Self Confidence Coaching
and Counselling

Working with Amanda has been a really positive and transformative experience. She got what I needed straight away and through incisive but gentle questioning helped me change the way I think about so many things. If you are thinking about talking to a therapist, I would encourage you to go for it!

When I first started seeing Maggie I felt very unmotivated, lonely and exhausted. It seemed the more I tried to fix things myself, the worse they got. I sought counselling as a last resort, when I simply didn’t know what else to do.

Our sessions were hard work at first. Maggie was very good at challenging the negative way I thought about myself. But she was also a brilliant listener and our sessions were incredibly motivating. She was very good at explaining why I felt the way I did. She made me see that I wasn’t “crazy” or even unusual, which made me feel less isolated. Aside from being someone understanding to talk to, Maggie taught me through exercises to help me practice thinking about myself and my life in a more positive light.

Maggie helped me get to know myself better. She helped me identify things about life that I enjoy, and taught me to feel good about those things! She also helped me identify the things that I didn’t like, and to find the strength to get rid of them! My relationships with my friends and family have greatly improved. I have gone from tolerating life to loving it, including the bumpy bits. I cannot recommend Maggie enough. I will be forever grateful to her.

I came to Jess to discuss a relationship issue. Jess was incredibly sensitive and insightful, helping me to gain objectivity and self-understanding, not only in relation to the issue at hand but other areas of my life. She was also very helpful in suggesting practical ways forward, and careful to tailor these to the situation at hand.

I cannot recommend Maggie enough. I had tried counselling before and thought it wasn’t for me. I now realise that finding the right counsellor makes all the difference.

I went to see Maggie when I felt I was no longer able to cope and everything in my life was going wrong. I couldn’t understand why. Maggie was very incisive in identifying the issues. My sessions with her have not only helped me gain an understanding of my habits and patterns but also given me the tools to break the bad habits and understand what is important. As a result I feel in control, grounded and confident in all parts of my life and most importantly, I feel capable of moving forward in my life. My only regret is that I hadn’t found Maggie sooner.

I found my time in therapy with Judy a very positive experience. I had therapy with Judy for about a year and a half. I suffer from generalised anxiety, social anxiety, depression and porn addiction. I tried therapy about ten years ago and it helped me considerably, but I had fallen back into old thinking patterns and forgotten many of the tools I learned.

I tried other therapists a couple of times for several months which didn’t help, but I could tell in the first session Judy was likely to be able to help me. It’s important to find the right therapist for you.

The things I found most helpful about therapy with Judy were:

I felt comfortable talking about very personal things without feeling judged. Talking about my thoughts made me more conscious of them and enabled me to figure out why I felt anxious and/or depressed. With Judy’s help and a different perspective, I was able to challenge negative thoughts and break down problems or issues I faced and come up with a wide range of possible solutions. This process made me feel like a weight was lifted, helped me make much better life decisions and gave me more confidence to go through with things I wanted to do instead of being too scared.

I learned many techniques I could draw upon if I started to feel down or anxious. Having these tools made my emotions feel more manageable. I started to feel more in control and self-sufficient when dealing with negative thoughts and emotions, though this took time and practice.
Learning about the nervous system and how anxiety works helped me understand how I could interrupt the vicious cycle of anxiety. The extra support therapy gave me helped me to feel less isolated and alone with my problems.

The changes I’ve made in my life since starting therapy have made me feel more aligned with myself and significantly increased my levels of happiness. In addition to therapy, I’ve tried medication (sertraline) which I think has made a big difference too. The combination of these two approaches has worked well for me.

It’s not that everything is amazing all the time, I still have anxiety issues but nowhere near as intensely and when I do experience anxiety, it doesn’t bother me as much. I also don’t get the catastrophic lows that I frequently used to experience. I’m happier, more positive and optimistic, I have closer relationships with my family, my feelings of loneliness have almost gone entirely and I’m pursuing a career I feel passionate about. I’m able to look forward to things again and enjoy social situations with good friends. For these reasons, I would recommend therapy with Judy.

I’m still a work in progress but I’ve noticed a big improvement in my life and how I feel.

Working with Jess has been so helpful for my recovery journey. I was experiencing a worsening of my mental health during pregnancy and Jess really helped me to manage my anxiety better. I also learned an incredible amount about myself and gained new insights, even though I had been in therapy for years before with different therapists. The approach that Jess took allowed me to dig deeper and truly understand myself, my thoughts and my behaviours. I really appreciate her warm and supportive approach, which made talking about difficult topics so much easier. I feel that I have a new perspective on life and look forward to the future.

I was in a toxic relationship while suffering from PTSD, which made it harder for me to keep the symptoms under control, to the point I found myself unable to cope with daily responsibilities at work and at home. When I went to Maggie for help, I desperately needed for someone to pull me out of the black hole I had found myself in. One step at a time, we went through my background and through all the experiences that (some of which I hadn’t realized) had brought me to the point I was at. Maggie helped me regain control of my life by coming to terms with the past, forgiving myself and others, and letting go of all the destructive thoughts in my head. Maggie helped me overcome PTSD, reconnect with myself and others, overcome my sense of helplessness, appreciate myself more and gain strength and confidence to walk away from the toxic relationship I was in. Overall, Maggie turned my life around and I will be forever grateful for all of her help.

This is a testimonial from a young woman who wanted to develop her confidence and assertiveness and through our work effectively tackled some difficult family and personal relationships.

