CBT for Low Self Esteem

Before meeting with Maggie, I had been feeling demotivated, lacking focus and very lonely. I had thought that my feelings would blow over and left myself languishing. Counselling was something I only considered when I felt there was nothing I could do. Retrospectively, this was incorrect. Maggie gave me support and provided me with the encouragement to empower myself to change.

Maggie helped me look at myself and the world around me in a different light; I now realise that I have the power and the skills to make my own future. The negative way I thought about myself and the feeling of being a ‘victim’ has gone and while I still sometimes see obstacles in my way, Maggie has given me the tools to question my negative thoughts and get to the root of the problem. Instead of thinking ‘what if’ and worrying about it, I know there will always be a ‘what if’ but it’s how you deal with it that counts.

I had always found it hard to deal with questions, getting defensive. Maggie’s questions, while difficult at the start, were in no way intimidating or intrusive. Her questions have helped me question the cause of my feelings and also question others. The sessions and tools provided have helped me organise myself, realise my limits and most importantly brought confidence and self respect back to my life. I am extremely grateful to Maggie for all she has helped me to achieve. I know that the tools she has given me will help me in the future and throughout my life. Thank you Maggie!

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.

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 came to Jess to discuss a relationship issue. Jess was incredibly sensitive and insightful, helping me to gain objectivity and self-understanding, not only in relation to the issue at hand but other areas of my life. She was also very helpful in suggesting practical ways forward, and careful to tailor these to the situation at hand.

I decided to embark on therapy in order to address long-term issues with depression and insecurity in my personal life. Maggie has enabled me to reflect more clear-sightedly on situations rather than blaming myself for everything. She is a very sympathetic person with an extraordinary skill for reading body language! She has encouraged me out of feeling stuck in a ‘coping’ strategy that was really about disguising rather than recognising and addressing my feelings. As a consequence I am a more emotionally robust and confident and feel better able to exercise judgement and integrity in my relationships with others.

Working with Jess has been so helpful for my recovery journey. I was experiencing a worsening of my mental health during pregnancy and Jess really helped me to manage my anxiety better. I also learned an incredible amount about myself and gained new insights, even though I had been in therapy for years before with different therapists. The approach that Jess took allowed me to dig deeper and truly understand myself, my thoughts and my behaviours. I really appreciate her warm and supportive approach, which made talking about difficult topics so much easier. I feel that I have a new perspective on life and look forward to 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.

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.

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.

Working with Judy has been one of the most valuable experiences of my life.She helped me navigate several incredibly difficult periods with empathy, clarity, and practical tools that I continue to use daily. I always felt heard, never judged, and supported in a way that allowed me to make real, lasting changes. Her approach is both warm and insightful, and she has a real gift for helping you understand what’s holding you back—and how to move forward practically. I’m very grateful for our time together and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone looking for real support and transformation.

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 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.

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.