Obtaining Help with Recovery

Your GP will provide you with medication and advice; however such services as counselling for depression and anxiety are in very high demand and may have a long waiting list.  Private counselling, from a fully qualified practitioner, will cost from £25 to £50 an hour. The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACAP) and the Convention of Scottish Counselling Associations (COSCA) will provide details of qualified counsellors in your area.

A progressive and understanding Local Authority will have a 'Teacher Welfare Officer' in post or will be able to provide you with relatively quick access to a counsellor through its 'Occupational Health Service' (OHS).  Usually this will result in an initial meeting to consider your needs and a series of typically six confidential meetings with a trained counsellor contracted to work for the Local Authority OHS.  These meetings are confidential.  Unfortunately many Local Authorities do not cater for self-referral and only provide assistance once teachers are already off sick. 

Counsellors are trained to listen rather than advise you.  However, a different kind of talking therapy called 'Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)' may be available which would help you change the way you think about yourself and others if this is required.

It is important that you feel comfortable with the counsellor who supports you and if the relationship doesn't seem to work then don't be afraid to ask for a change of therapist.

Keeping a written record of your thoughts and experiences will help with counselling sessions.  It is also invaluable as a clear illustration of the stages that you go through during recovery.

You may be asked to agree to your medical records being accessed by a GP assigned by your Local Authority.  Your GP will then provide a letter detailing relevant information relating to your condition, which you can also access, so that the 'Local Authority' GP can consider your condition and provide a report to your employer.

Hopefully, you will be able to return to work after a relatively short period of absence.  You should, however, feel free to request and negotiate a 'Phased Return to Work' over a period of anything up to a maximum of six weeks, during which time you may typically start with working half-days, gradually building up to a full timetable.

You may have accumulated some holiday entitlement through being ill over holiday periods and this time could be negotiated into the 'Phased Return to Work' agreement in a mutually acceptable fashion.

Some employers provide an in-house or externally managed 'Employee Assistance Programme' (EAP) which includes a telephone helpline in addition to counselling.  The services are confidential, you do not need to ask permission to use them and your employer will not know that you have used them.  The employer's intranet will usually have details of the counselling provision or it can be obtained by phoning the Local Authority 'Human Resources' section - you will not need to leave your name.

The OHS as occupational health practitioners are often involved in absence management and discipline.  However, it would be a mistake to doubt the independence of these services to the extent that a referral to them is actively avoided.

Under certain circumstances severe WRS may lead to your Local Authority considering you as a candidate for early retirement due to ill health.  Factors such as your age, efficacy of counselling, previous ill health, the opinion of the GP's involved, etc will be carefully considered before a decision can be reached.