Do you want to talk?

I sought help from Ann-Marie through couples therapy with my partner, following a difficult period of our relationship. This was my first experience of therapy and I was initially apprehensive and nervous. Ann-Marie instantly made me feel comfortable, heard and understood. The sessions were held online, which worked well. It allowed us to feel at ease at home, whilst maintaining a very easy dialogue.

Throughout the sessions, Ann-Marie encouraged us to explore themes and feelings much deeper than I initially anticipated. I found myself deeply questioning areas of the relationship, and the links to the past/childhood. I don’t believe this would have been fully possible without Ann-Marie’s professional guidance. It was eye-opening several times to explore and understand myself and my partner much more deeply, and the impact on the relationship.

Ann-Marie set us weekly “homework” to allow her therapy to extend further than our weekly sessions, this was invaluable in providing us realistic tools to manage conversations and situations, both now and in the future.

Despite my initial apprehensions, I quickly found the sessions allowed me to open up, and speak in an entirely “safe place”. This allowed Ann-Marie to work with us to support the re-building of our relationship.

Our sessions have given me a huge growth in confidence (one of the areas which we identified as causing issues in the relationship), and we have instantly seen results in the relationship, which were causing issues before.

I would thoroughly recommend exploring couples therapy with Ann-Marie. She has supported the growth of our relationship in ways which I did not think was possible and I will forever be grateful. I wish I had sought therapy earlier – it really is remarkable what was achieved in a such a short space of time.

I have found our sessions extremely helpful as they enabled me to recognise that most of the anxiety and depression I felt in life was a result of the state of the relationships I had with family members. These anxieties and depression resulted in me avoiding and distancing myself from my family because I didn’t want to deal with the issues, which is not what I wanted and was coming out in irritability with the people closest to me. My expectation of therapy was that no one would be able to understand the cultural dynamic of our relationship and upbringing but Ann-Marie was able to listen and understand. The highlight has been recognising what my boundaries and my wants are when it comes to my one family member in particular and being ok with setting those boundaries and telling them what my wants are. As a result, we’ve been able to hangout as “friends”. Family relationships were difficult for me to talk about, I felt a lot of shame, and didn’t feel anyone would understand. I had 6 sessions of counselling before, and the counsellor was great, but it was just a space to vent. This was good as there were active steps to take. I had to put myself out there and be uncomfortable, out of my comfort zone, the outcomes were great. It has been very helpful and I can say I now feel better about my family relationships.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)

During our time together I made a lot of progress in my myself and my issues. Ann-Marie was a very understanding and considerate counsellor. I can’t praise her enough. I felt she was the most appropriate help I needed and would highly recommend and praise her to anyone seeking out similar therapy. She was incredibly approachable and made me feel very comfortable in our sessions. Overall she has been an immense help and the advice and guidance she gave has been very helpful in moving forward after our sessions.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)

The experience of our sessions was completely different to the experience I have had with previous therapists. In the past I used to dread therapy, and would spend the whole day anxiously anticipating spending an hour talking about my depression/anxiety. Even if I found these sessions beneficial in the moment, I didn’t feel like any positive impact was very long-lasting. However, I didn’t have this sense of dread at all for our sessions, as I was confident our appointments would be productive with positive takeaways for the future rather than spent dwelling on negatives.

The biggest thing I learned from our sessions was the impact that “people pleasing” was having on my mental health. I had always identified as a people pleaser, but had never considered this an interpersonal issue, or an issue in my relationships that was contributing to my depression/anxiety. Acknowledging this and learning how to communicate my needs without being confrontational or eliciting negative responses has been huge. I always assumed that my mental health issues were just ingrained and something I had to live with, but learning ways that I can change my behaviour that have a direct impact on my wellbeing has been a real revelation. Learning these skills has also given me the confidence that I can continue to make progress now that our sessions are over, rather than depending on regular appointments to keep me from feeling depressed/anxious.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was slightly sceptical of IPT as a concept, as I hadn’t come across it before. I also didn’t feel like I particularly identified with any of the focal areas, as I didn’t think I had any issues with communication. I wasn’t expecting how helpful I found our sessions to be, and how quickly I started to notice the positive impact on my mental health.

The highlight was realising the impact that changing the way I communicate with the people around me has had on my mental health. Once I had made this realisation, and learned that it was possible to communicate my needs without being confrontational, I was able to apply this to many different areas of my life that were impacting my mental health without me realising.

