Carrie's Story

"Carrie referred herself to me as she was experiencing some difficulties with anxiety that were interfering with her ability to complete her training as a health professional. She initially described having obsessive thoughts that she could not get out of her head and feeling compelled to perform certain routines again and again in order to reduce her anxiety. We agreed to meet regularly to help Carrie work on accepting some of her anxious thoughts, rather than spending so much time struggling with them. Carrie had worked out for herself that trying not to be anxious or trying not to think the things she was thinking didn’t work - the thoughts and feelings just got stronger and took up more of her time and energy. Carrie was also experiencing many of the features of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) subsequent to an incident that she had experienced several years previously. Carrie made the difficult decision to undertake Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to address her difficulties.

The changes that Carrie experienced, whilst she viewed them positively, were not without their difficulties, although by the end of our work together she described having a much clearer sense of who she was, what she really thought and felt, and what kind of life she wanted for herself.

Carrie went on to successfully complete her professional training and is now working in her chosen field.”