How Can CBT Help to Treat Stress?

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 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.

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.

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!

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 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.

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)

I had a great experience with Klearminds. Karen helped me through a difficult moment in my life, when I had just moved to the UK and had lost my bearings. She then subsequently helped me through a separation, and I am very glad I was talking to her at the time and not going through it alone. Karen was really professional, provided great advice, and had a very accurate understanding of my situation. I would absolutely recommend Karen and the team at Klearminds.

I entered therapy for the first time unsure how I would feel and if I would be able to open up but a really safe and comfortable environment was provided which made me feel at ease from the start. I came for work related stress and have felt a big change in my experience at work since I began the sessions. Processing how I think and what I can do to support myself has been incredibly helpful and I have finished my sessions with tools to continue supporting myself outside of therapy.

I undertook 6 months of therapy with Judy and its 6 months I believe has changed my life forever. Judy was professional, eloquent, and non-judgmental. I sought out therapy primarily to help tackle my anxiety and to find someone who can help me understand my thought processes in a more coherent way. I suffered daily from anxiety and my negative thought processes were holding me back a great deal in my relationships with others and above all, myself.

During the first 4-5 sessions, Judy educated me on the impact anxiety has on your body, where it comes from, the scientific understanding of it and techniques to help manage it. This I believe was crucial to my healing. Once I had physical control over my anxiety, we were then able to delve deeper into the triggers. Judy helped me understand things about myself that I would have never been able to achieve alone. Her knowledge and experience really shone through in every aspect of my sessions.

Even during lockdown when i was put at risk of redundancy, Judy adapted our sessions to some career coaching to help me get back on track. Again, I was blown away with her abundance of experience and fast thinking adaptivity to cater for the unpredictable times we have been living in (for the past 3 months especially).

Now that my sessions have temporarily come to a close, I feel that I know myself in a much more clear and coherent way. I understand where my triggers lie when it comes to my anxiety and how to manage them. My relationships, especially with my family are stronger and I have, with Judy’s help, managed to set my own boundaries and stick to them.

During my time with Judy, I never felt that I was holding anything back and that is rare. I saw 3 different therapists before this, none of which really understood and helped me articulate my thoughts like Judy did, this i believe comes from her years of experience and naturally calm and caring demeanor.

I couldn’t recommend Judy enough to anyone suffering from any form of anxiety, depression, family/relationship conflicts or career coaching. Her rationality and sheer understanding of the way our minds work is a rare find and I believe anyone can benefit from this.

After a number of false starts with therapists, I can only say that I wish I had found Maggie sooner! Over a period of 15 years I had seen multiple therapists and psychiatrists to address issues relating to anxiety, depression and workplace stress. With invariably unsatisfying results, I was extremely skeptical about seeing another therapist: more fundamentally I was utterly pessimistic about the possibility of being happy. My skepticism proved unfounded.

Maggie really helped me to elucidate and articulate the origins of deeply embedded patterns of negative and self defeating thinking, which proved essential in enabling her to then work with me to develop practical strategies for loosening their grip. She is patient and compassionate while being proactive and constructively challenging when she needs to be. I found this combination of empathy and robust testing of my negative perceptions immensely helpful.

The process resulted in my feeling much better at work, building up the confidence to successfully apply for a new job (which would have been unimaginable before I started therapy) and to take important strides forward in my relationship.

Whether you are considering therapy for the first time or feeling like therapy is a dead end, I believe you have nothing to lose and plenty gain by seeking out an introductory session with Maggie.

When I first got in touch with KlearMinds, I was looking for someone who was able to help me with stress, anxiety and depression and also act as an executive coach, as so much of my stress was coming from work and I was on the verge of burnout. Karen was, on paper, the ideal person to help me and I can testify that she’s every bit as great at what she does as I could have hoped.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Karen because she is patient and empathetic and everything that you could want in someone to talk to about problems; she also has a no-nonsense approach and is able to get to the core of matters, filtering the important from the less-so. She helps guide people to finding their own solutions to challenges, carefully offering just the right amount of support that, in future, they can feel more confident about finding their own solutions but providing more help and guidance when needed. She also knows business very well which, as a working professional and business owner, was of great benefit.

My journey with Karen lasted around 1 year. My aim from the start was to achieve balance in my life while looking after two young children, run a business that I was losing interest in, keep my relationship alive and battle my mental health challenges. Somehow, Karen gave me the tools, insight and challenges that I needed to help me achieve my goals and to help protect against similar struggles in the future. This is no small feat considering that, when we first started, despite knowing that I needed help, I was pretty closed to change. I am so very grateful to her and can’t recommend her services enough.