THE COVID MONTHS | SOMEWHERE, OVER THE RAINBOW
Drawing byMargaret Shields
Northern Guild has always worked closely with the local community, it’s the reason we came into existence and our driving passion.
When, in 1983, we first established Rainbow House, later Northern Guild, as a Psychotherapy Training and Counselling Centre, Jennie and I had turned down a tempting offer to join colleagues in a thriving practice in a leafy West London suburb. We would have worked alongside our very dear friends with whom we had trained and would have practiced in an affluent area where people already knew about psychotherapy and saw it as an important part of life in challenging times. It was a golden opportunity.
But we had a vision, a vision that made no sense to anyone else. We wanted to stay in the North East and help to support, develop and resource local mental health services. We knew we would be up against it. There was little awareness of psychotherapy and therapeutic counselling and the whole area was desperately under resourced in so many ways - in the whole of Teesside only one GP surgery had a counsellor in 1983. It wasn’t a sensible choice. A lot of loving friends tried to talk us out of it, and what they said made good sense. Jennie and I are very different people, the classic chalk and cheese, but we share two common characteristics, persistence and an unquenchable belief in our own intuition. We chose to follow them rather than common sense.
Rainbow House was born and grew, bit by bit, from our unshakeable belief that we could help make a difference and our intuitive sense that what we were choosing was the right path for us to take. In the intervening years there have been many challenges most memorably the ‘Cleveland Affair’ in 1987 when a 121 children in Teesside were diagnosed within a few months as having been sexually abused. We worked with many children, young adults and social workers, many of whom just turned up at our centre.
Our history has shaped our identity as an organisation. Today our core values remain, they include respect for each person, immediate responsiveness, no waiting lists, flexible appointments and high quality, low cost therapy for those needing it. We believe people should only make the personal changes that are necessary to achieve their goals and not go beyond this unless they wish to do so.
Our good friend, and well known artist, Margaret Shields drew our first logo as a gift with which to wish us well. She blessed us! Slowly over the next 37 years our vision has transmuted and transformed many lives, most notably our own, as well as those of the clients and students who have shared their vision of a different future, a future rooted in physis. Physis is the inherent human capacity for growth and change and the belief that, given the right conditions we are capable of fulfilling our potential. Rainbow House has now grown into Northern Guild and this vision has grown with us. We began as two psychotherapists now we are more than forty.
A New Service – March 2020
When the scale of the Covid crisis began to overtake the country we wanted to step up to the plate and offer a counselling service for those working at the interface between people and the virus. A personal space for debriefing from the extraordinary challenges and demands of the pandemic. The service was and is completely unfunded and has relied entirely on the energy, goodwill, and commitment of the staff and students of Northern Guild who work in it. It is free to all.
These are some reflections from the staff and students who provide this service.
Kerry Rundle – Service Co-Ordinator
When everything first shut down there was relief, disbelief and a sense of not knowing quite what was to be done. Our students, many of whom were already qualified counsellors, or very close to qualification had to temporarily stop sessions with their clients; they were distraught, worried about the impact of abrupt and unplanned endings.
When I decided to become part of the group creating the new online service for NHS and other key workers the feelings of helplessness that Covid-19 had generated in me disappeared. I felt that I could be part of something and that I could give something. What I will never forget is the coming together of our core group. Everyone was so enthusiastic, committed and hard working. There were seven of us in the group - Laura, Emily, Sue, Glenda, Phil, myself & Christine - we felt like a team, we were pushing back against what was happening.
I worked every minute I had to get the service up and running, networking with organisations, getting protocols ready, putting rotas together - it was energising and exhausting.
When we launched I remember the countdown, seeing the announcement on social media, feeling nervous but also very excited. I was to be the first one to cover the bank holiday weekend. Would people want what we had established? Then our first referral came through, we were launched! Some weeks we had lots of referrals others not so many. I worried about this at first. But then I reminded myself that in this kind of crisis people get on with what they have to do and it is only much later when things are getting better that support and debriefing is essential to help stem anxiety, depression and the impact of trauma,
When we had first set up I had contacted some of the students who I knew had the right experience to work in the service to see if they were interested in being a part of it. Many were initially shocked to be asked, ‘What me?’ was a common first reaction. They all undertook considerable additional training in online working to prepare. Once they began practice any nerves soon disappeared as they became engrossed in their clients’ worlds. One later told me that she felt that she had done her best work ever with one client. She was so thrilled. It was amazing to see her confidence growing and share her sense of pride in what she was doing. Her clients had given her so much.
Sarah Woodroff - Student Counsellor
Lockdown happened for me in stages. First, my partner started to work from home. Then, my clients started to disappear. One by one, they sent a text or called, they didn’t want to come into the surgery anymore; they were scared. Schools shut. Face to face therapy and supervision stopped. Training was moved onto Zoom.
