DisabilityPlus gives every person the opportunity to be supported by a Counsellor who has Multiple Sclerosis, this enables full cultural support. MS Counselling is important among the different healthcare specialities that contribute to care for MS. Not simply because of the increased risk with MS for several mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety, but because MS can affect you in every aspect of life, including a sense of self and participation in family and community.
Counselling is an effective tool to help you deal with the emotions that come up at every stage of living with Multiple Sclerosis, from diagnosis to later stages as the disease progresses. In the early stages of MS, you may feel overwhelmed by what’s happening to you.
Although each individual will have their own way of dealing with feelings that come up at this time and later on, counselling can be a valuable resource for negotiating feelings that typically include shock, denial, confusion, anger, and anxiety. Counselling may also be helpful as you begin to share information about your diagnosis with friends and family members.
MS Counselling gives you time and space to work through your problems. Therapy helps you gain a different perspective on problems and issues. Therapy provides a safe, non-judgemental and respectful environment. Counselling can help you regain wellbeing and balance in your life
In addition to impacting the individual, MS will inevitably affect your family life and friendships. Family members or friends may experience common feelings when diagnosed with MS or as the disease progresses, including grief, anxiety, anger, and guilt. With the pressures that MS places on you, you may welcome some help dealing with whatever interpersonal problems arise with family members or friends.
Family counselling sessions can provide a safe space for getting feelings and interpersonal issues out in the open and resolving them. Couples counselling is also a valuable tool for working on complex problems with a spouse or partner and restoring the necessary communication and trust for a balanced and mutually beneficial partnership. Your family and friends will be an essential source of support over the long term, so anything you can do to make your relationships more assertive and avoid unresolved conflicts will benefit everyone.
Contact us to find out more about our Specialist MS Counselling Service
Our MS Counselling Team is accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) (UKCP). We are bound by the ethical framework for good practice in counselling. We comply with the Data Protection Act
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease, which means it affects your nerves. It’s also an autoimmune disease. This means your body’s defences against disease malfunction and start attacking your own cells.
With MS, your immune system attacks your body’s myelin, which is a protective substance that covers your nerves. The unprotected nerves are damaged and can’t function as they would with healthy myelin. The damage to the nerves produces a wide range of symptoms that vary in severity.
MS is an unpredictable disease that acts differently in each person. To help you live with your symptoms today and in the future, arm yourself with a solid support system of medical professionals, friends, and family.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic condition, which means it’s long-lasting, and there’s no cure for it. That said, it’s important to know that for the vast majority of people who have MS, the disease isn’t fatal.
Most of the 2.3 million people worldwide with MS have a standard life expectancy. A rare few may have complications so severe that their life is shortened.
Although Multiple sclerosis is a lifelong condition, many of its symptoms can be managed with medications and lifestyle adjustments.
Though MS can be diagnosed in children and older adults, those affected are typically diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS).
When the diagnosis is made when the person is over 50, it’s usually called late-onset MS. Older adults sometimes have a more difficult time finding a diagnosis due to other, age-related conditions with similar symptoms.
Women are two to three times more likely to develop Multiple sclerosis than others.
MS can be a challenge to diagnose. Symptoms and single tests may not be enough to definitively diagnose MS. MS shares symptoms with a number of other conditions, making pinpointing the source harder.
Multiple tests to rule out other possible causes of the symptoms are usually required, including:
The list of possible MS symptoms is long. It includes numbness and tingling, vision problems, balance and mobility issues, and slurred speech.
There’s no such thing as a “typical” symptom of MS because each person experiences the disease differently. The same symptoms may come and go frequently, or you may regain a lost function, such as bladder control.
The unpredictable pattern of symptoms has to do with which nerves your immune system attacks at any given time.
Most people who seek treatment for MS go through relapses and remissions.
Remission is a period in which you have improvement of your relapsing symptoms. A remission can last for weeks, months, or, in some cases, years. But remission doesn’t mean you no longer have MS.
Multiple sclerosis can help reduce the chances of developing new symptoms, but you still have MS. Symptoms will likely return at some point.
The damage MS does to your nerves can also affect your critical thinking and other cognitive (mental) skills. It’s not uncommon for people with MS to have problems with memory and finding the right words to express themselves.
Other cognitive effects can include:
Cognitive problems can sometimes lead to frustration, depression, and anger. These are normal reactions that your doctor can monitor and help you manage.
MS is labeled as a “silent disease” or an “invisible illness.” Many people with MS look no different from someone without it because some of the symptoms, such as blurred vision, sensory problems, and chronic pain, aren’t visible.
However, someone with MS may need special accommodations even though they don’t have mobility issues and seem fine.
MS is also called a silent disease because even during remission, the disease still progresses. This is sometimes referred to as the “silent progression” of MS.
Doctors recommend that people with MS stay cool whenever possible. Heat intolerance is a common problem and often causes an exacerbation of symptoms. You might experience a spike of symptoms from:
Use fans and air conditioning, cool drinks, and icy compresses to keep cool. Wear layers of lightweight clothing that are easy to remove. A cooling vest can also help.
It’s important to note that although you may have a relapse that’s heat-related, hot temperatures don’t cause MS to progress more quickly.
ResearchTrusted Source has shown a link between vitamin D and MS. The nutrient can act as a protector against MS, and it may lead to fewer relapses in people who already have the disease.
Sunlight triggers the production of vitamin D in your body, but sun exposure can also lead to heat-induced symptoms.
Less risky sources of vitamin D may include fortified milk, orange juice, and certain breakfast cereals. Cod liver oil, swordfish, salmon, tuna, and eggs are also natural food sources of vitamin D.
Private therapy can allow you to start sessions quickly, you can also start privately & we can make an NHS application for you to maintain your care with the same therapist.
