Recently widowed, Derek joined one of our supported self-management sessions at Pontefract Library, hoping to build confidence and better manage his anxiety.
By the final week, Derek shared an incredible achievement—he had taken a solo trip to the east coast by train, something he once thought was impossible, saying it was “unthinkable for me a few weeks ago!” He attributed this to the skills he had learned and practiced during the sessions.
Initially, his goals were to reduce social isolation by building self-confidence and improve his skill set to manage emotional distress, caused by generalised anxiety symptoms.
Through group discussions, practical exercises, and friendly support, Derek learned how to set realistic goals and break activities into manageable steps. He built confidence, formed new friendships, and even read a poem he had written to the group.
He also accessed one-to-one social prescribing support and found out about/joined a local poetry group. He had fed back that:
“All in all, I feel I've gained new insights and self management techniques in both recognising my symptoms and why I get them, and most importantly how to cope and manage those symptoms to give me a better quality of life all round.
The sessions have been "very beneficial and helped me cope whilst I was going through a bad time".
The session facilitators "were very attentive, and I've had fantastic care and support from all at Live Well Wakefield. I’ve got reassurance that they're always there for me should I need them, and I'm immensely grateful for that and would be in no doubt about re-referring in the future if I felt I needed to".
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