Referral to counsellor through GP

[Mumbybumby]

A colleague of mine has confided in me about a whole bunch of things going on in her life and that happened in her childhood. She wants to be referred to a counsellor/therapist but when she went to the doctor they offered her ADs and refused to refer her for counselling.
What can she do? She can't afford to see anyone privately but really needs the help as she is looking after her mum, partner and 3 kids and is starting to struggle.
I've suggested she go and see another doctor but want her to be armed with the facts and to know what she wants to happen first.
Thanks for reading.

Bump

did they say why they wouldn't refer her ? counselling is in huge demand so there is often a long wait and after assessment they very often want you to take antidepressants before embarking on any program of CBT- it just takes the edge off anxiety and makes you more receptive to the treatment- it might help ease her through the wait. I was very resistant to anti depressants but having been on them for about 6 months am feeling much more able to cope with things.

Back to the GP. See another one at the surgery if possible. She has to ask for counselling and say why she feels it would be beneficial.

tbh I'm very surprised that a GP would just offer ADs for someone who presumably has their mental health at risk due to previous trauma.....but perhaps I'm reading more into this. I'm just shocked a GP would hear 'x y and z happened in my childhood and it's preying on my mind, I think I need to talk to someone about it' and then say 'No no no dear, what you need is anti-depressants.'

I agree there will be a wait for counselling, and in the meantime the ADs might help - but to refuse counselling? Did she tell hte GP everything?

GPs are shite at dealing with mental health issues, for the most part. Mine wouldn't even let me finish a sentence last time I tried to explain why I needed some help, and the one before that asked me whether I really wanted to rake up all that stuff in my past or if I wouldn't be better off just getting on with my life.

Advise her to see a different doc, write everything down beforehand and if necessary take an advocate with her. She will undoubtedly have to wait a long time for NHS counselling but it is there.

Thanks for your replies, she isn't very assertive/confident, which is a direct result of what's happened in her life so no surprises!
I think she may have just let the GP fob her off because of this.
I agree fromage, I was surprised she got that response too. My doc was the opposite - his immediate response was let's try counselling first!
I was thinking of offering to go with her if she wanted to help her get her point across - do you think that's getting too involved?
Is it worth her writing down her issues before going to see the doc?
She doesn't want to take ADs as her mum has a history of MH problems and she has reservations about them as a result but I will put it to her that it could work in the short term.

X posts with darkstar I think I will get her to write it all down. It's a whole host of different issues and it's taken her over 5 years to ask for help!

You could offer to go with her but you'll have to word it very carefully so she can refuse easily if she wants too - there may be more than she has told you, but she doesn't want to share more.

If she's not very assertive she may have thought she was being more forcefull than actually she was - eg saying 'um I thought about um er maybe counselling but I'm not sure really if that would help, what do you think dr?' and not 'I really want counselling'