Hi,

After losing my beloved wife at the end of November I have found the mental side of dealing with her loss very difficult. This is for many reasons and is probably an accumulation of all the feelings which have had a lid put on them for the last two and a half years while she was battling breast cancer. I got heavily involved in her care and didn't really stop to think about what was happening, it was a relentless routine which had just become normal for us.

Now that she has gone all of my thoughts and feelings have just exploded in the most unpleasant way, and I am really struggling. We have two children of 16 & 20, and have a good close family who are there to support me... But how can they support me if I can't support myself? They are all feeling the loss too and the last thing they need is for me to start having a major meltdown.

The local Hospice spoke to me before Christmas to see if I needed counselling and I said that I'd contact them after Christmas once that and the funeral were out of the way... I called them yesterday to seek some support and hopefully make arrangements to see a counsellor to help me process my thoughts and feelings in a better way... Their reply was that there is a 6 month waiting list for counselling sessions!

I am hoping that someone may be able to suggest an alternative for me to seek counselling as I just can't wait 6 months to speak to someone.

Thanks,

James