I also really appreciated the opportunity to practice conversations / interactions (even though I found it awkward sometimes!). Often when you rehearse conversations in your own head it’s easy to assume the other person will over-react, but having someone else providing more “reasonable” responses makes you realise how much you are catastrophising in your imagination.

I would definitely recommend Ann-Marie. I’ve been to therapists in the past where the onus is on you to do all the talking/come to your own conclusions. I’ve also been to therapists that give you a generic list of things to do when you are feeling low/anxious, but I’ve always come away from these sessions feeling that they haven’t addressed the cause of my low mood and anxiety, or suggested how to prevent myself from feeling bad in the first place. Ann-Marie’s therapy style is totally different. Our sessions were tailored to provide me with solutions that would address the exact issues I was experiencing, and were much more collaborative and productive than sessions I’ve had with other therapists. Rather than just listening to me talk, Ann-Marie would reflect on what I was saying and give me feedback in an honest but compassionate way, but also encourage me to challenge her if I didn’t agree with her. This helped us to work together to determine the root cause of my mental health issues, and give me concrete suggestions for how to best work on them.

Within the first few sessions I was able to notice an improvement in my mood. When I started therapy I was spending a lot of time unable to control worrying and negative thoughts. Along with my low mood and energy levels, this was impacting my ability to carry out everyday activities and enjoy my life. Within a few weeks (and still now) I am able to “live in the moment” without getting stuck in my head ruminating, which has really helped my mood and allowed me to enjoy life again.

Until my sessions with Ann-Marie I had been a person who would not consider seeing a therapist; denying I needed to and not feeling comfortable opening up. When I could no longer deny I needed some help I approached Ann-Marie via a recommendation. From our first phone call I felt at ease in her company. Ann-Marie is compassionate, relaxed and kind, but at the same time helps to direct conversation such that the client makes their own conclusions. Ann-Marie made me feel comfortable to discuss very personal and private matters, in a safe and non-judgemental environment. Through my sessions with Ann-Marie I have learnt I am not the person I thought I was. My therapy has helped me resolve/accept certain issues and gave me the strength/belief I can address others to build a better future. I feel happier with greater self-confidence as a result of working with Ann-Marie. I would recommend Ann-Marie to anyone.

It’s been helpful talking through everything, looking at what happened in a more balanced way, recognising that the issues were already there in the relationship and not blame myself as much. I’ve learned to accept myself more and understand my ADHD symptoms a bit more. Through therapy, I think I could be more open and upfront about my symptoms in future relationships. I’ve started to put in personal boundaries, the next few weeks will be a period of discovery, trying to get by in a new mindset and learning to live alone.

Before therapy I felt out of control, I had physical symptoms, didn’t want to wake up or be here. Through counselling I realised my low mood and anxiety were linked to my work environment. Ann-Marie helped me to look at what I needed for myself, before I didn’t see anything from my own point of view, and didn’t see myself as important. I’ve been able to change my way of thinking and make a hard decision. I’m now taking proactive steps to get where I want to be. I know myself more, have more confidence in my abilities and am willing to give myself more credit. I have hope for my future. A lovely supportive counsellor, calm, kind and compassionate.

Very good, Ann-Marie used great tools to help me analyse and make clearer decisions, asked amazing questions to make me challenge my line of thinking. I recognise I’m not totally out of it, but I have recognised that at times I press my own self destruct switch. You’ve helped take me out of where I was, you’ve helped me ask for what I want with confidence, and take the emotion out of conversations. I wouldn’t have been able to do that before. I was avoiding conversations because I was angry and upset. You helped me achieve my goals. Thank you.

Our sessions were relaxing and extremely helpful. I was expecting to find out why I was having the issues I was having and they were met by Ann-Marie with asking me questions to make me think about the potential reasons for my problems and getting me to answer them myself.  I’d say the highlight was definitely me learning more about myself and my partner as a person and learning about what I can do to improve our relationship. I’d describe counselling with Ann-Marie as a release and feeling like there’s someone who listens to you and really cares about your wellbeing and there’s nothing to lose by trying it out. I can already measure the impact, as for me, it’s really helped my relationship and helped me to communicate better with my partner, it’s helped me on a large scale.  I chose Ann-Marie because I felt from the initial call that you had knowledge of mindfulness and you seemed like a really kind person and weren’t judgemental at all. I chose counselling at this time as I felt I really needed someone to talk to who maybe wasn’t always on my side and could help me look at things from a different  perspective. The experience was really really good over all and helped me a lot. I now have a better relationship with my partner. I’d just like to say Thank you, you’ve really helped me and my partner in so many ways and we are closer than ever. Thank you so much! (Age 20)

I’ve found counselling sessions with Ann-Marie very relaxing, comfortable, and tremendously helpful. Ann-Marie was very compassionate and supportive, helping me to manage my stress and anxiety when I was going through an assessment for ASD. I found in her the support that I was missing, and I was surprised to see how good she managed to know me and understand my struggles.

