A CHARITY that helps people suffering from post-traumatic stress is stepping back to the 1970s to raise money so it can provide counselling.

Willows Counselling service, based in Swindon, offers support for a wide range of issues such as depression, the after effects of abuse or PTSD.

But it needs money to keep up its one-to-one service and the fancy dress disco night at the Moonrakers on April 5 is part of its fundraising campaign.

According to Denise Brent, one of the counsellors, each hour-long session costs them £45 to run, with approximately 80 to 100 clients per week.

She said: “All money raised will go directly towards subsiding counselling sessions for clients.

“With the statutory services currently overloaded and the cost of private counselling typically expensive, the demand for professional counselling support at an affordable price is high. As such we aim to provide this service irrespective of a client’s ability to pay.”

Many of the charity’s clients have symptoms affecting their appetite, mood sleep and ability to socialise, and sometimes their relationships.

To help them cope with their issues, the charity uses psycho education, by explaining them that their reactions are the result of an overwhelming event.

Denise said: “We provide information on the brains survival responses - fight, flight, freeze, collapse and explain to clients that if they were not able to respond in one of these ways, their brain and body will continue to try to complete one of these actions, which can result in them constantly feeling on edge and unable to regulate or manage these heightened emotions.

“For some people, it will be helpful to tell the counsellor exactly what happened and talk about the trauma as a way of working through it. For others, this may be too distressing, therefore we would focus more on working with their symptoms as opposed to the narrative of the experience.”

No specific timeframe is being set up to working through PTSD, she said, as the support depends on the trauma experienced.

“In our experience, we see it range anywhere from three months onwards.

"However, if someone has experienced one traumatic event in isolation, they can typically process this in a shorter timeframe than someone who has experienced a number of traumatic and overwhelming events, or one reoccurring or ongoing trauma.”