My name is Melanie I am a qualified psychotherapist and counsellor with over 10 years’ experience, specialising in working in clinical practice with anxiety disorders and depression, bereavement, children and adolescent, trauma, PTSD (rape, sexual abuse and domestic violence) and other holistic based therapies.

You may well be aware through personal experience or media coverage that anxiety and depression is on the increase due to the pandemic. You may not be so aware of the strain on services for support for people being affected by abuse in their homes due to lockdown. I feel it incredibly important, due to my own personal experiences, that everyone has equal access to skilled, trained professionals in mental health, so I would like to provide an amount of gifted therapy sessions in these areas.  

Many people have been deeply impacted by bereavement and are unable to access help due to the lack of available support and waitlists. I would like to offer immediate relief to people in need. 

I have noticed in my practice many more young people presenting for help with anxiety and depression with thoughts of wanting to end their lives. This has been especially notable between the ages of 16 and 25, an age category who were hard hit with job loss and education and have been, in my experience, least likely to have access to suitable therapy. 

Due to not having sufficient technology, I’m currently unable to provide remote access to young people, who may be away at university or college – one of the most difficult transitions in a young person’s life, now with the heightened pressure of a pandemic. 

I have also been contacted by people who are unable to attend face-to-face due to vulnerability with age and long-term health conditions. This technology would also help me provide access to this marginalised group. 

NHS waiting lists for therapy are too long and people are only prescribed a limited amount of sessions, usually consisting of one type of counselling which is not appropriate for all people. I work from a multi-model approach and utilise the different facets of counselling to create specific, tailor made treatment plans. 

I already donate some of my time to support vulnerable people but would like to roll it out on a larger scale. The funds raised for this project would allow me to pilot the scheme.