We are pleased to be able to offer a Young Persons Counselling Service in collaboration with Rareminds. This is a free, confidential service for UK MPS Society members which can be accessed online or by telephone. This service is for individuals between the ages of 16 and 25 years of age.
Please contact your MPS Society Support and Advocacy Officer if you feel that this is a service you may benefit from.
Rebecca Hargreaves
Our MPS Society Young Peoples counsellor is Rebecca Hargreaves, provided for us through Rareminds.
I am a professionally trained counsellor and Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
My early career was in nursing, and then more recently (since 2016) as the Clinical Lead in a school Counselling Service working primarily with 11 to 18 year olds.
I also have a BACP post-graduate Counselling Children and Young People Proficiency and have been working with rare diseases since 2019.
Extra support for young people
YoungMinds are a mental health charity for children, young people and their parents, making sure all young people can get the mental health support they need.
Rare Youth Revolution is a global news and opinion, digital magazine platform, dedicated to powering up the voices of the youth rare disease community. They also have a Facebook Community.
Papyrus is for young people under 35 in crisis or feeling suicidal. They run a young persons helpline (HOPELINEUK) on 0800 068 4141 (open 9am - midnight every day of the year) or you can email pat@papyrus-uk.org.
Frequently asked questions
By offering a reliable and confidential relationship to talk through whatever is troubling you. It can offer support during difficult times, or in making sense of present difficulties that may stem from past experiences, or fears about the future. Counselling can help you find ways of understanding and managing difficult feelings, or dealing with situations differently.
It can also help you with strategies for managing specific issues such as panic attacks, fatigue or anxiety around scans/treatments.
You can talk about anything that is on your mind, and preventing you from living as well as possible with MPS, Fabry or a related condition. This might be how you are feeling in – or about - yourself, coping with the impact of your condition, relationships in your family or with friends, at school/university, or worries (or hopes) about the future.
Step 1 – Contact the Support and Advocacy Team
Contact a member of the Support and Advocacy Team in confidence either by email advocacy@mpssociety.org.uk or call 0345 389 9901to be connected with the Rare Minds counselling team.
Step 2 – Make an appointment
Once you have been connected with Rare Minds, a counsellor will contact you with either a time to have a quick chat (to answer any questions you have) or with an initial session time. Your Counsellor will also send you some further information about counselling.
Step 3 – Your first counselling session
Appointments are 50 minutes long and usually on Zoom. If you would prefer to use your mobile, you can let your counsellor know. Your counsellor will explain more about the counselling process. This is also your chance to explain what you hope to get from counselling. You will decide, along with your counsellor, how many sessions of counselling might be helpful, how often (e.g., weekly, fortnightly) and for how long (e.g., the number of sessions which might be appropriate).
It is up to you whether or not you want to tell your parents you have contacted me. I do not let anyone else know you have contacted me, including your healthcare team. There are a few exceptions to this such as if I was concerned about your own (or someone else’s safety) and I will explain more about this when we meet initially.