Psychotherapists offering free sessions to people with Brexit-related anxieties

'There is no doubt that there is a huge need for this'

Just 16 per cent of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse felt their needs were met by NHS support (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Psychotherapists are offering free counselling to EU citizens residing in the UK whose mental health has been adversely affected by Brexit.

The scheme was launched in a bid to tackle “the current climate of uncertainty and insecurity” that has arisen as a result of the vote to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum.

Those interested in taking part will be offered up to 10 free sessions, conducted either online or over the phone, with an accredited psychotherapist affiliated with the Existential Academy, the community interest company behind the scheme.

Known as the Emotional Support Service for Europeans (ESSE), the service was launched in June 2017 and has proved incredibly popular thus far, says Emmy van Deurzen, a psychotherapy professor at Middlesex University who is spearheading the project.

“We set up this service when we became aware of the considerable distress that had been generated for EU citizens in the UK because of the Brexit referendum,” she tells The Independent.

“Not only did they feel disenfranchised by not having been given a vote on their own future, they also felt deeply threatened by the way in which they were becoming second class citizens, whose acquired rights were being restricted.”

She explained that one year in, the ESSE is still experiencing high demand.

“There is no doubt that there is a huge need for this,” she added.

“People are still feeling dazed, anxious and depressed and have no faith in the notion of ‘settled status’, which does not apply to everyone and still leads to a loss of acquired rights.”

Van Deurzen recently carried out a survey with Dr Helen de Cruz of Oxford Brookes University on 1,300 remain voters.

The two academics found that almost all of the participants were still emotionally traumatised by the referendum result, with many using the words “devastated”, “ashamed” and “depressed” to describe their current psychological states.

In light of the findings, van Deurzen added that her team is considering extending the ESSE to British people too and she is currently in the process of recruiting further qualified psychotherapists who are willing to volunteer and take part in the scheme.

“We should think carefully about what is happening in the country,” she continued, “particularly when so many people’s mental and emotional health is adversely affected by it.”