I am Ava. I am a disabled and neurodivergent student who moved to Bristol to study Theatre, and I am raising funds to cover costs for trauma-informed therapy. Although I ideally need enough to cover at least 20 sessions, anything will help.

Because of my socioeconomic position, I’ve never been able to access therapy to address traumatic childhood experiences and an adverse adult life situation. Although I’ve overcome many systemic barriers to be where I am today, I am struggling significantly with the after-effects of my past. My university course has been the only place where I have thrived, felt safe, and found community over the past few years. It has given me hope that I will have a future as an academic in Theatre and Disability Studies, and I am planning to go on to postgraduate study and complete a PhD. However, while I have consistently been earning First grades, my studies have been repeatedly disrupted by serious medical crises, which are the direct result of profound trauma response.

I know I urgently need therapeutic help to be healthy enough to access the future I’m dreaming of. But the NHS’s mental health system has previously discharged me without giving me appropriate support. My case has also been deemed ‘too complex’ for the counselling that university can offer. I do not have any external or familial financial support; hence why I am reaching out. I don’t have anyone to help me. I’d be grateful for any amount. Thank you so much