Ive been chatting to a fellow SS whose not on the forum about the psychological support ( or lack of) that is offered or provided to stroke survivors…either in hospital, rehab or after discharge back home.
A coyple of friends of mine are Life Coaches and we got talking about the value they could add to not only to the survivor but to the family who are in most cases the mainccarers after discharge.
Speaking personally i definitely needed help to accept what happened to me, accepting the word disability, blue badge, disability benefits, etc.
Its too much to expect the physios and OTs to be able to provide expert psychological support alrhough i know they do their best to help.
Just wondering what others views would be on this.
Ive also just finished a question session with a very lovely mature research student whose dissertation is all about hope, optimism amd how stroke survivors have changed or made positive changes to their lives post stroke.
Another very valuable and rewarding thing to do.
Hope youre all having a good Thursday you lovely people
Hi there. I just did a search and came up with the following page on the SA website. Have you seen this?
Quick link to the page:Emotional Support | Stroke Association
Hi, Andy your post definitely resonates with me. I 'm 6 years post stroke and at times I still struggle to accept what has happened to me and how it has affected my family. I definitely feel that speaking to a life coach would be very helpful. I found there was no psychological help available after my stroke and became very depressed.
I also took part in a question session with a couple of students for their dissertation. I eventually had counselling through “Mind” which I sourced myself which was helpful at the time but wasn’t stroke related in anyway.
Well done for raising this issue, I’m looking forward to reading the response.
Regards Sue
Hi, Thanks for posting this link. I had no idea this was available and am definitely considering getting in touch. This forum is so helpful in so many ways. Thank you for sharing.
Regards Sue
Hi Andy @TRFCANDY53 I was referred to a neuro psychologist about 6 weeks after my stroke & 18 months on i am still waiting. I find out via a friend a couple of months back that there wasn’t one in this area but they were hoping to have soneone start soon. Not very helpful & also not been informed via official channels.
It is definitely a useful thing in my opinion. I’m not sure i have fully accepted everything yet.
@sunnyday thank you for the link. I wasn’t aware of this service although I probably should have been.
Not mentioned or offered to me despite me asking ourlical SA coordinator and my GP for that matter so thanks for sharing the link.
Never thought to google it or search the stroke ass website.
Sad that really but thanks for sharing the link @sunnyday
I found this site on my own, looking for help when I was very down. Before I found it, I restarted my old coping habit, the dreaded c word that ends in rettes. We all know that is not a good thing but it was better than the alternative I was considering at the time. I couldn’t see or talk to my friends or family about how I was feeling, had been looking for months but not finding a therapist for the depression and was not yet medicated for it. Someone here mentioned 7Cups of Tea. I found it very helpful until I was more ready to talk more here. I did not realize Stroke Association had a helpful site for therapy. I will be looking at it now, as I am still being recommended for psychological help. I already know therapy helps, so I think it is a great idea. Life coaches would be helpful as well, especially in light of the apparent shortage in the counseling field. Hopefully there will be some with experience of stroke in some way or at least with listening ears that put emphasis on attainable goals.