Hello everyone.

[Clive]

Hello everyone,
My name is Clive. I am living in North East England UK. I have just found this forum and very much impressed by the set up. Maybe in the future I can tell a little bit more about the work I do here. Let me just say that for the moment I provide management and support to clients in north-east England to help them come to terms and habituate to their tinnitus. I am semi retired so this is a part-time activity but I really enjoy it. I look forward to talking to members of the forum in the future.
Best wishes,
Clive

 

[Markku]

Hello Clive, I'm very happy you decided to join

Need to tell you that it always warms my heart when I hear someone is working full time or part time on something related to Tinnitus.

In Finland (where I'm from) the situation is pretty bad. There aren't that many professionals who really knows what tinnitus is, how to manage it and what options are available.

The most heard is probably the classical "nothing can be done, learn to live with it". Which is so wrong in so many levels. Okay, they don't have the magic pill to stop the noise, but most of time they don't even tell their patients about the management possibilities, habituation process or send them to a true tinnitus specialist.

There are a few exceptions however. But it's like finding that needle in a haystack. And when you've just been struck with T, many really don't have the energy to find the only one or two specialists in the whole country.

From what I've gathered, the situation in many other countries isn't that good either.

Anyways, thanks for being part of our community, have a nice week!

Markku

 

[Clive]

Hello Markku,
Thank you for you reply. Yes I am very lucky to be a tinnitus therapist. The reaction you describe "nothing can be done ............etc" is one that many of my clients report when I first see them. I always make it clear that I have no magic pill -which is what they really want. But I inform them that I can offer a management and support service. I don't tell them that I have tinnitus but people are pretty clever and usually ask me after a while. They take great heart from the fact that I soon have to tell them that I have fully habituated to the extent that tinnitus has no effect on my life style. Of course they find this hard to believe at first as I would have done in the first stages. Next I tell them that what worked for me won't necessarily work for them. But by this time I have their attention and they are willing to start slow process of recovery. I meet with clients weekly at first and the habituation therapy I provide is a mixture of one-to-one counselling and sound therapy. Anyway may be more of this later.
Best wishes,
Clive

 

[Markku]

I'd be especially interested to know how long you have been doing this Clive and what kind of results have you seen on your clients? Would be interesting if you could shed some light on approximate habituation times (surely varies widely!) and what kind of obstacles your clients have faced and how they've overcome them.

I know it might be hard to elaborate too much considering the privacy issues etc.

 

[Clive Cottrell]

Can you ever really habituate? I have had Tinnitus in my right ear now for over five years as a result of audible trauma. I find that my mind seems to focus on this most of the time. I think loudness must be a very important factor, because the louder it is the more difficult it is to ignore it. Would other sufferers not agree. CC.