After a previous disappointing experience with another therapist, I’ve tried not to have big expectations, but I was hoping to learn how to better control my emotions, and how to cope with stressful situations without being too catastrophic about it. I believe that I know myself better now, which in turn helps me to cope better.

Talking about my past and realising the impact of that period of time has on my current life, was a difficult moment. But Ann-Marie helped me to realise that I am more resilient than I thought, and she succeeded in raising my self-esteem and showing me how to see myself in a better light.

I would recommend Reset Mind to my friends and family without any doubts. I trust Ann-Marie is capable of supporting young people, adults, students, and people with disabilities.

I felt that Ann-Marie tailored her therapeutic style according to my needs and preferences, which was absolutely wonderful. With her, I’ve been anxious only before our first session, and then all the anxiety regarding therapy has suddenly disappeared. All the following sessions were like talking with a really good friend, able to make me feel safe and listened.

The changes in my attitude and way of thinking, that have taken place since I started therapy with Ann-Marie, are the best proof of a worthwhile therapy. The relationship with my wife and daughter has improved, and I am now more happier and genuine that I’ve ever been.

I first approached Reset Mind for support when I was contemplating a career change. We very quickly established that there were other areas of my life that I’d neglected to deal with such as relationship breakdowns and losing contact with my father 24 years ago. There was much for us to address and although it was hard at times, Ann-Marie’s ability to guide and coach me through this process with care gave me the hope and comfort I needed to continue.

At times, she would ask me some difficult questions but she provided me with the right environment in which to answer them truthfully for myself, using tailored techniques and methods to help me work it out in my own mind. Without this carefully thought out challenge, I may not have come to ever address these difficult topics.

I’m now coming to the end of my counselling journey. I’ve come to terms with past negative relationships and learned how to develop new ones without compromising the things that matter to me. I’m taking the leap into a new career but most of all, she has supported me through reconnecting with my father and my relationship with him is already strengthening again.

I’m very grateful for the work and care that my counsellor Ann-Marie has put into every session I’ve had with her and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Reset Mind to anyone looking for support in any aspect of their life.  Her combined approach of intellect and emotion makes her a very special counsellor.

I found the experience really helpful, I have learned new things including ways to deal with my feelings. I was at first worried that I was not going to improve or learn anything, this has been unexpectedly good and a really helpful experience. I learned the most in the session my therapist Ann-Marie asked me many questions to disprove my negative way of thinking. This made me question myself and my thoughts and realise how I had interpreted what others thought of me. The questioning made me see the bigger picture and how I assumed other’s opinions were based on my own opinion of myself.  Ann-Marie was amazing, she made me feel comfortable as she always understood me and was patient when I struggled. I never felt under pressure or embarrassed. I’m already feeling a positive impact and I am frequently challenging myself to accomplish things I struggle with. I may need more sessions in future to lock in the CBT and positive emotions I have felt since.

Adolescent, Young Person, 16 Years old

Reset Mind was recommended to me by a friend. I was nervous, ashamed even to feel the need to access therapy. Within minutes of our first Zoom meeting I felt at ease and understood that there was no need for those anxieties. My therapist Ann-Marie made me feel supported, safe and gave me the opportunity to pour my heart out, laugh and cry while she safely held my space, encouraged positive thoughts and backed that with expert knowledge and the understanding as if she was a friend I had known for years. In just a few sessions I had learnt more about my behaviours and thought patterns than I had in years. This has had such a positive impact on helping me to learn about and change negative behaviours. My anxiety is under control and I feel much lighter than I have in a very long time. You cannot walk into therapy looking for a quick fix and of course exploring things can be very difficult. I was offered worksheets and evidence based practice when appropriate, she listened, she validated my feelings and supported me to make the changes that I wanted to, suggesting ways for me to tackle these without pressure.  I feel incredibly lucky to been able to have sessions with Ann-Marie –  she has had such a positive impact making my day to day life so much better.

