im currently in my last year of secondary school and sometimes I do find it hard as I get frequent panic attacks etc. And I have this one teacher that really helps me out and she's been the only person I've ever been able to talk to about everything and she has truly helped me to feel better and deal with things better
However I am worried about in around 10 months time when I leave that 1) I'll really miss her as she's been such a frequent and big part in my current life and 2) that I'll find it a lot harder without her around, as I don't have many friends and the ones I have I don't feel comfortable to talk to and similar with my family. So I was wondering if I would be able to stay in some sort of contact with this teacher, or whether that is not allowed at I feel this would be a big help to me. If I were allowed to stay in contact with her I'm unsure how to suggest it or ask her to stay in contact incase she says no etc.
thank you xx
Sam
Hi there,
It can be great when you find someone that you trust and who you feel comfortable talking to. However when that relationship ends it can make it difficult to cope.
It would be okay for you to speak to your teacher about your concerns about ongoing support when you leave school. You would have to be prepared for her to say that it isn’t possible to continue talking to her, since she may only be able to support students who she has responsibility for in school. If this does happen, you and the teacher could spend some of the time over the next 10 months working out ways that you can cope when you leave.
One way of coping could be to get support outside of school or college. You can find this kind of help by visiting your doctor to explain the situation to them and to see if they can refer you to therapy or counselling.
Another option would be to check out a website called Youth Access which has a list of counselling services. You could find one close to your home or college. These services are free for young people under the age of 23. In addition, you can continue to use the Childline services until you reach age 19 and a counsellor is available to speak or chat to at any time, whenever you need support. This could be something that you could start doing regularly over the next few months as a way of building up trust with the counsellors, so that you have people you feel comfortable talking to in future.
You explained that the teacher you talk to has been a big part of your life because you don’t have many friends or people to talk to. Maybe it would be good to try and build up your friendship circle by making new friends to spend your time with and share things with. We have some [top tips for making new friends](http://top tips for making new friends) that you might find helpful.
You have done really well to reach out to me to talk about these worries and concerns and this is a good first step of getting more support. If you would like to talk more, you can contact Childline, either by phone, chat or email, our counsellors are always there for you.
Take care,
Sam
Need help straight away?
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
Ask me a question
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.
