About Rareminds
Rareminds is a UK-based charity supporting the mental health of those with rare diseases and their family members. They provide access to specialist counsellors and psychotherapists trained in working with rare diseases.
They have a unique understanding of the psychosocial impact of rare diseases and work in partnership with patient organisations, rare disease charities and groups to understand the specific challenges faced by their communities.
All of their counsellors/psychotherapists have additional post-Diploma (or equivalent) level experience, and have completed Rareminds internal training programme on ‘Counselling for those impacted by Rare Diseases’.
We are currently offering two services with Rareminds. The first is a 1-1 counselling service. The second is a group therapy programme. Please note you cannot sign-up for both the small group programme and 1-1 support.
Meet the counsellors
Dr Stephanie Yin, Psychotherapist (UKCP), Psychologist (CPsychol)
Stephanie is an accredited psychotherapist and counsellor, and a full clinical member of UKCP. She has worked with children and adults in NHS and community counselling services for several years. Informed by both a lived and professional experience, she is passionate about raising awareness and improving mental health services for the rare disease community.
Stephanie also conducts research and provides training and consultancy on the experience of living with rare and chronic conditions.
Ben Sears, BACP Memb.
Ben has experience of working with individuals across a variety of rare conditions. Prior to becoming a counsellor, Ben worked as a teacher of children with learning needs and behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. He also previously volunteered as a bereavement volunteer and has lived experience of a rare condition in his own immediate family.
Sign-up for 1-1 support
This service offers members up to 8 sessions of free, confidential counselling service. This will be on zoom, or on the phone, and is available for family members and individuals aged 18+ impacted by a pituitary condition.
Both evening and daytime appointments are available (weekdays only).
As living with a pituitary condition happens within the context of your everyday life, it’s inevitable that the ‘ups and downs’ of both impact on each other. You can talk to our counsellors about anything that you are struggling with in living with the emotional impact of a pituitary condition.
This service is only open to enhanced members of The Pituitary Foundation. You can become a member for £25 a year, and there are concessions available.
You will also need to purchase our enhanced membership package of £15. This brings the total cost to £40 to access the service. With our enhanced membership offering you get access to the 8 counselling sessions and an informative video to help with your wellbeing.
Once you have purchased the enhanced membership then you will be sent information via email on how to arrange an initial consultation with our lead counsellor, Stephanie. Once you have emailed, you should expect a response within 5 working days. Please note that there may be a waiting list, and your initial consultation or sessions may not begin for a few weeks depending on current capacity. We encourage you to make contact after purchasing your membership, even if you don’t intend to start sessions straight away.
We have limited funding for our counselling service so places are offered on a first come, first serve basis. We are aware that the demand for this service is very high and we aim to manage the demand the best that we can. We anticipate that demand will be high so it is likely that we will have to close the service soon after the reopening, but we can reopen as places become available. In our experience, demand evens out after an initial influx so hopefully we won’t have to close and reopen too often.
Sign-up for small group sessions
We have now reached capacity for these sessions. If more spaces become available, we will update this page.
This service is open to everyone in our community, and you do not need to be a member of The Pituitary Foundation to sign-up.
This new small group programme will involve a combination of information and group discussion on themes such as living with uncertainty, making the most of appointments, coping with family and relationship dynamics, and managing anxiety.
It will provide a supportive, confidential space to share experiences and meet with others experiencing similar situations. Over the 8 weeks there is an opportunity to explore common themes, discuss practical and emotional coping strategies – and meet online with others in a similar situation. Bring a big cup of tea or coffee too!
The Autumn 2025 group sessions will be limited to people who have been diagnosed with a pituitary condition for at least two years. There will be a second round of group sessions launching in January 2026 specifically for people newly diagnosed with a pituitary condition.
The sessions will run weekly on a Monday from 7.00pm to 8.30pm (Zoom). The first session will be Monday 6th October 2025. There will be a maximum of 12 programme participants and, although we understand ‘life happens’, please be prepared to commit to the full 8 week programme in principle. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis, as spaced are limited.
Please note you cannot sign-up for both the small group programme and 1-1 support.