, you can self-refer to our service without needing to see your GP first. You can complete an online self-referral form via our website, or by calling us on 0300 555 3344 (our phone lines are open Monday – Friday from 9am to 5pm).