If You Need Someone to Talk To

Sometimes we hurt…

• Your body hurts when:
  • You fall down and hurt your leg 
  • You drink hot coffee and your mouth burns
  • You get a cold and you hurt all over
• Your head and heart hurt when: 
  • Someone says something mean
  • You feel sad about something
  • You think about bad things a lot

• You go to a doctor: 
  • To find out what’s wrong 
  • To find out how to get better

• Listen
• Ask questions
• Share ideas
• Keep things private

• You can talk to someone who knows and cares about you:
• A friend
• Someone in your family
• Someone you work with
• You can also talk to someone called a counselor.

• Counseling helps make the hurt in your head and heart go away.
• Sometimes counseling is called therapy.
• In counseling you may: 
  • Talk about your feelings
  • Use art or music to show how you feel

• Counselors are sometimes called:
• Therapists
• Doctors
• Psychiatrists
• Psychologists
• Social Workers
• Marriage and Family Counselors

• They yell,
• They call each other names,
• Then they don’t talk to each other.
• At work, Maria thinks about her family and starts to cry.
• She asks her minister what to do.
• He says they should talk to a family counselor. 

• In counseling, people talk. 
• Don’t be afraid to say what you feel.
• Some people use drawings or music to show how they feel.
• The counselor will listen and ask questions.
• Together, you can decide:
• Why you feel bad

• After your first meeting, ask yourself:
• Do you feel good talking to this person?
• Do you trust him or her?
• Do you want to go back? 
• Did he or she explain everything so you understand?

• A support group is a group of people who get together to help each other by: 
• Listening,
• Sharing stories
• Giving ideas on how to feel better

• People talk about lots of things in a support group:
• Feeling sad after someone dies
• Feeling unhappy with life
• Drinking too much alcohol or eating too much
• Anything that gets them down

• Ask your Regional Center service coordinator.
• Ask your support staff.
• Ask your friends.

• Call 211 - Ask about support groups for people with developmental disabilities.
• Call your local Area Board. 
• Go online and search for support groups.

• The family went to a counselor several times.
• He helped them talk to each other.
• They shared ideas about:
• What makes people angry
• How to get rid of anger
• How to do positive things every day - like telling each other something good that happened