Online and phone counselling for people living with sight loss

Could this be you?

Maybe you’re in shock after diagnosis of a sight loss condition, feeling afraid and angry that nothing can be done to restore your sight.

Or are you doing your best to hide your sight loss, not ready for people to know, afraid of what might happen if you acknowledge how hard it is to do the things you’ve always done, even the little everyday things?

Does it frustrate you that family and friends don’t seem to ‘get it’? Maybe they over-help, or move things or leave them in your way. Do you find yourself resenting public attitudes to blindness, how hard it can be to use technology, to travel from A to B, grappling with things that you used to do without a second thought?

It may be hard to live in the present for fear of what the future may be like, for fear of losing your independence, the life you’d planned and imagined.

Counselling and sight loss

Clients who have lost or are losing their sight say that counselling provides valuable emotional support. Feeling heard and understood by someone who understands the impact of sight loss can feel such a relief.

"I was petrified when I started - overnight low vision, everything felt so narrow and hopeless. Caroline listens with this staggering depth, and feeling truly heard like that is beyond powerful. She doesn't rush in trying to fix things or claim she knows exactly what I'm going through, she stayed steady when I was overwhelmed, brings calm when I need it most. Over several months I've gone from numb to feeling alive again, finding more and more acceptance and learning to trust myself again. I'm a different me, but I'm back, and our partnership has been vital to my journey”

I work with people across the UK and overseas who are going through a sight loss journey, through phone or video counselling sessions. I'm trained and accredited as a Sight Loss Counsellor by RNIB in the UK, and I've worked extensively with people experiencing conditions like macular degeneration, glaucoma, RP and other causes of vision loss. You can choose whichever feels most comfortable and accessible for you - phone or video - and we can arrange reminders in whatever format works best: email, text, voicemail or voicenote.

My training, experience and way of working

As well as my training and accreditation by RNIB, I’ve also worked extensively with the Guide Dogs Association in my previous career as a researcher, and I’m a very high myope myself. I also understand that everyone has a different journey and experiences it in their own way.

I work with you – two important words there, the first being ‘with’ - you’re always the one who chooses what you use the session for. You decide how we work, be that phone or video sessions, and how you get reminders of sessions, for example email, text, voicemail or voicenote. I aim to make counselling as accessible as possible.

Secondly, I work with you, the whole person. You are more than your sight loss, and it probably won’t be the only thing we talk about and work on in counselling.

Whether you prefer phone or video, counselling that centres on your sight loss gives you the time to tell your story in a neutral space where it’s ok not to be ok. Clients say they value a space to talk honestly about how hard it is to live with their sight loss, and how it affects different parts of their life, their identity and their relationships.

You can find out more about me and how I work, or you can book your first session if you’re ready to do that.