Hi I’m Alyssa, I’m in year 9 and I live in Wotton,

When I found out about The Door, a lot of things were making me really anxious; my parents got divorced quite recently and I often felt like their go between, having to negotiate what was going on for me and my little brother.

I was also about to have to move schools again, for the 3rd time in 3 years, that worried me – I would lose the friends I had just managed to make and have to start all over again.

My anxiety was getting in the way of me being able to concentrate at school or do my homework well, and that was making me worry even more.

I was felt like I was going to reach breaking point.  School suggested I should visit Alistair at The Door, so I did, he assessed me for Emotional Support and suggested I should meet with a mentor each week. I thought that sounded good so then he matched me up with a someone to talk to.

I was matched with Georgia, and we started meeting right away, usually in a coffee shop over a hot chocolate.

It was nice to have someone there each week – I was a bit nervous at first, but taking time over the weeks we got to know each other better and Georgia helped me identify some of the issues that were causing me to feel so anxious.

Once I understood why I was feeling so anxious, Georgia helped me to look at different methods to manage life at home. We talked about how to ask for help from my Mum and how to talk to both my parents so I could explain what was worrying me. We also came up with a homework schedule to make sure I did it all on time (or even early!) – it made school so much less stressful.

It’s been 3 months since I started meeting Georgia and I feel like my anxiety has really gone down now. I get my homework done on time (most of the time!) and I’m sleeping better too.

I’ve got some great new friends and I like hanging out with them. I’m living with Mum but I still see my dad quite a bit and things are good with him.  Me and my brother are doing ok too – although it’s nice when he goes away for the weekend and me and mum get some girly time together.

My mentor Georgia has been amazing at helping me overcome all the stuff that was happening, and I’m really happy now.

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