How a personal experience inspired me to become a sight loss counsellor

Now seems like a good time for this post since it's currently National Eye Health Week.

If I’m being honest, sight loss wasn’t really something I gave a lot of thought to in the past. I imagined it to be awful, probably one of the worst things you can go through, and felt for people that experienced it. But I didn’t really know much about it and likely had a lot of misconceptions. For example, assuming that being blind automatically meant you couldn’t see anything at all; that it was all just dark. Of course, I know now that that’s not the case – it’s a spectrum and very rare that a person has no vision at all.

What got me looking into sight loss and training to work as a sight loss counsellor through the RNIB was my own experience. Not of losing my sight – I am, fortunately, still sighted. But something that gave me a small insight into what it might be like.

Where it started

In March 2024 I began having issues with my right eye, including pain and worsening vision. This all happened quite suddenly and was obviously worrying and confusing.

Luckily, I was able to get help pretty quickly at my local eye hospital and received a diagnosis of Uveitis (inflammation of the eye), a rare and potentially sight-threatening condition.

They found that there was significant scarring on my eye, which suggested this had actually been going on for a while without me noticing, as the symptoms must have been very mild. I was told that due to this scarring, my vision may never be as good as it was before.

This was difficult to hear. Even though my vision still wasn’t that bad, it’s hard to wake up one day not being able to see as well as you used to, and being told it may never improve again.

Despite receiving regular treatment, my vision continued to get worse, mainly due to developing a cataract in the eye. This made it very difficult to do things I enjoyed, such as reading, puzzles, colouring, playing computer games. Even watching TV or going to the cinema wasn’t as satisfying. Light sensitivity and trouble seeing in the dark made driving a challenge at times. My decreased vision also made it harder to do things like typing up notes for work. With adjustments I was still able to do this, but I remember how overwhelming it was for example trying to read something on my computer and just being faced with a wall of text and not having the mental bandwidth to deal with it.

In autumn 2025, I had the cataract removed from my right eye, which in theory should improve vision. In my case, it helped to an extent, but due to the scarring and continued flare ups, not completely. Around the same time, I also developed uveitis in my left eye as well, which impacted my vision again.

Where I’m at now

Things are generally stable at the moment and my sight isn’t too bad. I continue to receive regular treatment for flare ups (which is not a fun a procedure). I still don't really know what caused me to develop uveitis despite having numerous tests, so that's frustrating. Often it can be linked to autoimmune conditions. However, I have started to accept the fact that this is probably something I will continue to have to live with and we may never identify a reason for it.

I feel lucky to live somewhere that enables me to get treatment for free. If untreated, uveitis is one of the leading causes of sight loss, which is scary to think about. This experience has given me a newfound appreciation for my sight. It’s one of those things you don’t really think about until it affects you.

Training as a sight loss counsellor

I started looking into working with those experiencing sight loss after seeing a leaflet at the eye hospital offering counselling. I had no idea this was a thing and immediately looked into it. I thought about how much people with a severe sight impairment must struggle if I’d found it difficult after experiencing only a fraction of that.

I found that the RNIB offered free training to qualified counsellors (how good is that by the way?) and signed up. The training was emotional and informative. It gave me new knowledge and insight into sight loss as well as the process of getting help. Following this, I had to submit an application to join the RNIB’s register of sight loss counsellors, including reflections on my learning and what I was doing to make my practice accessible. I was successfully added to the register earlier this year and starting offering this service through my existing private practice. I'll need to re-submit my application every three years to make sure I am still striving to provide the best support I can.

I still probably get things wrong sometimes and I’m always willing to learn and grow. I also acknowledge that some sight impaired clients may prefer a therapist who is blind themselves. While I completely understand and respect this, I would also say that there are various issues I haven’t personally experienced but have still been able to provide clients with valuable support for. This is because everyone is an individual and it’s about your individual experience, not the therapist's.

What’s next?

If you or someone you know has been affected by sight loss and you haven’t already, check out the advice and information provided by the RNIB. And if you are looking for a private counsellor trained in working with sight loss, please reach out in whichever way is easiest for you. My contact details can be found here: https://www.laurelleafcounselling.com/contact.

I’m also looking at setting up an online uveitis peer support group. This won’t be in my capacity as a counsellor and is not intended to be formal group therapy. I’m not exactly sure what form it will take yet, but I want it to be a space for myself and others with uveitis to share our experiences. If you’re interested in this, please also get in touch.

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I hope you got something out of reading this blog post about how a personal experience inspired me to become a sight loss counsellor. I never really share stuff about myself but I figured it might be helpful for someone as well as assuring anyone looking for a counsellor who specialises in working with sight loss that it’s something I care deeply about.

Until next time, take care.