Phobias

TESTIMONIALS

CBT for Social Phobia

Due to a long term illness I got stuck in a rut. I stopped seeing friends, going out and I withdrew. I had previously been a very active person. When I recovered from my illness, to my surprise I felt anxious about going out. I had never, ever had this before.  Basically my home became my safety net and unfortunately also a prison. Whenever I went out, I just wanted to go home. But being alone at home it felt worse and I got really down. 

Work provided me with 12 sessions of CBT with Sarah. I have really enjoyed the sessions with her.  Each week I have learnt something new. I have put all of this learning into practice. I have been able to challenge myself and successfully  go out socially again and meet new people. I have joined some groups which I am really enjoying. It is making my life better both socially and at work.  

If it wasn’t for the CBT techniques and Sarah encouraging me in the right way, I wouldn’t be having the fun I am having now. 100% thank you Sarah. I am grateful for everything. I feel I had a good connection with her and felt comfortable  from the get go.  

(Male aged 43, January 2020)

CBT for fear of going out alone after falling

I had a bad fall on a wet marble floor, which due to other circumstances in my life at the time, affected me badly.  Over time I became scared of going out on my own and my world got smaller and smaller.  I became depressed and severely anxious. 

CBT was recommended to me.  I was anxious about attending CBT sessions but decided to go ahead. I am so glad I plucked up the courage to come. It is amongst the best things I have done. It has taken a black cloud away from me. I feel mentally stronger. I am now able to go out on my own. I feel like a free spirit now, whereas after the fall I was trapped in a world of anxiety and depression.

I am very grateful to Sarah for all of her help. I have learnt so much.  I could just go on and on expressing how pleased I have been with this experience. 

(Female, aged 55)

EMDR for fear of flying 

Having enjoyed working successfully with Sarah on my anxiety issues, I decided to work on my fear of flying using EMDR. Before the EMDR, I had vivid memories of being scared on planes and sometimes when I experienced these it felt like I was actually back there on the plane. My fight and flight system had kicked in.  At that time, I could not contemplate flying again even though I knew it was holding me back from doing things, the fear was too strong. 

I have just finished my EMDR sessions this evening. When I think about those memories, I now feel relaxed. When I think about flying, I currently feel calm. At this point I feel I could go and book a short flight and try flying once again. However due to COVID-19 I have decided to wait until next year.

I have written this testimonial because I am impressed with how my attitude to flying has changed even though I am not in a position to actually test it out right now. I am looking forward to giving Sarah an update next year. 

(Female, aged 51, virtual sessions, Nov 2020)

CBT for fear of falling

I came to see Sarah, because I was feeling low and  I had become anxious about falling having had 2 bad falls. I had put a lot of effort into trying not to fall, which exacerbated my anxiousness and I had become depressed because of my anxiousness. It was helpful for me to realise it had developed into a phobia of falling. 

We successfully treated my phobia, my anxiousness and my low mood using CBT techniques. Sarah suggested we could try using Trauma-Focussed CBT to process the memories of the bad falls. I found this to be really powerful. After 1 session of working on these memories, they have totally disappeared. I find this amazing. My phobia is extinct and now I can concentrate on my life again. Thank you Sarah.

(Female, 60). 

EMDR for pigeon phobia

My fear of pigeons had reached a point where it was controlling my life, to the extent that I did not even want to go on holiday if I knew it was to a place where there were lots of pigeons.  If I was in a town centre and I saw some pigeons, I would avoid them by going into a shop or take a detour around the long way.  There was no way I could entertain the thought of sitting at an outdoor café, where pigeons might come around my feet.

Now after the EMDR treatment, I am a lot more confident around pigeons and I don’t avoid them.  On holiday recently, I was sitting at outdoor cafés and on one occasion 2 pigeons walked through the area. I didn’t move away from them and I just carried on drinking my coffee. On another occasion a pigeon came towards me and walked under my sunbed and I just ignored it, which was a big confidence boost for me.  

(Female, aged 69)