Josh's story

“Last December I was suicidal. I had a relationship breakdown, changed career and had to move back home, lots of different things were happening and I couldn’t see a way out of how I was feeling. I just had tunnel vision that suicide was the answer.  I had a part time job and one of the lads noticed I wasn’t right and told me about James’ Place so I referred myself. I had no idea what therapy was really but I thought I would give it a go. I was expecting it to be like a hospital, sitting in a waiting room with lots of other depressed people, just being a number and someone with a clipboard going through the motions. I wasn’t expecting it to work.”

“When I got there I thought I’d come to the wrong place or that someone was winding me up. It was nothing like I expected. It was a really nice place. I’m someone who is a very closed person, I don’t even tell my family how I’m feeling but as soon as I met my therapist I felt comfortable, which surprised me because he was a man and I thought I would struggle to be upset in front of another man. The cards he used helped me to start talking about how I was feeling and as I was talking I realised how serious things really were. Each session it was a little bit easier to get more things off my chest. It was like a release. I started to change my mind about some things, like my expectations of myself that I had to be strong and that I should be able to deal with things on my own. I learnt different methods of coping, I just felt more clear minded and I understand my emotions now and that they can tell me something that isn’t really true. I felt so different at the end of my sessions there. I’ve got a full time job again, I’m setting up my own business on the side. I would recommend James’ Place to anyone who was in the same place as I was, it really helped me get through a difficult time.”

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