David

David was a 36 year old man who worked in the City for a finance company. He was married with a young baby. He came to me with symptoms of depression, sleep problems and stress. These symptoms meant he had to take time off work. We explored how his long-standing negative view of himself was contributing to his low mood and looked at the evidence against this self-critical part of him. We also looked at strategies to improve his sleep, stress levels and increase relaxation. He started to exercise on a more regularly basis. It became clear that because he wanted others to like him he would rarely challenge others if they behaved badly, were unreasonable or if a situation did not work for him. We looked at ways of building his confidence and communication at home and at work. As a result his depression went, his sleep improved and he gained a promotion which made his job more secure in the company. He was delighted with the outcome.

Ravinder

Ravinder was a 43 year old woman with two grown children and a part time job. She had a car accident which affected her confidence and resulted in depression, agoraphobia (a fear of going outside), panic attacks and a phobia about cars and driving. Due to these symptoms she was unable to get to work so lost her job, she also experienced problems in her relationships and she began questioning whether it was worth living. Together we slowly worked on getting her out of the house in small gradual steps which made her feel more hopeful about the future. I taught her strategies to prevent panic attacks and she gradually re-learnt that she could cope with the outside world again and over time she considered driving again. She retook driving lessons and is now able to go out and drive as before the accident. She believed that after the accident things would never be the same again and that her life was over, thankfully this was not the case.

Sarah

Sarah was a 19 year old lady who had seen several therapists before coming to see me. She had been raped by a school friend and as a result had low self-esteem, self-hatred, depression, social withdrawal, compulsive eating and flashbacks to the event. Things had got so bad that she had started self-harming by cutting her arms and her family were at their wits end to know how to help her. In sessions I helped her look at the facts around rape and how she was not responsible for what had happened to her. We looked at strategies to help her manage her self-harm urges and ways to raise her self-esteem. We challenged her negative self-view and started to look at her strengths and resources. We also did specific work to address her flashbacks. Slowly the self-harm reduced and she started to socialise with her friends again. She eventually decided to return to university and is doing well on her course. She no longer has flashbacks.

Alex and Sam

Alex and Sam have been together 12 years and came with relationship problems which affected their communication, intimacy and sex life. Their symptoms meant that they were always angry with each other and they found time together at the weekends always ended in rows. They agreed they loved each other but found it hard to get along and wondered if it would be better if they separated and found someone else. Through my work we established common ground that they both wanted to work towards and the sessions allowed them time to talk about painful experiences in their relationship which had led to deep seated resentments which were not communicated as they both feared it would cause more arguments. I allowed each of them to speak about their experiences and helped them look at the strengths in their relationship such as examples of when they communicated well. Over time they grew closer and as a result the intimacy came back into their relationship. They felt they would never be able to get to this point. They had developed new found love and respect for each other and had a satisfying relationship again.