I decided to book a course of counselling as a 30th birthday present to myself. I was aware of wanting to have a bit more confidence and be more assertive and of having a couple of unresolved issues which I would benefit from working though. I picked Maggie after looking at the websites of several therapists in my area and deciding that her working style would suit me best. We had about 10 sessions together and I found them hugely beneficial. I think you get the most out of counselling if you are prepared to put in some ‘homework’ yourself between the sessions. Maggie did a great job of supporting me as I worked through various issues, I felt very comfortable around her and she offered lots of insights each week. I would very much recommend anyone to work with her.

I came to Judy when I found myself with increasing anxiety, problems with sleeping and lack of appetite. I felt like my head was a muddle of negative thoughts and while this hadn’t been triggered by one particular event, I knew that it was being antagonised by workplace stress and conflict, as well as a lifelong lack of self-confidence. I immediately connected with Judy who listened patiently. I knew I wanted to understand why I think like this, but ultimately I wanted to move forward with practical techniques to help me cope better. Judy helped me firstly understand my anxiety, she also made me realise that I wasn’t alone in the way I think. We recognised my triggers and my responses to situations, but also talked through some previous experiences which had shaped my mindset. We developed techniques to help me cope better, rebuilt my confidence and I can honestly say I have felt like a different person ever since. If like me, you are reading these reviews and recognise your own thoughts and feelings, go ahead and start a course of therapy, I couldn’t recommend Judy more highly.

Me and the people around me in my life were of the opinion that therapy was a waste of money and that many of the regular intense feelings that I had every day (anger, doubt in myself, my choices and my relationships) and the overthinking/analysis that I performed in order to help “figure these things out” were just “part of the parcel of life” and that I should just calm down and get on with it.

Knowing therapy was always an option, I took the hard approach for over 10 years. My views were “I’m a mentally strong man and I will battle this every day and NEVER break like others around me” “I won’t show a chink in my armour or any sign of weakness in a million years” “I will outlast a weak minded society and continue being successful in life and on a pathway that I decide is best for me” “the world is wrong – the news, social media (professional and social) reports are jumping on the bandwagon and giving in to the “snowflake generation” by constantly mollycoddling society and simply ticking a box with their focus on mental health”

I thought that all I needed were close family and friends to talk to about what I was going through and that this would be enough to reassure myself that I was fine and that I was on the right path regardless. Whilst this approach was very helpful and probably a major reason why I didn’t end up in a terrible state, this only provided relief for short periods and I was always back to square one again very quickly. After all i was someone who often doubted myself and others.

Everything came on top at one particular point and fortunately I was able to recognise this along with the people who were close to me (through my openness with them they were able to spot this too). There was no “major event” that triggered this however I concluded that I had to take action if I was to prevent an entire lifetime fighting a constant and unsustainable mental battle every day.

I thoroughly researched therapists and decided that Judy was the most qualified person to help me. The descriptions / biographies on Klearminds allowed me to do this a lot easier than other websites and if you are reluctant to try therapy this process can be off putting but I urge you to persist.

I didn’t expect it but the first session was life altering in itself. This was simply the “getting to know the you” stage but saying the words out loud to Judy provided an overwhelming sense of release and resulted in a surprisingly emotional first session. This was the start of what was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

It’s now 1 month after I have completed therapy and I couldn’t recommend Judy more highly. The key points/takeaways for me were:

We set clear goals and achieved them which disproved my thoughts that therapy was a waste of money/I’d be strung along forever making marginal or temporary improvements.

You have to be completely honest so that Judy can help you (there is never judgement, just help)

I have a greater understanding of myself and my brain than ever before

In order to get the most out of these sessions you must be prepared to apply what you learn in real life.

The techniques and clarity that I have gained have ended the constant mental battle for all of the issues that I felt I had.

Be kind to yourself (for real)

When I started working with Judy I was having a difficult time both at work and in my personal life. There were a number of issues I was facing specifically around relationships with people in my life and my confidence. Working with Judy helped me to understand these relationships and importantly how to change them for the better.

Judy gave me invaluable help and advice, and shared a number of tools that will always stay with me and help me deal with difficult situations in the future. I am now in such a good place and feel confident to be able to deal with the pressures of life on my own. Judy was so supportive and non-judgmental, I know I would ever have been able to achieve any of these changes without her help. Thank you much.

Paul’s background working with academics and university mental health services, and continued work in such fields often provided helpful comforts of the experiences I was going through and made me feel that I was not alone. Working with Paul was a pleasure and though by the end we were, from my perspective, working on very different topics than what we started on Paul as always was able to show how things were connected when applicable and demonstrate the progress I was showing, holding that often necessary mirror up to my face so I could see where I was. I always felt listened to, and could tell that previous conversations and small notes made throughout almost 2 years were remembered, making me feel that I had a dedicated therapist while I was in the session and not one who’s attention was elsewhere.

Hope all is well with you and thank you once again for everything you did for me, I can’t really put into words how much you helped me (although I’ll try right now!).

I came to Maggie after experiencing problems in my relationships. I seemed to follow the same patterns, and couldn’t identify what the problems were, how to stop repeating myself, break these patterns and make changes for the better. After experiencing several years of the same thing, and seeing no alternative, I made an active decision to do something about it.

Although I was nervous at first, Maggie really seemed to understand the root of the problem, and where everything seemed to stem from and helped me make steps to break free of the problematic routines of my relationships.

I now have the confidence to make changes, and assess situations with an open mind, and walk away from things if it isn’t right, where I would never have had the strength to be able to do so before.