Patient Stories

When I attended Talking Therapies, my therapist treated me with kindness and patience.  She opened my mind up to be stronger and more powerful. This allowed myself to be heard and valued by my own self, not relying on other people to dictate it for me. I might be a ‘soft’ person, but I am still allowed my values to be met.  This doesn’t make me ‘hard work’ or ‘demanding’, just someone who knows themselves.

So, thank you to my therapist for opening this world up to me.  I’ll remember this forever as you have changed my outlook on life. You have given me the tools I need to carry forward and reminded me of how amazing I am.

In addition to my therapy, I was offered Employment Support in Talking Therapies also. My advisor’s knowledge and passion for employment advice is infectious.

He really broke down all the components for a job application which has made the whole task much less daunting. He also acted like my biggest fan which has made me feel much more competent. I also enjoyed that he made what I call a “boring task” into a bit of fun, and that we could have a laugh about things. I feel much more confident in applying for job and I wish had this advice years ago. Thank you to my advisor, it’s been a pleasure having you mentor me.

I attended weekly therapy at Plymouth Talking Therapies due to feeling quite depressed after finishing university. I saw lots of my peers finish university and ease quickly into jobs. I was applying to lots and not hearing anything back. It was so daunting: I had no student finance, no income and lots of outgoings. So, along with my declining mental health, I was also financially insecure, adding to my feelings of uselessness and sadness. I had no regular routine, sleeping upwards of sixteen hours a day. My therapist put me in contact with the employment service, where I met a wonderful employment advisor.

Within our first session, my advisor got to know me: my work experience, personal aspirations and how my mental health was limiting my capacity to find jobs. At the time, I was feeling so demotivated by my lack of successful applications that I ended up losing motivation to keep applying.

My advisor reviewed my CV, together we polished it up and moulded it into a very professional document. He then sent me a few jobs to apply for, being cautious not to overwhelm me, and gave me support and tips to ace the applications. I then got through to my first interview, where he coached me and built up my confidence. Whilst I didn’t get that job, it was great experience and taught me that I could do a decent interview despite my mental health issues. After a few more sessions and lots of encouraging meetings, I finally managed to secure a job, the new CV and encouragement and advice for interviews that I had been given.

Now I have finished that course of therapy, I have a regular routine, financial security and a decent job, my mental health is considerably better. Now I wake up and have purpose, something to do and experience to gain and it is thanks to the wonderful service at Livewell Southwest.

I believe the employment service is incredibly important, useful and relevant. It is so difficult to get a job as it is, let alone if you are struggling with mental health difficulties, but the employment service listened to me and guided me to the point of getting a job and, for that, I am incredibly grateful. Thank you.

I sought help from the Plymouth Talking Therapies team for anxiety related to perimenopause and work stress. From the very first contact, the team were clear, quick, friendly and professional. The initial steps were a short online form and a call to assess my needs – this was quicker than I expected, sensitively done and I felt as if I’d been listened to, for the first time in a long time. 

The process is well structured with regular questionnaires to check progress, and the anxiety pathway is clear and easy to follow. This has really helped to see an improvement in issues with anxiety and poor sleep. My therapist was always professional, listened actively and guided me through the process clearly. Through talking through my top issues, I was  also offered employment support alongside my therapy – my advisor was incredibly supportive with interview skills, navigating leaving a toxic workplace and preparing for positive change.

Both of them were amazing, perceptive and professional, signposting to other resources, finding hugely useful information and adapting the approach as needed. From the kind teams organising, working on reception and working face to face with clients, it’s clear that the whole team believe passionately in helping people, and go the extra mile to do so. I feel very grateful to have found them. 

The lady who gave me advice and care was really understanding and made me feel so much better in myself. She made me understand it’s OK not to be OK.

I felt heard and understood. I was given sufficient time to share my story. This care and kindness uplifted me during a difficult time in my life.

The lady that I spoke with was so patient, understanding and had a lot of empathy with me.

The staff member who completed my initial assessment was kind, empathetic and provided me with a safe space to talk without feeling judged. He made sure that decisions taken were made by myself. I felt listened to and understood.

My therapist was very easy to talk to which helped me a lot to talk about my struggles.

Easy to talk to the practitioner, I felt he was sympathetic to my feelings.

I would not have been able to do this alone, we targeted hard things. I felt heard, valid, feelings validated, safe and comfortable with [name removed]. Service was efficient, I was seen quickly, it felt like staff wanted to help and that I was not a burden. I’m now feeling the positive effects of the hard work, I’m glad I did this, I’m doing so much better. It was worth it, I can’t thank you enough!

[name removed] has been really easy to speak to and listened to what I said. I found video link better than face to face. I preferred a female so that was nice and a great help.

I’ve always been a bit standoffish when it came to therapy due to having a lot of bad therapists as a teen. I felt like I was really listened to during our phone call and didn’t feel like this was just a tick box exercise.

I felt understood and heard. The questions felt very targeted to what I needed and had said and weren’t just generic.

I felt that the person on the other end of the phone genuinely cared about my progression through the service, adapted to my needs, didn’t patronise me and took my lead on things. I never felt rushed along or like they were ticking boxes.

I have previously had high intensity CBT with [name removed]. I can honestly say that this has been the most useful tool in going towards managing my dreadful anxiety. Months on, I still use my blue print and practise techniques that I learnt in my sessions. [name removed] was always, patient, kind and tailored all treatments to my specific circumstances. She encouraged me to push myself just enough but not to much in the experiments. Her teachings were invaluable to me and I wholeheartedly thank her for this. I’ve since re-referred to talking therapies and spoke to someone called [name removed] who assessed me. He was also very patient and kind. The wait time for assessment wasn’t too long and I was told that I would here back which therapy may benefit me in 2 weeks. [name removed] really listened to everything I had to say and explained all parts of the assessment to me.

I was nervous about starting therapy but the guy who spoke to me on the phone was lovely, put me at ease and the same for the group therapy today.

It was very good to speak to someone with experience and to help me with my issues Very helpful and very useful.

[name removed] was wonderful very caring calm and patient. She has given me confidence and self esteem which I was clearly lacking. I felt very safe and happy with suggests and decisions the were made and can honestly say the experience was life changing . A big thank you to her and all your staff for the friendly and assured way you made me feel every visit.

[name removed] from Employment Advice was excellent. Great rapport with him. I left feeling he understood my work related issues and confident he could help me.

The case provider understood that I had very little experience with this sort of therapy and asked appropriately probative questions to get me disclose issues I’ve never discussed with anyone before.

I attended the Anxiety Group – it is supportive and well received help.

Anxiety & Worry workshop – really helpful sessions, good for me to do exercises in the group, good to have staff on hand to help.

Group session was very good.