An Erskine-based mental health service has celebrated its 25th birthday after providing face-to-face help to almost 50,000 clients over the years.

Crisis Counselling offers guidance to adults, adolescents and children who need it and helps those affected by a wide range of issues such as domestic violence, self-harm, addictions and trauma.

In addition to the thousands helped face-to-face, many have been supported over the phone during emergency calls.

Mental health provision has come a long way since 1996, when the organisation was founded by CEO Jean Cumming, who recognised the need for counselling services while working in the NHS.

She watched people suffering for a long time after, for example, a suicide in the family and realised there were no early intervention services available – only acute services which offered a limited chance of robust recovery.

“We only had Dykebar Hospital,” Jean told The Gazette. “There were no mental health teams, no nothing.

“There were psychiatrists and community psychiatric nurses at Dykebar but the waiting list was 52 weeks and, by the time people got there, the stigma was horrendous.”

Over the past 25 years, however, this situation has changed radically, with a greater awareness of mental health issues.

The willingness of men to self-refer and return for more help if needed, Jean says, has also been a major shift in this period.

Crisis has helped bring about this change by working with individuals and public and private sector organisations across the country, offers counselling therapy that is not time limited and allows people to explore the problems causing them long-term distress.

As a social enterprise, it has chosen to do so by not relying on grants, so it can maintain control over the way it serves clients.

For the past year, however, that way of working has had to change slightly, with 65 therapists working remotely, all while addressing the huge demand caused by the Covid pandemic.

Crisis had a total of 1,687 referrals in 2020, with a further 650 so far this year.

“Working remotely has actually enhanced the client work,” said Jean. “Our counsellors have been able to respond to double the amount of clients rather than losing time travelling, for example.

“There has been a big increase in health anxiety, a big increase in bereavement and also in loss because people have lost their jobs.”

For more details, visit Crisis Counselling.