In 2021, local counselling service Supporting Minds announced its partnership with Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue (LFR) to provide firefighters across Lincolnshire with a range of wellbeing and talking therapies.
With 85% of the UK’s fire and rescue services experiencing stress and poor mental health at work, the partnership has been a resounding success, already providing treatment to over 90 members from LFR struggling with stress, anxiety or depression.
James Baker, the Station Manager at Lincoln North Fire Station, is one of the people benefiting from the therapy on offer. “The partnership between LFR and Supporting Minds has been fantastic. Being able to access these therapy sessions has been a game changer, especially for me,” said James.
“Like many people, I struggled during the pandemic, and with the added pressure of a very stressful job in the fire and rescue service, everything got too much for me. I was breaking down in tears during meetings, snapping at my kids and not talking to my wife. I effectively shut myself away from the world as best I could.
“After speaking to our internal peer support team, they recommended I reach out to local Lincolnshire based Supporting Minds. I took the advice and got in contact with the centre. At first, I was apprehensive and a little embarrassed. However, it turned out to be the best thing I’ve ever done,” added James.
Specialising in talking therapy, Supporting Minds provides face-to-face and online counselling to individuals, couples and families from the age of four. These sessions cover bereavement, addiction, anxiety, depression, stress, relationship problems and more.
“After attending a few wellbeing and talking therapy sessions with a great counsellor, I was able to work through a very tough period of my life. Twelve months on, I now find myself mentally in a much stronger place. This process has put me in a much better position to help others. I now know how the counselling process works and can promote it by speaking from experience.”
For the past eight years, Supporting Minds has provided training to hundreds of counsellors across Lincolnshire, as well as supporting clients with a range of professionally recognised training and therapy services. The centre aims to make therapies accessible through affordable, quality services.
“It has been an honour to partner with LFR and offer support to Lincolnshire’s real-life heroes. Everyone will experience challenging feelings at some point in their lives; they’re what make us human. And while NHS services are great, there are often long waiting times before people can be seen. This partnership allows LFR servicemen and women to get treatment for their problems, however big or small, as fast as possible. It’s the least we can do,” explained Jenine Butroid, the founder and CEO of Supporting Minds.
As well as partnering with LFR, Supporting Minds also delivers low-cost, quality therapies for individual and group clients, in addition to offering accredited training to trainee therapists, including a complete BTEC syllabus in Therapeutic Counselling.
The address for Supporting Minds Lincoln is: 20 Carlton Mews, The Carlton Centre, Lincoln, LN2 4FJ.
For more information about Lincoln’s Supporting Minds Centre and the therapies it offers, call 01522 274 151
