CBT for Anxiety

I found Amanda at a time when I felt really low. I’d been affected by bereavement, trauma, a family member discovered cancer and my child developed a chronic health condition all in a short space of time. It all just felt like too much. On the surface I was coping with the day to day, but I was tearful, incredibly anxious, traumatised and wasn’t enjoying life as much as I should. Amanda is warm, kind, intelligent and patient. Through our sessions I felt supported, gained awareness of why I felt the way I did, got perspective on what had happened and developed coping strategies.

I couldn’t ask for more than that! Amanda was always empathetic but not afraid to ask challenging questions when necessary to help identify unhelpful thinking. I looked forward to our sessions where I felt I could be totally open and it was lovely to have a space where I could talk everything through candidly with someone I trusted. I am feeling happy and balanced and am enjoying life and can’t thank Amanda enough for helping me navigate this last year.

Carmen was amazing. I’m incredibly grateful for all of the work she has done with me. When I first came to her, I was feeling very overwhelmed and anxious but she made me feel completely safe and understood from the start. Her warmth, insight, and guidance helped me find confidence and calm in many situations I’ve been faced with since beginning with her. Working with her has been transformative and I couldn’t thank her enough.

I fell ill in the 1980s as a teenager with what we now know as chronic fatigue syndrome. At the time, however, this condition was poorly understood by the medical profession, so I didn’t have a diagnosis. This was a very traumatic period for me, exacerbated by the distressing treatment I received from my doctor and the educational psychologists. They wrongly attributed my illness to anxiety and claimed I was simply avoiding school, placing the blame squarely on me.

Fast forward nearly 40 years, and life has been incredibly challenging. My illness prevented me from completing my education or working. Having lost faith in the medical profession, it was only after experiencing extreme depression and anxiety following topical steroid withdrawal that I felt compelled to consult psychiatrists.

Thankfully, the medical understanding of chronic fatigue syndrome seems to have progressed. I found an excellent psychiatrist who recommended psychotherapy. I was initially hesitant about more therapy, as my previous experience with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) on the NHS, while somewhat helpful, hadn’t addressed the underlying causes of my problems.

Searching online, KlearMinds was the first result for chronic fatigue syndrome therapists. I was assigned Judy Harrison as my therapist, and we began weekly Zoom sessions, gradually building a strong therapeutic relationship. She possessed a deep understanding of the somatic aspects of the nervous system and how to work with these to alleviate anxiety.After a few sessions, Judy recognized that Internal Family Systems (IFS), often called parts therapy would be particularly beneficial for me. We engaged in sessions where I dialogued with my traumatized parts; which helped to strengthen my adult self and develop self-leadership.

This process was incredibly powerful, and I noticed significant positive changes in my relationship with anxiety. I am now able to guide myself out of anxious states by communicating with my different parts and making more conscious decisions.

Recently, my spiritual teacher invited my wife and me on a trip to India. Initially, I declined due to my health concerns. However, within 24 hours, I decided to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hadn’t traveled or been on holiday for 22 years. With three months to prepare, Judy continued to support me with weekly sessions, helping me to overcome any mental obstacles.

My trip to India was a great success, and I am deeply grateful to Judy for her invaluable support in helping me reclaim my life. For my final session with Judy, I traveled into central London by train and also enjoyed a five-hour outing in the city – something completely unthinkable just a year prior.

I have struggled with anxiety for my entire life and when I first met with Judy I thought she would help me manage it but I would never be able to overcome it. With Judy’s help I would no longer consider myself an anxious person. I do not experience anxiety on a daily basis like I used to when I first started therapy, and even more than that I now go months on end without even having the most minimal symptoms of anxiety. The way that I describe the effect that therapy has had on me is that it has allowed me to finally be myself, without anxiety preventing me from doing things or making me act in ways that I am ashamed of or regret afterwards. I am able to be fully present in my relationships and experiences, without worrying about the future or the past while talking to people or doing things.