I would like to thank my counsellor Ann-Marie for all her patience and guidance. You have helped me to see that who I am and what I have achieved is something to be proud of. I would highly recommend anyone in need of support to contact Reset Mind for counselling.

Thank you for the sessions we had. Discussing boundaries and decision making to improve our family dynamic has been really helpful. I have felt more able to set and discuss boundaries and the need for them. I have felt stronger and more adult in my thinking since our talks. You were really honest, fair and easy to talk to, coming up with sustainable strategies and thinking methods. You have made me realise that I don’t have to justify my feelings or have them backed up or reciprocated. My feelings are my feelings and my boundaries are my boundaries. Thank you so much for your help.

I spent ages trying to find someone to talk to and here I thought I would have the chance to deal with the smaller issue I thought needed addressing at the time, in an environment that was positive and supportive.  So far it has been life changing. At times it has of course been challenging but to have some one I can talk to freely about my emotions and experiences is the most freeing thing I have experienced in a long long time.  I am actively looking forward to my life and the future. I am social again, and have formed stronger bonds with my parents.

Age 24

The first thing to say is that doing it via video call is not the longer term normal, but actually I don’t think that really got in the way, which is partly a reflection of that fact that we’re both now quite well versed in those kind of meetings, but also does say how well you handled the situation.

I felt that the very first session got me eased in straight away. The very fact that for professional and safety reasons you have to go through a questionnaire in that initial consultation session, naturally brought out some of the key themes.

I was particularly impressed with the amount of detail that you took in. Getting the notes back from the initial consultation meeting was a bit of a shock in terms of the depth that you’d covered but gave confidence that you were listening to the important details that make all the difference to the issues at hand.

There were times where I felt that there were awkward silences that I needed to fill. I think some of that is good as it’s really important to get the counselee talking and some of it is because of the circumstances of the video call, as it is more difficult to know whether the person has genuinely finished talking or not, but there were times where I felt I was perhaps rambling a bit trying to fill in.

I felt guilty most of the way through about my problems not really being big enough to justify seeking counselling about them, but you never allowed me to get the impression that what I was talking about was insignificant as it mattered to me. You put forward suggested techniques and signposted a support group as another avenue to explore, and helped me step back from that guilt by turning the tale around into what I can give back in such a setting.

I also feel glad that I went through this process, because while there have been plenty of helpful hints and tips along the way, if the absolute baseline is that I went, I talked about everything that I wanted to talk about, and I came out the other side, then I know now that I’ve explored the issue to a conclusion with a trained observer. OK, conclusion is rather too final a word, but you get what I mean!

There was of course more to it than that, and I am now trying to make some of your recommended techniques into habits, as they have made a difference to me and got me moving on from my anxiety and general worry more quickly.

Ann-Marie was excellent! She was so patient with me, and a font of knowledge, knowing exactly what I needed. She helped me to create a CV suitable for my career change, and gave me the confidence to be myself in interview. With her coaching I was able to give the recruiters the right information when completing their application form, and get the job I was looking for. I highly recommend Ann-Marie.

I have found counselling very helpful. I wasn’t really sure what to expect as I’d only had CBT before which didn’t really work for me. I have managed to create a good relationship with my family. The most impactful learning was realising how I interacted with my parents as a child rather than an adult. The highlight of the whole counselling experience is that I can now speak up for myself and do it in a way that the other person understands and isn’t offended. It has made me into a stronger person. My counsellor, Ann-Marie, brought me back to the point of things and focused on what was important in what was being said. I feel much more positive about the future than I was at the start.

(22 years old)

My experience of counselling has allowed to open up without feeling that I am burdening someone close to me. I feel I can trust Ann-Marie to open up to. In the past I would ignore the situation and how I was feeling. Now I am looking into things more deeply and feel more motivated. My sleep pattern is much better too. Initially, I felt a little scared about starting counselling, but I feel more relaxed and it feels more like a weekly chat now. My most impactful moment was realising how guilty I felt about my parenting skills and recognising my positive qualities has made me think differently about it. Ann-Marie lets me talk, she listens and responds with questions to make me think about it more. It just works.

