Megan thanks our Talking Health team

Megan accessed support from TALKWORKS as a result of chronic pain impacting her day-to-day life. In her testimonial below, she shares how Georgia from our Talking Health team worked with her so that she could learn how to challenge negative thoughts and feel happier in herself: 

"I was attending the Pain Clinic for chronic back pain. TALKWORKS was recommended to me by the medical practitioner in order to help with low mood caused by the pain.

"Before attending my sessions I had periods when I felt extremely negative and not able to function properly.  I had not been able to paint in a long time, saying to myself, “What’s the point?”  I experienced “hot thoughts” where I believed other people were behaving negatively towards me and I would sometimes find myself feeling angry about this. 

"The back pain was, and is, a constant factor contributing towards my thoughts and feelings.

"I self-referred to TALKWORKS and was given my first appointment.  The experience was very positive; the receptionist was friendly and welcoming and put me at my ease and the therapist, Georgia, was very empathetic. We decided that cognitive restructuring was the best treatment for me and I was guided through the techniques - which involve recognising “hot thoughts” (negative, intrusive feelings) and developing strategies to deal with these.  Useful examples of case studies were provided in a handout.  

"Even after my first session (when I spotted some artwork on the wall and asked Georgia about it) I came away feeling more positive and able to get my paints out again! Subsequent sessions - and practising challenging those hot thoughts - reinforced this and I continue to work with these strategies.

"Although my pain is a physiological thing, working on the other aspects - negative thoughts etc. - has helped me tremendously and I am very grateful for Georgia’s help.

"I strongly recommend TALKWORKS and thank them for being there."

If you are living with a long term health condition and it is impacting your daily life, help is available through TALKWORKS. Our Talking Health team are trained to work with adults experiencing a range of long term health difficulties including chronic pain, myalgic encephalomyelitis and diabetes. Treatment is available free of charge through TALKWORKS and a referral from a GP is not required. Simply self-refer to our service by completing our online self-referral form or call the team on 0300 555 3344 (phone lines are open Monday to Friday from 9:00am – 4:45pm).