For anyone who experiences anxiety on a day to day basis, or if anxiety is preventing you from working, attending social events, or just being able to be present in your own life, I could not recommend therapy with Judy more. Without her I would still be living under a cloud of worry, and I feel grateful that I was able to find Judy so early in my life, because I really feel I would not have been able to get to where I am now without her help. Therapy is much more than talking to someone – if you have anxiety it is a mental illness and you need a good doctor to help you through it. I am thankful to Judy for helping me through it, and could not recommend her more to anyone who is struggling with anxiety. It is not something that you have to live with!

Jess is absolutely fantastic. She supported me throughout my rather tough times. I honestly don’t know how I would’ve pulled through without her. She is very easy to open up to and she understands in depth what I’m going through. I’ve always looked forward to our sessions. She went above and beyond to help me feel secure and reassured me during times I needed it. Thank you so much Jess!!

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.

Amanda was able to help me think through a lot of thoughts that made me feel extremely stuck and hopeless at the time. It’s not a quick fix but with the will to put in mechanisms that Amanda gave me and realisations that I was able to have through therapy, I am doing much better and am able to cope with my anxiety and OCD a lot better. 

I believe the whole experience was a process but one that I will continue with confidence. Amanda was extremely understanding throughout and approached my issues in a way that made me feel heard as she understood the mechanics of my thought process. I will definitely contact KlearMinds again in the future if I feel I need to reach out again. Thank you.

I didn’t really know whether counselling would help when I first went to see Maggie. All I knew was that I was feeling increasingly isolated and unhappy, anxious about the future and fed up with the way my life was going. All that changed over the next few months as Maggie helped me on my journey towards understanding myself and why I reacted to people and situations in the way I did. Eventually, as I began to feel reconnected to people again, I learned to value myself, be proud of my achievements and even feel excited about the future! I saw that it was possible to be alone but not be lonely, to be sad without being depressed, and discovered that many people feel afraid, they just deal with their fear in different ways.

Maggie was patient, perceptive and incredibly supportive throughout and each week I grew stronger, more empowered and liberated thanks to her skill and expertise. She has made a big difference to my life and for that I will always be grateful.

I found my sessions with Maggie immensely helpful. Maggie’s approach is not the least bit intimidating and immensely practical in nature. She helped me to identify the issues which cause me anxiety and to find techniques which enabled me to deal with them as they arose. I now feel I have the tools necessary to deal with the various stresses in my life and that I can adapt these tools to suit any situation I am presented with in the future.

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 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 guess like most people, I was very nervous about starting therapy. This was the first time I had tried it and to be honest, I didn’t know where to start or what to expect. Before I even started my sessions, the Klearminds Team were extremely welcoming and made me feel at ease immediately. I didn’t feel pushed to make decisions and it was made clear to me that finding the right therapist was a 2-way decision; if I didn’t feel comfortable then that was ok and we’d explore other therapists. After and initial chat, I ended up having sessions with Maggie…which is where my outlook changed. I struggled with anxiety around eating. I immediately felt at ease with Maggie and although change didn’t happen in that moment, the gradual progression I was making was clearly evident. I am in a much better space now and couldn’t have done that without Maggie. Not only did she help me sort through my thoughts but has equipped me going forward, in all aspects of my life. For anybody thinking about starting therapy, I would say that only good things can come from it and taking those first steps with the team at Klearminds will be one of the best decisions you make.

I had sessions with Paul throughout the pandemic which was an extremely challenging time for me. I struggled to cope with the negative emotions that arose from the end of a long-term relationship as well as the feelings of anxiety, isolation and loneliness being in lockdown by myself.

Paul was so easy to talk to and provided me with the kind, caring and empathetic ear
that I needed during significant life changes and the intense emotions that came with it. Initially, I felt quite anxious being so emotionally vulnerable with a man, but Paul helped me work through that fear and anxiety, and I soon felt safe opening up during our sessions.

Paul is incredibly kind, supportive, patient and empathetic. He’s also sharp and alert which was helpful during my many rants and tangents – he really helped keep me on course. Our sessions had a huge impact on my life; I quit smoking, I take better care of myself, I am more emotionally and financially stable, and I am in a secure relationship. Paul would give me full credit for all of that, but I owe a great deal to our sessions.

I highly recommend working with Paul and I have his contact details neatly stored if I need a little extra emotional support in the future. Thank you Paul.