I spent the first training weekend on Zoom sitting in my study, fighting back the tears. I felt cheated. This was meant to be my time, away from being mother, partner, “domestic servant”. This was where I came to rediscover my identity, connect with new people, a new way of thinking and learning. I missed meeting everyone in the café. I missed sitting together in Guild Hall, sharing our experiences and our learning. I missed the post training, Sunday evening drinks at the Holiday Inn with my peers, my friends. I felt totally disconnected from everyone.
It was all feeling pretty grim. Then I got a call from my supervisor; the Guild were offering a support service to NHS workers, would I like to work with it – YES! I used to be a nurse. I had worried about my former colleagues. I knew the pressures, work-load and stress that Covid-19 was having on them. I was thrilled to be able to do something to offer support. Now came new challenges; I had to find a confidential space to work in. I threw my partner out of the study where he was working. I confined him and the children into the kitchen with strict instructions not to open the doorThankfully, my family are understanding and supportive. The children paint or bake, while my partner tries to work. I come downstairs after a meeting to a beautiful picture or freshly baked cake. Our cat is covered in paint splatters and icing sugar; he has been helping too!
Working on the NHS scheme has been challenging and enjoyable. As well as adapting to holding sessions over Zoom and via telephone, I have learnt a new way of working; in this scheme, there are up to 6 sessions and the contract is made during the initial session. I have learnt to focus on the here and now and directly on the contract.
Clients have come with huge fears, fears that the majority of the world is experiencing; are we going to lose someone we love, are we going to be ok, what happens if we get sick, who is going to look after our children? Emotions are high; anger, fear, resentment towards the government “I didn’t sign up to be a hero” is a repeated phrase. “stop clapping for me, give me PPE” is another. It is hard to bracket; I feel their anxieties and anger, it ties in with some of my own feelings and raises fears I hadn’t considered. I can’t use reality testing as an intervention; these fears are real. We all share them. What I can do is bracket my own feelings, empathise with my client, listen harder, sit with their feelings, give permission and space for them to be seen, heard and felt. Working has involved giving clients psycho-education and permissions, mainly for self-care and being important. It has shown me the immense value of short-term, focused therapy. I have seen clients make huge changes to their lives after a couple of sessions. I have experienced a deep connection with clients, despite the lack of face to face contact, and had some of the most beautiful and connected endings of my practice so far. I have learnt that this new way of working isn’t “less than”, it is different, it is hugely valuable.
Student Counsellor – Toni Kurdi
One of our students, Toni Kurdi, new to online working reported that feedback from her clients has been very positive. They were especially grateful for the opportunity to be supported as “essential workers” and found it helpful that all Carers and NHS staff were recognised and included, not just the frontline staff. Many of the staff who worked from home were juggling full time work and childcare, as well as having to educate their children. Taking on these added responsibilities increased their levels of stress and distress, yet managing their roles keeps the system operating and ensures that vulnerable people stay connected. Toni noticed that the counselling led to the clients developing a greater compassion for themselves and an increased acceptance of the complicated feelings that the situation generated in them. They became more aware of their resilience recognising their inherent strengths, personal qualities and ability to “cope.” Although the work was shorter term - six weeks - it does seem to have increased awareness which all clients found helpfu.l Some felt that they might want to have more counselling in the future.
Toni says she is “… grateful for the opportunity to have been involved, in my own way, to help those helping us. It is easy, I believe, for all of us to feel disconnected and helpless at times during this pandemic. To stay connected to existing clients and new ones, especially those who may be alone and/or isolating I felt was particularly important and gave me a sense of being part of the solution, and not part of the problem. As a student I had never, ever imagined that I would consider working online before. The current crisis put me in a position to reconsider my feelings about it if I wanted to continue training, learning and working. Having completed short courses, and with the help of supervision, I feel more confident and competent and am grateful that we can continue to support clients. I am planning to make online therapy a part of my counselling portfolio as I can see the benefits, to my career and my clients, which I had not considered before. I am proud that the Northern Guild has all done the hard work needed to transfer all work online so we could offer the NHS/Carers Program. My gratitude extends to the tutors and supervisors of the course, who under difficult circumstances and with personal challenges of their own, have had to quickly adapt their way of working and go online, without which, any further learning, training, working or supporting of ourselves or clients would have ceased…so thank you. “
The Next Rainbow ….
We intend to maintain our new service for the foreseeable future. We are painfully aware that the last few months have wrought havoc for so many from all walks of life in countless ways. We are planning to extend this new service so that those who have faced deeply painful and dispiriting times can also reach out and be met by someone who will walk alongside, following in their steps with them as they try to make sense of what is happening in their life. We all face an uncertain future. With such unprecedented challenges, there is ever more need to reflect and to let go of old ways of being, thinking and doing in order to find a new way forward. Pyschotherapy and counselling provide this reflective space without judgement or pressure.
