The Offload Project CIC — Psychotherapist in Nottingham, England

Pretty ignorant people. They asked me a bunch of obligatory Yes/No questions. They asked if I had felt more stressed than "usual for me". I told them this is a flawed question, but was told I must answer it. I asked why they asked: is it that a person for whom the stress has become normal because they've had it for a longer time is deemed less worthy of help than a person who says No? She said no it's not that. I asked what the purpose of the question is then, but she refused to say: only saying that it's so the therapist has information. Yes, but what decision or judgement will be made with that information? Because it is irrelevant information. I also asked her how far back does a problem have to go to be considered "usual". Imagine, say, two women (could be men) each in a domestic abuse, coercive control relationship. This causes them stress as it socially isolates them and removes power to follow their values, personality and desires. Woman A has been in such a relationship for 6 months, and for her the stress is "unusual" - she would answer "Yes" to the question. Woman B has been in the stressful situation for 5 years - it is now "usual" for her - so she answers "No". Then we also have the complication of either distraction or dissociation: when to deal with the stress, a person distracts themselves emotionally or their mind numbs out the stress. Without having the extra information about WHY the answer is "No", the answer is not useful information about the person's psychological state or quality of life. "No" could be a good thing or actually a sign of things being even worse. Hence, a flawed question. I called her uneducated, which she took as an insult, saying she has a psychotherapy masters. Ok, not completely uneducated (that wasn't what I meant), but an educated person still has potentially dangerous knowledge gaps. Consider how ignorant many therapists are about child abuse or war - just two examples. Consider the majority of NHS mental health staff are not "trauma-informed" (and almost none were 10+ years ago): therefore, they are uneducated. So a degree doesn't make someone flawlessly educated. It's not for me.

I have tried several times to go through the assessment and twice they said yes but nothing came from it, twice I tried to get another assessment and again completely ignored. Theres a reason for assessing councilling and this has definitely not help.

I went to these guys for Individual therapy. I knew Offload was around after being part of their first cohort of a group sessions for one of their workshops maybe a couple of years ago. I had an Initial assessment early April this year. I'm pretty certain I was told around six weeks waiting list. After thinking they've probably forgotten about me, I've tried to go back to let's talk wellbeing, after being asses by them about a month ago, they told me that because I'm on a waiting list I can't use their services and to reach out to Offload. I searched for multiple ways of contacting them, you can't contact them of Instagram unless they follow you. I eventually found their admin email and sent an email on the 13th of August. The website says they will take seven days to reply. No reply. I've then gone to Facebook, Saturday just passed, but I don't think they are on there often, so I'm not going to get a reply, I've sent another email through the email thread today very late in evening. I've then gone through the website again and found another email to contact, that says that you can contact them on, in the question and answer section instead of a contact us section, and then had an automatic reply of 'this emailed isn't manned'. There is no phone number to contact them on. I've been trying to find a way of contacting them for a month. I've been waiting for five months and have heard nothing from them. It's such a shame, because the workshop sessions were brilliant but this has become a joke. It's incredible frustrating to be seeking help and trying to contact a brick wall.

An incredible organisation making counselling welcoming, inclusive and affordable

A friend referred me to Offload after I went through a really tough time where loads of things went wrong all at once. I honestly don’t think I’d be where I am now without their support. The help I got was something I never could’ve afforded on my own, and it made such a massive difference. I feel like I’ve come out the other side not just okay, but actually a better person than I was before everything happened. I’m so grateful to Offload, they really helped me get my life back on track. Highly recommend to anyone who’s struggling

Wonderful people, helped me thoroughly I cannot recommend them enough.

Amazing service that went above and beyond for my sister at a time when she couldn’t afford support and couldn’t wait to access NHS services.

Thank you 🙏