Self Confidence Coaching
and Counselling

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.

Working with Amanda has been a really positive and transformative experience. She got what I needed straight away and through incisive but gentle questioning helped me change the way I think about so many things. If you are thinking about talking to a therapist, I would encourage you to go for it!

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 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.

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.

I was in a toxic relationship while suffering from PTSD, which made it harder for me to keep the symptoms under control, to the point I found myself unable to cope with daily responsibilities at work and at home. When I went to Maggie for help, I desperately needed for someone to pull me out of the black hole I had found myself in. One step at a time, we went through my background and through all the experiences that (some of which I hadn’t realized) had brought me to the point I was at. Maggie helped me regain control of my life by coming to terms with the past, forgiving myself and others, and letting go of all the destructive thoughts in my head. Maggie helped me overcome PTSD, reconnect with myself and others, overcome my sense of helplessness, appreciate myself more and gain strength and confidence to walk away from the toxic relationship I was in. Overall, Maggie turned my life around and I will be forever grateful for all of her help.

This is a testimonial from a young woman who wanted to develop her confidence and assertiveness and through our work effectively tackled some difficult family and personal relationships.

I decided to book a course of counselling as a 30th birthday present to myself. I was aware of wanting to have a bit more confidence and be more assertive and of having a couple of unresolved issues which I would benefit from working though. I picked Maggie after looking at the websites of several therapists in my area and deciding that her working style would suit me best. We had about 10 sessions together and I found them hugely beneficial. I think you get the most out of counselling if you are prepared to put in some ‘homework’ yourself between the sessions. Maggie did a great job of supporting me as I worked through various issues, I felt very comfortable around her and she offered lots of insights each week. I would very much recommend anyone to work with her.

I came to Judy when I found myself with increasing anxiety, problems with sleeping and lack of appetite. I felt like my head was a muddle of negative thoughts and while this hadn’t been triggered by one particular event, I knew that it was being antagonised by workplace stress and conflict, as well as a lifelong lack of self-confidence. I immediately connected with Judy who listened patiently. I knew I wanted to understand why I think like this, but ultimately I wanted to move forward with practical techniques to help me cope better. Judy helped me firstly understand my anxiety, she also made me realise that I wasn’t alone in the way I think. We recognised my triggers and my responses to situations, but also talked through some previous experiences which had shaped my mindset. We developed techniques to help me cope better, rebuilt my confidence and I can honestly say I have felt like a different person ever since. If like me, you are reading these reviews and recognise your own thoughts and feelings, go ahead and start a course of therapy, I couldn’t recommend Judy more highly.

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)