Pip's story: I needed help | News | Hospice in the Weald

It was a difficult time for Pip, Ty and their daughters but the Hospice provided the comfort and routine that made visits to the Pembury ward more bearable. Here, we speak with Pip who describes her experience of hospice care, and the benefit of counselling support.

“I didn’t think it was for me.” Pip once said to her daughters on the way home from visiting Ty at Pembury that counselling was “not something I would go for.” She thought she was okay. Like many, Pip was resistant to the idea of counselling. She remembers the feeling: “I’m resilient, I won’t need any of that. After all, at work I help support other peoples’ wellbeing.”

But, as time went on and life became much more unpredictable, Pip reached a point, like “the flick of a switch”, where she felt overwhelmed. “I needed to talk to someone or I was going to lose it.” She needed to say the things she felt she couldn’t say to anyone else.

“In counselling, they cant solve anything but I needed to pour it all out,” she said. “The counsellor validated how I was feeling and reflected that back,” confirming that she was not alone or unique in how she felt – it was normal.

Once Pip started counselling, she found it incredibly helpful to offload to someone. “I felt better for it. I felt lighter for it.” Counselling validated her emotions and made her feel understood and less alone.

She took up sessions while Ty was being cared for on the ward. “When he died, I was offered another group of sessions – that felt incredibly generous… There were times when I felt guilty, for being offered all this stuff, spoilt even.”

Pip said that there was a time when she would have been reluctant to share that she was going through counselling with anyone, Now she thinks “why wouldn’t I tell people?” because “it really helped me.” Pip expressed her gratitude for the counselling support that helped her and her daughters better cope with the loss of Ty.

See Pip talk to us about her experience in full below…

Watch Pip's Story

Hospice in the Weald recognises the enormous challenges that living with a terminal illness or life limiting condition has on patients and their loved ones.

Our Hospice Counselling and Bereavement Support Services are committed to offering compassionate, personalised, holistic care to all patients and those important to them, free of charge.

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Pip's Story: I needed to talk

Watch Pip's Story

Watch Pip's Story

Hospice in the Weald recognises the enormous challenges that living with a terminal illness or life limiting condition has on patients and their loved ones.

Our Hospice Counselling and Bereavement Support Services are committed to offering compassionate, personalised, holistic care to all patients and those important to them, free of charge.