Scope of support
You can come with what has become too heavy, too painful or too lonely to carry on your own. Sometimes it is depression, low mood, grief, crisis, illness, fear of death or the experience of being close to someone in a very difficult stage of life.
You do not need to come with a ready diagnosis or know exactly how to name what is happening. It is enough that you feel you no longer want to be alone with it. You can read more about who I am and how I understand psychological support on the page Psychologist Marta Korsak.
You do not need to begin with a diagnosis
Many people postpone reaching out because they think they first need to know “what exactly is wrong with me”. But very often, at the beginning, there is only a sense that something hurts, overwhelms, takes away strength or makes an ordinary day harder and harder to get through.
Psychological support can begin with a calm conversation about what is happening now. Not with judging, labelling or looking for quick answers, but with trying to understand the situation.
You do not need to know how to name it. We can begin with the fact that it is difficult.
Areas in which you may seek support
The areas below are not a closed list and they are not meant to diagnose you. They are here to help you check whether you recognise part of your own situation in any of the descriptions. If you do, you can come with exactly that – even if you are not yet able to organise it clearly.
Depression and low mood
When there is emptiness, lack of strength, loss of meaning, emotional numbness or tiredness that does not pass after rest. You can read more about this area on the page Depression and low mood.
Grief and loss
After the death of someone close, separation, loss of an important relationship, work, health or an animal companion. You can read more about this area on the page Grief and loss.
Illness and fear of death
When illness, dependence, loss of control or the subject of death begins to take up too much space in everyday life. If fear of death is especially present, you can also read the article Why are we afraid of death?.
End-of-life support
When you are close to someone who is ill or dying and there is less and less space for your own fear, sadness, anger or helplessness. You can read more about this area on the page End-of-life support.
Crisis and emotional overload
When for a long time you have been trying to “somehow manage”, but tension, responsibilities or difficult decisions are beginning to cost more and more strength.
A conversation when it is hard to speak
When you are not sure where to begin, but you feel that trying to organise everything alone is no longer enough. If you are still wondering whether psychological support is for you at all, you may also find the page Who is this help for? helpful.
Depression and low mood
Depression and low mood do not always look the way other people sometimes imagine them. You may still work, answer messages and carry out everyday responsibilities, while inside there is more and more emptiness, tiredness or lack of meaning.
You may consider a conversation if it has become harder to rest, harder to feel joy, if emotional numbness appears more often or if you feel that each day requires too much strength. A conversation can help you calmly look at what is happening and how it affects your everyday functioning.
You may consider support if:
If you are not sure whether this area fits your situation, you can read more on the page Depression and low mood.
Grief and loss
Grief and loss may be connected with the death of someone close, but also with separation, loss of work, health, an important relationship or an animal companion. Not every loss is visible to others. Not every loss is met with understanding.
In a conversation, there can be space for longing, anger, guilt, emptiness, confusion or tiredness with others expecting a quick “return to normal”. There is no single correct way to grieve. It can be important to have a place where grief does not need to be rushed, justified or explained to someone who expects it to end quickly.
Support may be helpful when:
If this is the main topic for you, you can read the full page Grief and loss.
Illness, fear of death and loss of control
Illness can change the way you think about yourself, your body, the future and everyday safety. Fear may appear around pain, dependence, death or the sense that life has suddenly stopped being as predictable as it used to be.
Psychological support can be a space to talk about what is often difficult to say to loved ones. About fear, anger, helplessness, exhaustion, a sense of injustice or the need to regain at least a small sense of influence in a situation that feels out of control.
You may reach out if:
Being close to another person’s suffering does not mean that your own emotions stop mattering.
End-of-life support and support for loved ones
Being close to someone who is ill or dying can be a very lonely experience, even when other people are around. A person supporting someone who is ill often postpones their own emotions because “now is not the time for me”. And yet fear, helplessness, sadness, tiredness and anger also need space.
Support can be important when you are close to someone who is seriously ill or dying and feel that it is becoming harder to hold what is happening inside you. A conversation does not have to speed anything up or simplify anything. It can create space for what is difficult to say. You can read more on the page End-of-life support.
Crisis and emotional overload
A crisis does not always begin with one clear event. Sometimes it grows slowly: through too many responsibilities, tension in relationships, loneliness, loss, difficult decisions or a long period of pretending that “I am still managing”.
You can seek support even if you cannot point to one specific reason. Sometimes it is enough that everyday functioning has started to cost too much strength and it is becoming harder to pretend that “somehow it will be fine”.
A conversation may be important if:
When several areas overlap
What is difficult rarely fits into one simple category. Grief may connect with low mood. Illness may bring fear of death. Being close to someone who is ill may bring overload, loneliness, guilt or helplessness.
That is why the scope of support is not a list of rigid labels. It is rather a map of themes you can bring into a conversation. What matters most is often something we begin to organise together. If the difficulty concerns a teenager, an adolescent or a young adult, you may also read the page Psychologist for young people.
What the first step looks like
The first contact does not need to be long or detailed. You can simply write that you would like to schedule a conversation, indicate whether you prefer an in-person or online meeting and add a few words about what brings you here. You do not need to describe everything at once.
Step 1 – You write or call
You can use the contact form, send an email or call. A short message is enough.
Step 2 – We schedule a time
The session lasts 50 minutes and can take place in person in Bydgoszcz or online.
Step 3 – We begin with a conversation
The first conversation is there to calmly understand the situation and check what kind of support may be appropriate.
You can read more about the way I work on the page How I work.
What this page does not replace
The areas described on this page are not a diagnosis and do not replace an individual conversation with a psychologist. Each person comes with their own story, pace and context. That is why it is important not to simplify difficult experiences or promise quick effects.
Psychological support may help people speak about what is difficult, but it does not replace medical care, psychiatric consultation, palliative care, hospice care or urgent help in a life- or health-threatening situation.
A general explanation of talking therapies is available on the NHS page about talking therapies. You can also find information about grief on the NHS page about grief after bereavement or loss and information about palliative care on the WHO page about palliative care.
If there is an immediate threat to life or health, an intention to hurt yourself or concern that someone close may be in danger, do not wait for a standard consultation date. In such a situation, call the emergency number 112, go to an emergency department, hospital admissions unit or contact emergency medical services.
Sessions in Bydgoszcz and online
Sessions are available in person in Bydgoszcz and online. One consultation lasts 50 minutes. The fee is 300 zł. After a phone message, email or contact form submission, I reply within 48 hours.
In the first message, you do not need to describe everything in detail. You can simply write that you would like to schedule a conversation and add a few words about what brings you here.
FAQ – Frequently asked questions
You can start with a calm conversation
If you are a parent and you do not know whether this is already the moment to seek help, you can write. If you are a young person and feel that something has become too difficult, you also do not need ready words.
The first step can be one calm conversation.