Listen to the article
At Innovate Trust, we understand the importance of mental and emotional wellbeing. We offer our employees access to IMPACT Counselling, a free and confidential service designed to empower you and equip you with valuable coping mechanisms and external support.
IMPACT use a Brief Solution Focused therapy approach, meaning their highly-trained counsellors work collaboratively with you to enhance your self-awareness and develop effective strategies.
IMPACT counsellors have additional training and specific expertise with issues such as stress and anxiety, depression, substance misuse, bereavement, relationship problems, abuse, and post traumatic stress.
A powerful tool for personal growth
A member of one of our teams has kindly offered to share their experience of IMPACT counselling throughout their years working with Innovate Trust.
I’ve used IMPACT Counselling a few times in my 20 years with Innovate Trust. I avoided it for a long time because I didn’t know anyone who had used it.
This is why I offered to write this, to encourage other people to try it out.
The system is pretty simple: contact them by phone or email, someone gets back to you, and they find a counsellor in an area convenient to you. (I believe they also offer sessions over zoom but I haven’t tried this option).
The service is completely free and completely confidential – at no point is Innovate Trust told what the issue is or what is discussed.
There are an initial six sessions and there is the possibility for the counsellor to recommend a few more if they think it would be useful.
The issue you have doesn’t have to be directly work related, recognising that there are all sorts of issues in our lives which can negatively affect our mental health, our wellbeing, and our ability to function.
Six sessions might not sound like many, but these counsellors have taught me so much.
I’ve used IMPACT three times in 12 years and each time I have not only learned more about myself, but also learned techniques to help me when things get difficult – or even when they’re going well!
The most important thing I’ve learned is that it helps so much to talk about things to people who don’t know you at all.
That might sound plain wrong, but it really does make a difference. They care because they are professional counsellors; but they don’t have the complex emotional entanglements that friends and family have with us.
Our teams are our greatest asset. By investing in your wellbeing, we are not just fostering a supportive work environment, we are empowering you to bring your best self to every role in life.