Self Confidence Coaching
and Counselling

I am a 66 year old Irish woman. I say Irish as we are known to carry a lot of guilt and baggage and keep keep our emotions inside. My whole life I’ve spent worrying about everything and anything and my biggest fault was never being able to say no to anybody. My son in law said to me last year “if you’re always doing the same thing and getting the same results, why not do something different”. So I decided to make a change. My daughter researched therapists and found KlearMinds to be the best. She looked at a number of clinics and therapists and the reviews at KlearMinds speak for themselves. I have to say I was filled with anxiety over which therapist I would choose or be allocated to. However that anxiety was completely dispelled the first day I met Judy. I knew immediately she was the right person for me.

She even managed to diagnose what I was suffering from in the second session. It was one of those light bulb moments when you get the name of what you suffer from and realise how life changing it could be to develop tools to change particular habits. From then on it was truly enlightening and I began to look forward to our weekly sessions. Therapy is not easy and you really only get out what you put in. But for me it has helped me create boundaries and to say NO. If you are worried about your relationship with the therapist assigned to you I’d say give it a try. I’m pretty sure all the therapists are hand picked and are excellent, but speaking from experience I absolutely love Judy and she has been a godsend into my life. Nothing ventured, nothing gained is my motto now. I’m incredibly grateful to Judy for her extensive knowledge and caring attitude.

My life in a short time has been transformed. In some ways I wish I’d entered therapy earlier and maybe not made half the mistakes I’ve made, but I’m also aware these mistakes make me the person I am today. I cannot recommend KlearMinds enough. Of course I’m a little biased now and would highly recommend Judy Harrison, but she is superb in every way. She is extremely calm, kind and easy to talk to. She prepares for each session, so they are structured and so that the clients get the most out of every session. I cannot rave about her enough and feel silly now at the idea of ever having trepidation about therapy.

Before meeting with Maggie, I had been feeling demotivated, lacking focus and very lonely. I had thought that my feelings would blow over and left myself languishing. Counselling was something I only considered when I felt there was nothing I could do. Retrospectively, this was incorrect. Maggie gave me support and provided me with the encouragement to empower myself to change.

Maggie helped me look at myself and the world around me in a different light; I now realise that I have the power and the skills to make my own future. The negative way I thought about myself and the feeling of being a ‘victim’ has gone and while I still sometimes see obstacles in my way, Maggie has given me the tools to question my negative thoughts and get to the root of the problem. Instead of thinking ‘what if’ and worrying about it, I know there will always be a ‘what if’ but it’s how you deal with it that counts.

I had always found it hard to deal with questions, getting defensive. Maggie’s questions, while difficult at the start, were in no way intimidating or intrusive. Her questions have helped me question the cause of my feelings and also question others. The sessions and tools provided have helped me organise myself, realise my limits and most importantly brought confidence and self respect back to my life. I am extremely grateful to Maggie for all she has helped me to achieve. I know that the tools she has given me will help me in the future and throughout my life. Thank you Maggie!

I came to Judy struggling to understand the impact sexual abuse that had taken place in my childhood had had on me. I knew there were things bubbling below the surface that were weaving their way into how I formed relationships and the way I have behaved since I was a teenager, but I didn’t know what they were or how to deal with them. The hours I’ve spent working with Judy have been the most valuable of my life. Not only did we form a trusting, patient relationship, but she helped me slowly understand what had happened to me. After [three] months of work I now feel equipped to do things differently. It’s been the most liberating and empowering experience and I’ve learnt things that will stay with me forever. Thank you Judy!

I didn’t really know whether counselling would help when I first went to see Maggie. All I knew was that I was feeling increasingly isolated and unhappy, anxious about the future and fed up with the way my life was going. All that changed over the next few months as Maggie helped me on my journey towards understanding myself and why I reacted to people and situations in the way I did. Eventually, as I began to feel reconnected to people again, I learned to value myself, be proud of my achievements and even feel excited about the future! I saw that it was possible to be alone but not be lonely, to be sad without being depressed, and discovered that many people feel afraid, they just deal with their fear in different ways.

Maggie was patient, perceptive and incredibly supportive throughout and each week I grew stronger, more empowered and liberated thanks to her skill and expertise. She has made a big difference to my life and for that I will always be grateful.

I had sessions with Paul throughout the pandemic which was an extremely challenging time for me. I struggled to cope with the negative emotions that arose from the end of a long-term relationship as well as the feelings of anxiety, isolation and loneliness being in lockdown by myself.

Paul was so easy to talk to and provided me with the kind, caring and empathetic ear
that I needed during significant life changes and the intense emotions that came with it. Initially, I felt quite anxious being so emotionally vulnerable with a man, but Paul helped me work through that fear and anxiety, and I soon felt safe opening up during our sessions.

Paul is incredibly kind, supportive, patient and empathetic. He’s also sharp and alert which was helpful during my many rants and tangents – he really helped keep me on course. Our sessions had a huge impact on my life; I quit smoking, I take better care of myself, I am more emotionally and financially stable, and I am in a secure relationship. Paul would give me full credit for all of that, but I owe a great deal to our sessions.

I highly recommend working with Paul and I have his contact details neatly stored if I need a little extra emotional support in the future. Thank you Paul.

I had therapy with Amanda for one year. I began the sessions when I was very unwell with Long Covid/ ME/CFS. Initially I didn’t even know if I would manage to talk for one hour. I remember our first session vividly, I was lay in bed crying and didn’t put the camera on. Amanda reached through to me during that call, in my darkest hour. I felt her warmth and empathy and her ability to look deeper into what was happening with me.

Fast forward a year and I’ve got my life back. I’ve just been for a run, am a Mum to my boys again and am loving life. Amanda was a huge part of my recovery. I believe that she helped to save my life. I will never forget her.