(20 years old)

I have worked with Ann-Marie for several months. I met her when I found myself alone as my relationship suddenly ended. I suffered a lot of pain. Sessions with Ann-Marie provided the necessary perspective, guidance and support. The counselling encouraged me to see myself and my life from a different perspective. I have learnt that I matter, and I have needs. She skilfully balanced coaching me with being a listening ear to provide platform for me for making sense of things. And as I found myself in completely unknown, painful and unexpected territory I put a lot of efforts into personal growth. She helped me use different strategies to maximise and support that growth. I found Ann-Marie to be very invested in our work and equally determined as I was to address matters that we set at the beginning of working together. I particularly appreciated her style, supportive but direct, involved but impartial, helping me by asking me questions, making me reconsider my convictions and truths about the world. She also helped me untangle thoughts that I felt like I couldn’t make sense of.  I am very grateful that I was so fortunate to work with Reset Mind. And I couldn’t recommend anybody more.

I’ve been reflecting on the counselling sessions. I have benefitted greatly. I would describe my counsellor Ann-Marie as that critical friend that you always wish you had around when you needed someone to talk to.  I felt the experience was a really positive one – it helped me to examine my behaviours and to realise a small change in behaviour could have a positive impact on those around me and also have a positive outcome for me too.  I believe I became a better person in that it allowed me to understand when I felt I was losing control and matters were taking a turn for the worse. The learnings I have help me to stop and think and understand that I have the power to effect change and to create the positive outcome that I need. Thank you again.

Since the time I have spent in counselling sessions over Zoom video call, I have come so far within myself. I feel stronger within myself.

I had a really hard time with a previous workplace with being dismissed as apparently having mental health is a massive problem.

I was severely mentally bullied in my previous job by a manager. I was having bad PTSD from sights I saw in there.

My life hadn’t been sunshine and lolly pops growing up. I was being belittled when I was younger and mentally and physically abused – this made me feel worthless and not confident in myself at all.

I am still vulnerable, but i am feeling better about myself as the days and weeks go on as i know time is a healer. I have developed strong boundaries and a thicker skin and won’t stand for any disrespectful comments towards me – I can now challenge it.

Counselling has helped me learn how to control my anger and behaviour towards my partner and learn to talk to each other with respect, instead of shouting and swearing. And has helped me with coping mechanisms such as the feelings wheel that I use for myself and with my partner.

Since my sessions with Ann-Marie, I have had no thoughts of self harming or suicidal thoughts.

I was given homework outside sessions to help communicate how I am feeling. I am putting in the work so I am meeting my counsellor halfway.

I strongly recommend Ann-Marie (Reset Mind) as a counsellor, I have broken down in tears in front of her over the zoom call and have had some good laughs and smiles along the way. Ann-Marie is someone you can rely upon which you can open yourself up to.

Ann-Marie was an incredible help in what was a very important job application for me. She was able to provide me lots of really useful information, and made sure I really understood what recruiters are looking for. I really feel that I did much better than I would have done without her input, I got an interview and I got the job! so I can highly recommend her service.

I’ll miss the sessions we’ve been having. Especially having someone to talk to about the difficult situation I’m in that are not family or friends. You’ve helped me see other perspectives and helped me articulate my feelings. I’ve learned to communicate better – that’s the big one, saying how I feel instead of bottling things up and knowing where I stand about things, having boundaries for myself, not just waiting and feeling down, but communicating to reach some sort of agreement.  Since our sessions I’ve been making more of an effort to do things with others, it gives me a break from the situation and I feel happier. I learned I need to maintain friendships and relationships with family, and speak to them when I’m feeling down, as well as keep up the communication with my partner. I’ve learned that if people are not available, there are groups with people that are in a similar situation living with someone with autism and depression that I can reach out to for support if things get difficult.

Ann-Marie showed me great empathy.  I felt she ‘held my hand’ through an extremely difficult time in my life. I had previously felt very alone and she gave me the reassurance that there was someone there for me. I felt understood, she ‘got’ me and the pain I was going through.  I can not describe how good it felt that she understood me rather than just showing sympathy and platitudes. She also gently challenged me at times, which helped me think about things in a different way.  I now feel in more control of my situation.

At a time when I saw life in black colours, through the sessions with Ann Marie, I felt the will to live again return. Once again I see the world in rainbow colours. Time flew by, and I felt I could talk to her so well. Again thank you very much.

In Polish language: W momencie kiedy widziałam życie w czarnych barwach, Ann Marie podczas sesji sprawiła, że wróciła mi chęć do życia. I znowu widziałam świat w kolorach tęczy. Czas szybko uciekał, a mi się tak dobrze z nią rozmawiało. Jeszcze raz bardzo dziękuję.