In December 2016 Kerrie, from Colchester, was made redundant from her job in Childcare, the news was a huge shock especially so close to Christmas.
Three months later Kerrie began to experience severe anxiety and had bouts of memory loss. Initially her concerns were dismissed but eventually she was referred by her GP to Health in Mind, the local NHS mental healthcare service, where she received a course of telephone Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which is a type of counselling.
Following her course of CBT Kerrie felt like she needed some extra support, at this point she was referred to Mid and North East Essex Mind to see a Support, Time and Recovery (STaR) worker. STaR workers offer practical support and are able to help with things like debt, finance and housing and, in Kerrie’s case, job seeking.
Kerrie met with our STaR worker Sue three to four times over a course of three months. Since she was made redundant Kerrie had been studying English at Colchester Institute. At the end of her course she was delighted to see a vacancy had arisen at the Institute in Childcare, Sue was able to help Kerrie write her application and gave her the confidence to seek a new job and get back into work.
Kerrie says ‘[Mid and North East Essex Mind] really helped me find my confidence and finding a job and now enjoying my new job. Thank you goes to the practical support team and to Sue for giving me the confidence in believing that could find myself again’
Kerrie has now been in her job for a year and really enjoying herself, she is fortunate to have an extremely supportive manager. She volunteers with the local Scouts and is studying again, this time a degree in Early Years at the Open University with the hope to go into teaching in a special needs school.
Kerrie describes herself as naturally shy but has really found the confidence to ask for help. She encourages others who are struggling with their mental health not to be ashamed of how they are feeling and to ask for help if they feel they need it.
To find out more about our Support, Time and Recovery Service please visit the STaR’s page on our website