For DisabilityPlus to make an NHS application for you based on your condition, we must satisfy specific criteria before making the NHS Application.
The application for you must include one of the below disabilities or life-changing conditions.
Self-Paid Services are available if you do not qualify for an NHS application with DisabilityPlus.
Standard counselling services generally help couples without additional issues such as physical, sensory & injuries.
Using a specialist service means there will be no lost time trying to explain to the therapist the problems you and your partner have with coping with the specific situation.
We are proud to offer this specialist service.
In its most basic sense, LENS is training in self-regulation, a necessary part of optimal brain performance and function, allowing the nervous system to function more adaptively.
This result in greater relaxation, a sense of ease and improved emotional resilience. LENS neurofeedback is not diagnosis-specific. It is not a treatment for any specific condition. It is a generalised process that optimises brain function.
Each Disability is matched with a counsellor who understands your unique issues.
Our Traumatic Brain Injury Counselling Service supports people with their mental health, whether pre-existing issues have worsened or a new condition stemming from an accident or injury.
Our specialist therapists understand the problems a brain injury can have on a person’s mental & emotional health.
Counselling for Concussions can help you avoid potential mental health issues such as panic attacks, depression, anxieties, substance abuse &, in extreme cases, self-harm & suicidal thoughts.
Your counsellor is trained to support people with mild to moderate brain injuries.
The counsellor who supports you has expert knowledge & lived experiences of Autism.
Our treatment plans focus on how the varying degrees of Autism has affected your mental and emotional health.
You will be supported by a counsellor who has Epilepsy.
Specialist Epilepsy Counselling provides an essential place after taking the step to decide you want to speak with a counsellor; you must find someone that ‘fits’ you and your personality for the best possible outcome.
A counsellor with Dyslexia will support you with expert counselling.
Dyslexia & Auditory Processing may not be a mental illness, but its results can trigger mental illness.
You will be supported by a counsellor who has spinal cord injuries.
Our Spinal Cord Injury Counselling Service supports you with your mental health, whether pre-existing issues have worsened or a new condition stemming from the spinal cord injury.
Your therapist has an amputation or is a specialist which creates cultural understanding from the first session.
Using a specialist service who understand the problems of losing a limb first-hand could be the first step to your mental & emotional health recovery.
You will be supported by a counsellor who has OI or you can choose a counsellor with a similar disability.
Specialist Counselling can help you regain wellbeing and balance in your life.
You will be supported by a counsellor who has Multiple Sclerosis or you can choose a counsellor with a similar disability.
MS Counselling gives you time and space to work through your problems. Therapy helps you gain a different perspective on problems and issues.
Therapy provides a safe, non-judgemental and respectful environment. Counselling can help you regain well-being and balance in your life.
You will be supported by a counsellor who has Cerebral Palsy or you can choose a counsellor with a similar disability.
Counselling gives you time and space to work through your problems.
Therapy helps you gain a different perspective on problems and issues.
You will be supported by a counsellor who is disabled with a similar disability.
Professional therapists who understand the complexity of muscular dystrophy.
Our treatment plans focus on how the varying degrees of Muscular Dystrophy has affected your mental and emotional health.
You will be supported by a counsellor who has years of experience supporting people with Chronic Arthritis or you can choose a counsellor with a similar disability.
You will be supported by a counsellor who lives with chronic pain.
Chronic Pain Counselling & Psychotherapy delivers quality therapy for people who have issues caused by severe pain.
Your therapist will have hearing loss with the lived experience of discrimination and frustration.
Therapy for people with differing levels of Hearing Loss, including Suddenly Acquired Deafness through a Medical Issue, age or Accident.
For Profoundly Deaf BSL Service click below
Your counsellor will be profoundly deaf, which creates cultural understanding from the first session.
Our deaf mental health counselling service addresses the core need for cultural understanding with a counsellor that understands the feelings of discrimination & lack of knowledge.
This service is for BSL & Oral Profoundly Deaf People
You will be supported by a counsellor who has a cochlear implant
Our team use Spoken Word (oral), Lip Reading & Visual Gestures.
We offer a live subtitle service if video sessions are selected.
For DisabilityPlus to make an NHS application for you based on your condition, we must satisfy specific criteria before making the NHS Application.
The application for you must include one of the below disabilities or life-changing conditions.
Self-Paid Services are available if you do not qualify for an NHS application with DisabilityPlus.
SIGNHEALTH the Deaf charity is now delivering all NHS BSL Counselling Sessions.
If you would still like to use our service there are Self-Pay options.
Click the NHS Application button below to be directed to the Self-Referral form of SIGNHEALTH
Your counsellor who will support you has Vestibular Disorders and therefore can help you with expert knowledge and lived experiences.
Our team can help with qualified specialist mental health therapists who specialise in supporting people who have Vestibular Issues.
Your counsellor who will support you has Tinnitus and therefore can help you with expert knowledge and lived experiences.
Our team can help with qualified specialist mental health therapists who specialise in supporting people who have Tinnitus and Balance Issues.
The Personal Injury Team is hand-selected based on their expertise in supporting people post-injury.
We support you with emotional & mental health support following a significant personal injury.
The counsellor who supports you has been through the retirement and bereavement from previous assistance dogs. We can offer you a safe, empathic and authentic service where your emotions can be fully explored and accepted
Our assistance dog counselling service can help you get the support you deserve. Your counsellor will have an assistance dog and has lived through the feelings and emotions of loss and grief.
Select the service you would like to know more about.
You will be supported by a counsellor who is CODA.
Our CODA Counselling Service (children or now adults) supports you with your mental & emotional health.
Our specialist therapists understand the problems a cross-culture can have on your mental & emotional health.
