We’re taking off!
June 2026 sees the directory features at Chronic Living Therapy finished, ready to help therapists reach out to chronically ill people who need their support.
This project enables people with long term health conditions who have often suffered gaslighting, long delays to diagnosis, and allegations of malingering to find well-informed and empathetic support.
How the site helps potential clients
If you look on any of the general counselling directories it’s possible to find many thousands of therapists who claim an interest in health conditions like ME/CFS or similar. It is impossible to find out, without trawling through every profile, just how clued up they are or what their specific approach is. Many therapists trained under (in the case of ME/CFS) outdated medical guidelines, when assumptions about psychosomatic causation were prevalent. It can be difficult to find someone with the necessary background knowledge and understanding.
The therapists on this site have insight into the many overlapping issues faced by chronically ill people:
- an often long and difficult path to diagnosis
- years of doubt and self-questioning
- loss of career or ability to work ‘at full capacity’ with the money as well as identity issues that flow from that
- coping, sometimes, with doubt and frustration in those around you as you search for answers and a diagnosis
- long term impact on life plans, family relationships and friendship
Where a therapist has an interest or experience of a specific illness we also expect they will be:
- clued up on the symptoms and likely/possible path of that illness
- understand how those symptoms may affect your ability to access therapy
- specific issues related to the history of that illness and how that may have impacted you and shaped your experiences
- an understanding of how it may affect you at different life stages
How the site helps therapists
Therapists working in this field have hard-won knowledge, often from personal experience. They want to reach chronically ill clients who need their specific knowledge and understanding.
The profiles on the directory enable therapists to:
- clearly explain how they support people with long term health conditions
- differentiate themselves from therapists who hold out-of-date beliefs (eg, in the case of ME/CFS these may be based on medical guidelines based on flawed evidence that were replaced with new guidelines in 2021)
- show commitment and understanding of the issues faced by chronically ill people by signing up to our Statement of Principles (mandatory for therapists in our directory)
- reach people, via the Chronic Living Therapy website, who are looking for this informed support
We’re delighted to shine a light on excellent therapists who offer this kind of much-needed support to people with long term illnesses.
Finding a match
There will always be elements of individual negotiation and discussion at the start of a therapeutic relationship. Some trial sessions may help you see if a particular therapist is a good fit for you.
Finding a therapist who is a good match for your needs is not simply a matter of background knowledge. The profiles will give you a good idea. But take your time, ask questions, check that you have a rapport. Not every connection will feel right, or it may take a while to develop.
We hope you find the right person for you, and that your path is easier with empathetic and well-informed support.
Thanks for the photo at the top of this page – by Ben Soyka on Unsplash
