Relaunch Your Career

If you feel as though you are really not coping with redundancy, and you are getting out of your depth you may need to consider professional support. Sources of support to check out include:

• Employer-provided counselling services which might have been offered as part of an outplacement support package. Alternatively, the company’s HR department may have access to company-paid support through an occupational health contract
• GPs can be very sympathetic, and can refer patients to counselling services, although, depending on how services are organised and funded, this may be limited to six or eight sessions
• Independent counsellors in your area will be listed on the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) site. In most places, counseling starts at about £40 for an hour, although many counsellors, especially if they work in charitable or government-funded centres, will have a rate for people who are unwaged
• There are a number of very supportive and knowledgeable message boards and internet groups where unemployed people give each other mutual support.
• As of March 2009, the Government has announced that it is developing counselling services for the unemployed, so watch out for these being announced.