Actual testimonials

Male, 17

Your sessions over two years helped me make decisions I most likely would have made incorrectly if it weren't for you being there. You helped me remain part of my family when I thought I had lost all hope. You prevented me from life ending decisions - therefore I am forever thankful.

Male, 15

I think counselling is great, even though it took me 4 years of convincing before I said yes. I often find myself in unintentional trouble. This annoys me, as I don't understand what I am doing is wrong - but this is no excuse for my behaviour. I personally believe that only one person understands me, but I only get to see him once a week. He is understanding of my violent behaviour, and has a valid explanation for what the trigger is for my violence, and why I want to hurt people. I also find out that I am not alone with this state of health.

Female, 18

There has been a tragedy in our family - please can you see my younger brother. You understood and supported me through our previous rocky family times, and he needs your support now. I think I will manage this one by myself ...

Male, 23

It has taken me a while, but I now get why I push people away, why I can become cold for extended periods of time. I now see that it is okay for good things to happen to me, yes me ! Thank you for helping me to see these things for myself.

Female, 38

Redundancy was something that I was never expecting, and it hit me and knocked me over more than I ever thought it could. I often wondered why I was coming here each week, but now I know - I am now ready to re-join life, and I can now see past my depression.

Male, 14

I came here thinking that I had all these mental diseases. I wanted to club my own father to death when I reached 16 years of age. I now know I do not have any mental disease, I am going on a camping trip up north over the summer sharing a tent with my Dad who I now love, and I have made sincere apologies to 3 teachers including a primary school teacher who I gave a lot of grief to. I would not have wanted to have taught me !

Male - reflection on counselling from 11 to 18

Despite life's events you cannot be better than yourself, the hard part is figuring out who that is. Don't be what someone else wants you to be but don't run and hide either. Stand strong and most importantly be self aware, if you do both of those you'll be just fine.

Song written by a teen about their Dad

Captivated, Extrapolated, Who knows where we will be If we will be Perpetrated Separated My emotions are under siege Alone and Bereaved Nobody taught me All just fought me I need someone to be Beside me Emancipated Arbitrated These all are things that I need In order to breathe You inspire me & I respect you But your decisions Shaped my state I want your love Without all this weight But you don't know How to cooperate I was stable Yet so unstable My wallet was healthy While My heart was empty

Male 29

I was a little nervous about coming for counselling at first as I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was made to feel at ease right away which helped me to feel more open to talking. We went at my pace, giving me time to collect my thoughts and think through things. After sessions were finished it was helpful to have one or two things to think over and then we always did a summary together of what we talked about in the previous session as well. For me, the value of counselling was realising some patterns that had just become the way I did things, uncovering these meant I was in a better position to do something about them. I’m now a huge advocate of counselling.

Male, 22

Several years of gradual deterioration left me feeling depleted, weak and limping through life without meaning. It came to the point where the risk of not attending counselling outweighed the cost of attending. Counselling allowed me to properly articulate my problems and slowly develop solutions. Andrew is an immensely understanding, non-judgemental and wise individual – I am forever grateful to him. I now look forward to the future with positivity and have a deep seeded ambition to succeed.

Female mid 20's

I feel I am the most content & happy I have been in years and this is all thanks to our 5 sessions. You have helped me see & approach things differently. For that I am extremely grateful. Thank you for helping me look at myself as a person & the decisions I was making, as this has helped me on a different, brighter path!

Male - mid to late teens

The experience I had with counselling was not only essential for my development into a confident adult, but also something that enriches my experience of the world around me every day. I’ve got a mild form of aspergers and it’s a fascinating perspective to share with others like me. I would never have known the value of that without counselling. If you’ve felt uncomfortably different or excluded because of some aspect of yourself I’d encourage you to explore that aspect further through counselling. It could be you're just not aware of the true potential you wield.