Karen's story
Karen was struggling with anxiety and depression and had trust issues due to growing up without a dad. When she first started seeing the counsellor, she found it difficult to talk about challenging things going on in her life, often laughing it off. As time went on, she began to open up and share difficult experiences she went through as a teenager including being sexually assaulted where she originally blamed herself for being drunk when it happened. She also blamed herself for her dad leaving when she was younger. Through her work with the counsellor, she was able to stop blaming herself for the various experiences in her life and slowly begin to trust again by sharing things with the counsellor.
At the start of counselling she always described herself as strong and guarded, not letting people in and being detached from her feelings to protect herself. During her time with the counsellor, she was able to be vulnerable and explore her feelings and this wouldn’t have been possible without the space and work that Platform for Life provides.