The connection between my mental health and physical health were much more entwined than I had realised. Amanda helped me to make this connection. She also helped me connect how past traumas and stressors had impacted to my decline in health. Amanda worked through past traumas with me at a pace that I was happy with. She never pushed me to go deeper into things than I felt able to do. She helped me release blame and shame from myself, by realising that certain things that had happened were not my fault.

Amanda helped me to become more confident to make the decisions that are right for my life. I was able to reflect on people pleasing qualities within myself that had lead me in directions that weren’t right for me.

Amanda showed me compassion, understanding and validation. She validated that what I had felt wasn’t wrong and that helped me enormously. She is kind, caring and so knowledgeable. I’ll hold her in my heart forever. I’m finished the sessions as I was ready to get on with my life. This just happened naturally. Thank you to KlearMinds for taking such care in matching me with the right therapist for me.

I decided to embark on therapy in order to address long-term issues with depression and insecurity in my personal life. Maggie has enabled me to reflect more clear-sightedly on situations rather than blaming myself for everything. She is a very sympathetic person with an extraordinary skill for reading body language! She has encouraged me out of feeling stuck in a ‘coping’ strategy that was really about disguising rather than recognising and addressing my feelings. As a consequence I am a more emotionally robust and confident and feel better able to exercise judgement and integrity in my relationships with others.

Karen has helped turn my life around after a series of events that knocked my self-confidence at work. I was unhappy, stuck in a rut, and looking for a combination of talking therapy and executive coaching and Karen fitted the bill perfectly.

She was very aware of my way of thinking from the outset and quickly tailored a programme for me that was practical, results driven and action orientated.

She was supportive but also challenging which was exactly what I needed. I really benefited from how she held me to account and challenged the negative thought patterns that had set in. I can genuinely say it has reset how I think about things and so much for the better with less self-doubt and real tangible benefits for my career. I would not hesitate to recommend her.

I started to see Maggie as a work coach at a time when I was frustrated with my job and felt like I was working myself into the ground, but not getting any returns. She gave me invaluable advice that made me think about my needs and my worth. Her support made me realise I wasn’t failing, which was an issue for me. Within weeks, I’d left my job. My new confidence meant that, when I was offered a new job, I was able to ask for the role and salary I wanted without feeling like an imposter or that I didn’t deserve it. I’m now in a job I love, and have just been promoted!

My therapy was supposed to just be about work, but Maggie delved into my past and roots and made me see why I was struggling in relationships too. Just like work, I was aiming to please people and feeling like a failure when I couldn’t fix everything. I’m now much more confident and comfortable with who I am, and I understand my feelings more. I’ve been in a great relationship for almost two years now.

The science approach from Maggie appealed to me as I’m not really into the ‘how do you feel about that’ approach constantly. Maggie challenged me, was blunt with me, tested me, but also listened to me and never forgot a previous conversation. I’ve recommended her to numerous friends since and I know she’s helped them massively too.

This Financial Analyst and working mother had to deal with redundancy, a difficult new job, relationship challenges, child rearing and her own history of being unsupported and bullied in the past. Here’s what she says:

I started to see Maggie for ways to help me deal with old patterns of thoughts which lead to increased levels of stress and low confidence. She really helped me understand the roots of my thinking, how things had changed through time and ways in which I could shape my thoughts differently and break free of my old patterns. As a result, my stress levels have vastly improved and I have a very different outlook on life. I have also been able to break away from old patterns of thoughts which has been very positive in helping me deal with new situations. Maggie has a great ability to be empathetic. She is a great listener and can tailor therapy sessions to your needs and how you can best work through your sessions.

I cannot speak more highly of Carmen, and I feel I have made a new friend in her. She was at all times professional and interesting, putting interesting questions to me and making me search myself for appropriate answers, and suggesting various books or blogs I might find of personal interest. Although it is difficult to quantify the results of this experience with Klearminds, I realise that just by voicing out loud the often sad and tragic experiences of my life, that I acknowledge myself better and am more aware of how to deal with myself!

When I came to see Maggie I was very depressed, but also very cynical about the benefits of seeing a therapist. I was working as a sales director for a large city firm, which I thought was what I wanted, but I had very little confidence in my abilities, and no idea why. I also had very bad relationships with my partner and family, finding it almost impossible to talk about my feelings. Over the course of the last 10 months Maggie has helped me to understand why I was feeling and behaving as I was, and help me to turn things around so that I am now very happy with my lot in life.

At first there appeared to be little structure to our sessions and I did question why I was spending the money “just talking” to a stranger. But after a few months the pieces of the jigsaw started to fit together and a lot of things started to make sense to me.

I have now left the industry that I was in – Maggie helped me discover that I basically hated what I had been doing for the past 8 years, driven by a desire to have an “impressive” job rather than one which I enjoyed. My relationship with my partner is now fantastic, as are my relationships with my family. And I am much more comfortable talking to them about my feelings. I am also no longer a cynic about the power of the subconscious mind and the value of spending time with a first class therapist like Maggie. It’s not easy, and sometimes I dreaded going to our sessions, but the results are definitely worth the effort.

Maggie, thank you so much for all of your work with me this year. I really don’t know where I would be now if it hadn’t been for your help. I am so much happier now than I have been in many, many, years and am looking forward to the next stage of my life!

Having had little success with multiple therapists in the past, I was so pleased to finally find someone who really understood what I needed. Annette listened so closely and helped me to explore the various frustrations and challenges I was experiencing both inside and outside of work. Through our sessions I have developed an ability to advocate for myself, care for my own wellbeing and recover from burnout. This has had a hugely positive impact on my life and I can’t thank her enough.