Why run for WPF Therapy?

In the UK, approximately 1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives, and over 4000 people take their own life each year. To me those figures say: 1.) this is common; 2.) this is serious.

At WPF Therapy, over 500 hours of assessment and treatment take place every week. That's a lot of people given a safe place to talk. Because charges are means-tested, people from all backgrounds and standards of living can access the service, giving them the chance to face the difficulties they are experiencing and to move forward.

Although these would be more than adequate reasons to run a marathon for WPF Therapy, I have a personal motivation as well: my own experience of depression.

It's hard to compress a personal story into a paragraph or two, but perhaps you can fill in some of the gaps. I first experienced depression as a teenager, and this recurred several times in subsequent years. For most of this time I was undiagnosed, unsupported, wrongly diagnosed or badly supported. I was ashamed of what I was going through and imagined that nobody would understand what I was feeling. Moreover, I didn't believe that anything could be done to help. When something eventually spurred me to speak more honestly to my GP, he sent me for six sessions of brief counselling and put me on anti-depressants. The drugs helped - they gave me enough energy and positivity to move forward with my life. The counselling didn't - six sessions barely scratched the surface and I wasn't offered more. So why would I be enthusiastic about WPF Therapy, which offers counselling? Simply because they only stop after six sessions if six sessions is enough! Simply because they offer a client-centred approach, empowering each individual to take responsibility for their lives and to make the changes needed. Simply because they are there, de-stigmatising mental health difficulties and respecting their clients. Simply because they are intervening at the level of causes, not of symptoms. Simply because they make a difference.

I'm glad of the experience I've lived through; I wouldn't be the "me" I am without it. But I'm glad of it mostly because I can turn it to good. By speaking out I can help to cut through the taboos and stigma so that other people won't have to negotiate such a mire of isolation and hopelessness. With increased awareness of and openness about mental health problems, resulting in their earlier identification, and with improved availability and affordability of talking therapies, personal suffering could be reduced dramatically. So "thankyou" WPF Therapy for your part in that! And "thankYOU", that's YOU - my supporters - for funding their work.