The wonderful staff put you at ease very quickly.Day care patient

All quotations are used with permission.

St Ann’s provides help and support to patients, their families and carers. Read on to hear more about the counselling service we offer.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Coping with illness can be as tough on the mind as the body.

Dealing with treatment, and crucially what the future might hold, can be quite an ordeal for both patients and carers.

That is why counselling sessions are so highly valued among the list of services provided by St Ann’s Hospice.

Lynda Goodwin is the lead counsellor, co-ordinating a team of six qualified volunteer counsellors, plus a student trainee.

“The counselling service at St Ann’s is about supporting people when they’re at their most vulnerable. We’ll see in-patients, out patients, day care patients, families and carers both pre and post bereavement,“ explained Lynda, from Bredbury.

“It’s a busy service but we’re available to everyone who has come into contact with the hospice as a patient or carer.”

“Counselling is an opportunity to talk through any distress or difficulties people might be experiencing. Having a life-limiting illness, or someone poorly in the family, can evoke so many different emotions.”

“The focus is often on the patient, and quite rightly so, but we’re also mindful that it can be a struggle for relatives too. It’s about supporting everyone who comes through our doors by offering them the space to talk confidentially about their feelings and emotions.”

“Counsellors don’t have all the answers and don’t give advice. We use our skills to help people share and explore their feelings and sometimes help them to look at things from a different perspective.”

“Our clients can talk to us about anything. It can be issues around the past, current difficulties or changed futures. It’s about helping them to adjust and come to terms with major life events.”

Lynda has worked at the hospice for 27 years, having started out as a nurse before qualifying as a counsellor in 2000. “It’s a very rewarding and satisfying job and a great privilege to work with people at such a difficult and significant time in their lives.

“In the early days we didn’t have a formal counselling service and the emotional needs of patients and relatives were largely met by the nurses. I had an active interest in the emotional and psychological aspect of the care we provided and was supported by the hospice in training and graduating as a counsellor.”

Based at Heald Green, Lynda has enormous admiration for the commitment of her colleagues who volunteer their services for free.

“We’re very lucky to have such a dedicated team of professional counsellors who are integral in providing and sustaining our counselling service here at the hospice.”