Counselling support for WAY members: Tim’s story

November 2025

WAY member Tim explains how being a member of WAY opened up the opportunity of free telephone bereavement counselling, which has helped him to reframe his approach to life as a widowed dad…

“I met my wife, Laura, in 2007. It was just purely by chance that we met. We clicked from day one and got on really well and that’s the way it stayed all the way through. We married in 2011, and our son, Dominic, was born in 2016. We always operated as a team, sharing our strengths and weaknesses.

Our life changed dramatically when Laura was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020 during lockdown. She went through chemotherapy and radiotherapy that year, and by 2021, she was given the all-clear. Everything was fine until the latter half of December 2021, when she started getting ill again. In mid-January, tests revealed the cancer had returned, and it was devastatingly quick; she passed away at the end of February. 

In the early days of bereavement, I initially found that most support was focused on older people, and I felt there was a big gap. I found WAY Widowed and Young online when Laura was still alive, and I knew I could turn to it if needed. Laura was pleased there was support out there tailored to young widows.

The WAY Facebook group has been incredibly helpful, especially in the early days, providing advice on challenges like those we faced at school. Sometimes, it’s just a sounding board where you can vent and know that others understand exactly what you’re saying. Now that I am nearly four years into this journey, I find it therapeutic to help others who are just starting out, sharing small pieces of useful advice.

Asking for help

I had the benefit of coming from a family where my wife, Laura, was a well-being practitioner for the NHS, so I understood how talking therapy could help. I had no qualms asking for help. I appreciate that, for many men, there is still that cliché and societal stigma that makes it difficult to ask for assistance, seeing it as a sign of weakness.

The telephone counselling I received through my WAY membership was really helpful. It helped me understand that I had been through trauma because my life had completely changed. I realised that grief also changes your personality – I am not the same person I was four years ago. I was pushing up against these subconscious changes, assuming I was still the same person, which was causing me to feel tired and irritable. I ended up having two rounds of online sessions through the support line offered by WAY. The therapy explained that these feelings were normal. It helped me stop trying to rush things and instead, letting life naturally settle.

The counselling also helped me reframe my situation. I sometimes bemoaned the fact that having a young child limited my freedom, but I’ve learned to reframe that thought: Dominic is my priority, and it’s a positive thing, not a negative one. My main goal is to get him to adulthood in the best possible shape.

I got a lot out of the counselling, and I recommend it to other people. Therapy can help with things even you don’t know you’re dealing with or you’re not aware of. That is one of my key pieces of advice.”

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WAY members have access to a free helpline and counselling service provided by Professional Help, 9am-9pm Monday to Friday.

Members can call the fully-trained counsellors and support specialists to discuss any emotional, personal or work-related issues.

There’s no limit to how many times you can call. You can also receive six follow-up telephone counselling sessions.