Facing Fears – A Client’s Perspective

I came to therapy with a very messy head. I didn’t even know where to start or how I felt, I just knew I wasn’t coping and found life difficult. My steely exterior I wore with pride was starting to slip and that panicked me. I didn’t want people to see me struggling. 

I’d seen my GP who prescribed anti-depressants and I started them in a desperate attempt to hold it all together and believed that this was just the way it needed to be for me to maintain this false image of strength. I had been on them for a couple of years on and off as they fed my need to suppress all feelings, but cracks were starting to show again, and I knew I needed to address things properly.

When I first met Emma, she made me feel safe. She was kind, caring and she wanted to listen and help. My fear of really opening up was validated and I wanted to talk to her and let her in. 

Emma didn’t just break down those walls with me, she also taught me how to accept myself for being a very normal human being with emotions. Not something I’ve ever felt easy to admit. Step by step, we found a way that felt comfortable for me to start addressing my triggers and reconnect with my feelings. Therapy became my safe place and my head seemed less scary because of this.

5 months ago, I tapered off my anti-depressants with the support of my GP and Emma by my side and I haven’t looked back since. I barely noticed the transition and when I’m feeling those very normal ‘scary’ emotions I was once terrified of, I now have the tools to address them, sit with them and move past them. 

I can honestly say that therapy has changed my life. The work I’ve done on myself was a lifetime waiting to happen and I feel much stronger now than I ever have.