Need help straight away?
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
Hi there,
Thank you for being brave enough to write to me. It seems like there are things that you wanted to share with a counsellor.
It's not always easy to talk about personal things like feelings. Lots of children and young people may have to call ChildLine a few times before finding the courage to speak with a counsellor. Sometimes people choose to stay silent for their first few calls we dont mind it at all when people do this. If staying silent helps you to talk when youre ready, then thats okay with us.
ChildLine counsellors understand how difficult it can be and will want to support you in any way they can. You may even want to start a call by saying how difficult youre finding it to talk the counsellor will be happy to help you.
Before you call, think how you would like ChildLine to help you. This will let the counsellor understand things a bit more and will mean they can help you in the best way. It could help to think about some of the worries or feelings you would like to talk about and write them down. This could then be a guide when you call.
If calling is difficult, there are other ways you can speak to a counsellor. As well as phoning 0800 1111, you could log in for a 1-2-1 chat with a counsellor or send an email.
The message boards are very popular and you may find them helpful to see what other young people are talking about. You may even want to start a thread asking what other people's experiences are and what helped them to build up the courage to talk.
Good luck and take care,
Sam
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
You can ask me about anything you want, there's nothing too big or small. I read every single letter but I can only answer a few each week. My replies are published here on my page.