From today schools are re-opening and our children and young people are heading back to their classrooms, the Government is encouraging people to return to their offices and places of work and after nearly half a year of fear and uncertainty around the covid-19 pandemic we are heading into Autumn in the UK with an ongoing sense of limbo…. many people are feeling concerned about the risks covid-19 continues to pose to people across the globe.  Issues such as holiday makers isolating for 14 days if they have been abroad to a country on the UK Government’s ever-changing quarantine list; changes to the Furlough job retention scheme for the 9 million plus workers who have used it since March this year; concerns over local lockdowns and the increase in indoor areas where face maks are compulsory continue to create worry and generate anxiety for many.

Thoughts of whether things will return to “normal”, adjusting to the idea that we are living in a “new normal”, fears that covid-19 will remain with us and hopes for a vaccine are all whirling around.  Many people have had and continue to have their own personal issues and battles with the changes and impacts covid-19 has created such as increases in mental and emotional ill health, trauma being retriggered, relationships put under pressure, domestic abuse has been increasing and other additional issues including redundancy, financial pressures and possible evictions have made life extremely difficult for many.  Together with the sad loss of life and loved ones, the impact of ill-health and the fears of transmitting the virus to others without even knowing you had covid-19 have made this an unprecidented time in the lives of most.

So as the season changes and we step into the late summer and early autumn of the UK we maybe feel the shift of time and the flood of emotions, memories, fears and dreams that can come with this.  Autumn usually brings a lot of beauty into our lives the leaves change into a blaze of colour, berries and seed heads decorate the garden and hedgerows, the sunsets light up the late evening sky and the moon lights up the darkness of night time….. but it also signals the move towards winter and the ending of the summer and this can feel a bit like limbo too.

Limbo is described in my online dictionary as “an uncertain period of awaiting a decision or resolution; an intermediate state…” and this also describes the feelings women can have when deciding whether they would like to try counselling for the first time or maybe return to it again.  The knowing that something(s) perhaps are not right or that past issues are still creating pain or uncomfortable feelings and thoughts, the anxiety or confusion that comes with a difficult decision or circumstance and the desperate desire for change can all prompt us into feeling we should take some action, try something new, do something to address it…. but where do you turn, what do you try and how do you begin?

If you are thinking about coming to counselling maybe for the first time or starting again after trying it in the past and you have any questions, concerns or enquiries either about what to expect or what is offered please feel very welcome to contact Women’s Time Counselling by email, text or phone.  I can provide you with a free 15 minute initial discussion to help with your decision making and stepping out of limbo onto a new path.