Asking for what you need
Draft the sentence before you are in the room. GP, employer, family — the wording is most of the difficulty.
- When to use it:
- You have an appointment or a conversation coming and you are dreading the opening.
- Where it comes from:
- Rehearsal and scripting, standard in assertiveness and social-anxiety work.
Anything you type is saved on this device only. There is no account and nothing is sent to a server.
The conversation
One thing. A referral, a fit note, reduced hours, someone knowing.
Your opening
Write it as you would say it. Read it aloud once. You can take this sheet in with you and read from it — people do, and nobody minds.
“I’ve been struggling with my mental health and I need some help with it” is enough to start any of these.
How long, how bad, what has changed, what you have tried.
Say the thing you want. It is very easy to describe a problem for ten minutes and never request anything.
If it goes wrong
“I don’t feel I’ve explained this well — can I try again?” or “What would need to be true for me to be referred?”
A worksheet is not treatment and it is not a substitute for talking to someone. If things are bad right now, there is a line for your country.