I first contacted Sarah through a recommendation, I had tried talking to doctors over the years and had been prescribed various antidepressants etc. Nothing made any difference.
My symptoms,
For the last seventeen years I have suffered some kind of stress,mainly effecting my stomach. I called them "my butterflies ",like you might get when you're excited about an upcoming event or something like making a speech. But in my case I would wake up with them for what I thought was no reason at all. As the day ( days,weeks,months)went on, doing normal things like working, going out, anything really would be harder than it should be, it would be hard to concentrate, i would give up on difficult jobs because of the way I felt. When it came to an event of some kind such as going out for a meal with friends my butterflies would get so bad I would invariably cancel at the last minute just to feel a bit better.
So I contacted Sarah thinking there is nothing to lose.
Straight off I found her very easy to talk to, and it was only after two meetings that she had convinced me that there was nothing medically wrong with me, it was just my way of thinking. Now of course I didn't think there was anything wrong with my way of thinking,in fact I am quite a positive person, but she made me realise that just by "tweaking "my thoughts I could actually control my anxieties (butterflies).
We worked through the Thrive book which I actually found quite fascinating and definitely learned a lot about me and my thoughts, after a few meetings I found that I could control my feelings and by the end, it came naturally. I haven't seen Sarah now for a month, and my butterflies.....what butterflies!
All I can say to anyone who has any reservations about talking to a stranger about their problems,Don't worry at all, it was the easiest thing I ever did.
And to Sarah.
A very very big thank you.