Throughout July FD Consultants want to highlight the diverse expertise and professionalism amongst its associates. Felicity Runchman is a BACP accredited psychotherapist with over 10 years’ experience. As well as having expertise in the humanitarian aid sector, she also specialises in working online, offering remote counselling via text, email and video. Additionally, Felicity has an interest working with young people and bereavement services. Below Felicity writes about her recent work, and her experience as an associate for FD Consultants. "I've been involved with FD Consultants from the outset and it has brought a really interesting variety of work my way. This has ranged from psychological 'health-checks' with young people setting off to volunteer overseas, to initial trauma assessments with organisational staff who have been involved in traumatic incidents, to psychological reviews with individuals returning from particularly challenging international assignments. I've also done several very fulfilling pieces of short-term counselling with staff members whose organisations have referred them for support through FD Consultants. Over recent months, working with individuals who have been relocated, or whose roles have changed significantly due to the coronavirus pandemic has been especially interesting. I’ve found myself helping many staff members find ways of dealing with stress linked to increased workloads. However, I’ve also assisted staff in dealing with the challenge of having to do less in the wake of this crisis – for example, managing difficult feelings such as guilt and anxiety as they have had to move away from the projects they’ve been working on overseas. As many of the organisations who refer to FD Consultants are international aid agencies and charities employing staff from diverse backgrounds, this work has brought me insight into specific organisational cultures. It has also sharpened my practice when it comes to working cross-culturally with clients from different backgrounds to my own - something that has been both educational and deeply rewarding. Another dominant theme in the work FD Consultants has been carrying out recently has involved responding to the difficulties restructuring and redundancy can create for so many people within organisations - regardless of their positions. This inspired Fiona and I to co-author an article on the therapeutic issues restructuring and redundancy can raise, and to share our thoughts on how best these can be met by those providing psychosocial support to staff within organisations that are affected. The article 'All Change' was initially published in the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy [BACP] Workplace journal (BACP, Oct 2019), and an amended version was then published in the BACP Coaching journal (BACP, Jan 2020) http://ow.ly/6rcK50xh6ZP. It was also published in Contemporary Psychotherapy https://lnkd.in/dtew_-J. As a therapist keen to develop my writing, and to bring some of the nuances, challenges and lessons learned from my work to light through the written word, getting these articles published felt like a great personal achievement in 2019! My connection to FD Consultants and my experience of previously writing for their blog definitely paved the way to this opportunity and Fiona and I will shortly be publishing another article in the BACP Workplace journal about the nature of our work during the coronavirus pandemic. I went on to write more towards the end of last year and solely authored another article on text-based online counselling with young people ('Text, Transition & Transference'). This featured in the December edition of the BACP Children, Young People & Families journal, and was subsequently republished in Contemporary Psychotherapy https://tinyurl.com/wpvlg3e. I trained in online counselling back in 2012, and now work part-time as Deputy Co-ordinator of the online counselling service within the young people's counselling service, Off The Record. I therefore have a lot of faith in the efficacy, practicality and reach of text-based online support, and wanted to 'spread the word' about this within my article. Whilst most people think of online counselling as involving audio-video (webcam) sessions, text-based sessions (conducted either through exchange of weekly messages/e-mails, or live instant messaging) can provide a beneficial alternative - particularly for clients whose social anxiety, shyness or shame may pose a barrier to them speaking with a therapist through more conventional means. Text-based online counselling can also be a far more practical option in terms of support for people with busy schedules, or those in remote locations where the bandwidth and guaranteed internet connectivity required for audio-video sessions might be tricky. I'd love to see more users of FD Consultants services opening up to the potential that these kinds of sessions could offer their staff, and would be happy to answer any questions people may have about text-based online counselling, although further information can be found on my website :- https://tinyurl.com/sbefle7 As 2020 continues and some aspects of lockdown ease, I hope to remain involved with FD Consultants and have scope to take on more short-term counselling (online or face-to-face) as well as individual psychological health-related appointments with or without reports. I am open to working with clients experiencing a range of personal issues. However, bereavement and loss are areas of particular professional interest and expertise for me, as I also currently work part-time as an assessment worker for Wandsworth Bereavement Service. For organisations looking for employee psychological support, FD Consultants are the trauma specialists and well-being service who will best deliver a reliable, quick, and bespoke support system in the workplace. FD Consultant’s team of accredited specialists will offer ongoing support to help manage stress, prevent burnout and provide specialist trauma care where required, enabling your staff with the tools to cope, and recover more quickly.
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