Why People Wait Too Long for Counselling (and why you don’t have to)

Here’s the thing: unless you've walked it, lived it, breathed it, felt it, ached over it – you really don’t know.

I don’t like throwing a line out there and hoping it lands where it’s supposed to and hopefully bring something in. I want to keep it real. I waited so long many times in my own life.

Why We Wait

“Will I be judged?”

“Will they think something is ‘wrong’ with me?”

“I'm too embarrassed and ashamed.”

“I don’t feel safe, I feel alone and afraid to ask.”

“I feel weak for asking. And if I do, what if they reject me?”

“I feel like I'm losing my mind, and I'm doubting myself.”

“Deal with it, get over yourself. You can sort this.”

“Will they understand?”

“I feel powerless, and I'm going to see a stranger. Really!”

Others have said to me: “I can't afford it.”
“I can't even get in anywhere, the waitlist is too long. What's the point.”
“I need help now. There’s nowhere to go, nowhere to turn.”

The Barriers People Face

Crisis. Cost. Time. Waitlists. Shame. Fear. Judgment. Self, and other imposed expectations. Believing lies. Counting the Cost

I read in the news not so long ago, mental health patients were absconding EDs all around the country, one taking their life when they got outside. Ahh! That’s the cost. The cost is not money. The cost is the dire impact it has on a person’s life – it is their RIGHT to access help but there are gigantic hoops they have to jump through, endless square boxes to tick, forms to fill out again and again, they don’t meet criteria, no follow-up, systemic breakdown. Ahh!

All the free counselling – they still can't access because of the hoops and systemic failures before them, behind them, and all around them – a box. And you can't see squat in a box!

Why You Don’t Have To

Whanganui Counselling Services emerged when it was time to emerge. We didn’t just suddenly appear. We have been in the making for some time: Built with intention, not by fault. A tap on the shoulder came at a time where we needed to find a counsellor for someone near and dear and close to my heart. I held myself together and walked that straight line which ended up taking me in circles, and coming face-to-face with the reality – “I'm sorry, there’s nothing we can do for [name] at this time, you could try so and so.”

We didn’t become who we are today because of a systemic fault, or a gap in the system – we emerged because it was time. We offer counselling services to anyone who needs, wants, deserves, and has the right to access counselling – a safe space where you can be, where you are in control, where you can lay your cards on the table – one at a time, at your pace, time, and in your own way.

Kei a mātou tō tuarā.
We've got your back.

We have an amazing infrastructure and office administration to support and hold the fort. We work with the employed, unemployed, professional, non-professional, whatever your circumstances, background, CEO, corporate – it matters not, our services are for – “Yes, and You Too.”

You do not have to wait anymore. We have a simple client intake process – easy, it works for you, not against you. Make the call. Our message to you right now:

Kei konei mātou tēnei.
Ko wai tō mātou ēnei.
Koinei tō mātou take.
I hangaia mātou mā te whakaaro, ehara i te hapa.
Ka anga whakamua mātou, ahakoa te aha!

We are here.
This is who we are.
This is our why.
We were built with intention, not from fault.
We will forge ahead no matter what!