A new challenge! - Folk Features

In this month’s wellbeing column for Folk Features, Sam Grainger explains the personal reasons why she decided to retrain to be an Integrative Counsellor

Hello everyone, I hope your New Year has started well and you are coping with dreary January! I wanted to take a moment to reintroduce myself and let you know about my new role. My name is Sam Grainger, and I am lucky to be one of the key partners of Folk Features and provide the monthly well-being column. Over the past few years, I have been spending time retraining to be an Integrative Counsellor. This has been a lot of hard work whilst still working as a Critical Care nurse.

Has it been worthwhile?

Yes, it’s been life changing not only have I got a new career path I have learned a great deal about myself along the way. As part of your training, you have to take on your own counselling, monthly supervision and accrue hours as a trainee counsellor. I can say that at times it felt impossible trying to fit all of this in alongside work, I made it.

What inspired me to change?

In 2018/19 I experienced a very difficult work situation. One that left my confidence in tatters. At this point I had been a nurse for 25 years and enjoyed a varied and interesting career. In all that time I had never experienced “bullying”. It really is not a nice feeling; you feel like you’re going slightly mad and start to question your own self-worth. It was at this point I felt it was time to look at retraining. I had my own counselling at this time to help me work through all the negative emotions. I was inspired about how this can allow you to see yourself differently and let go of negative thought processes.

I started to look around at different courses and eventually found a course that seemed to offer good training and fit in alongside my other commitments.

For the past year and a half I have been increasing my skills, working as a volunteer counsellor at Emerging Futures which helps those who are trying to manage their drug/ alcohol addiction. This has been an amazing journey which has taught me a great deal about the resilience of others I really enjoy this role and this made me realise I had made the right decision to retrain.

What’s new?

I now feel that it’s time to make a change and I about to open my own private therapy practice which will be based in Honingham, Norwich. I have acquired a room which I hope to convert into a relaxing, tranquil space. My areas of interest are trauma, grief and bereavement, anxiety and addiction.

My aim is to help you feel comfortable. I will listen and provide a safe and confidential space for you to explore anything that may be confusing, painful or uncomfortable. Alongside this I will be working one day a week at Sue Lambert Trust, working with those experiencing abuse.

I open to referrals in the middle of February. If you feel I could help you or you know someone who may benefit, please feel free to send an enquiry. I will do my best to answer any questions.