I reached out to Dawn after years of anxiety and depression. I had tried CBT and person-centred therapy before, but they didn't work for me - if anything, they made me more stressed and anxious.
Dawn was a breath of fresh air. I was very guarded and nervous in our first few sessions, but eventually the walls came down and I found myself speaking about things I've never told anyone before. All the worry, all the fear, all the anger I had been bottling up came pouring out. Through it all Dawn was warm, open, honest and calm - she helped me discover myself again.
Now, for the first time in a long long time, I love myself. I haven't been having panic attacks; I'm treating myself with compassion and feeling proud of my accomplishments. I feel like a completely different person from when I started, and I can't wait to keep building on the foundation that Dawn helped me put in place.
I cannot recommend Dawn highly enough. If anyone reading this is wondering whether this is the right thing to do - it is! You'll thank yourself in the future for taking this leap.
Jenni
Dawn was recommended to me through a family member at a time when I was feeling overwhelmed and very low as a result of a number of life events. Counselling was not something I had ever tried before, but something that had crossed my mind a few times. The thought of speaking to someone who you don’t know, about things that you don't even know how to articulate is daunting.
I found the perfect counsellor in Dawn. She is very professional but also kind and compassionate. Dawn helped me not only understand my feelings, but understand more about myself and identify patterns of behaviour, which will help me create better outcomes in the future. After completing my final session, I can honestly say I feel like a different person from when I started. I would recommend counselling to anyone and everyone who is struggling. I feel as though I'm back on track in every area of my life and that’s thanks to Dawn.
Caitlin
I am a 58 year old man who had never gone to counselling before meeting Dawn. I had not considered it something I required until everything boiled over one night, and the realisation struck that I desperately needed help.
While I didn’t go to the first session with a closed mind, I was certainly sceptical. Within a short space of time, Dawn had gently got me to open up about a number of serious events which had happened in my life, and encouraged me - for the first time - to talk about them, and the effects they had on me.
I always considered myself the to be the one who coped, the one who was there for everyone else. What Dawn made me realise was that I hadn’t actually been coping,and that I had a number of unresolved issues which were damaging my mental and emotional health.
Each week I opened up more, acknowledged more of what I was feeling, and came to address thoughts and emotions, many of which I wasn’t consciously aware of. Dawn’s room was my safe space, a place I felt comfortable, a place where I grew
stronger and became much calmer.
Almost six months later, we have ended the sessions and I am looking to the future with a confidence and positivity I could not have imagined at the start of the year.
I would unreservedly recommend Dawn and have no doubt that whatever you are going through, her professionalism, expertise and empathy will help you on the road to recovery in the way it did for me.
Richard
In the past, as a young person struggling with my mental health, I have found it difficult to find a style of counselling that suited me. I had experienced the CAMHS system and gone to an educational psychologist, but I found it difficult to connect to the services given to me. I felt that I wasn’t dealing with the causes of my anxiety and low mood, but only given strategies to help me cope with the
symptoms as and when they occurred. The strategies given to me were without a doubt helpful, but only for a short time.
My mum suggested Dawn’s services to me, as she thought that a different approach might help. I am so glad that I chose Dawn. She provided a different style of counselling that would allow me to explore the root causes of my negative emotions. I was able to create a safe place with her to discuss exactly what I was going through. It wasn’t like any other counselling I had experienced before. In a sense, I was required to talk about things that, in the past, I was taught to brush over.
For the first time in my counselling experience, I felt listened to and that everything I was saying and feeling was valid.
Thanks to the help of Dawn, I am now in the best place I have ever been in. I have a new found confidence in myself and have learned a lot about the way I process emotions and how to communicate them. I was able to build upon the tools I had already gained from my past experiences of therapy, as Dawn was very flexible and understanding of my needs.
My gratitude for Dawn is abundant and if in the future I feel the need to return to counselling, I will not hesitate to contact her again. Thank you, Dawn.
Lucy
The realisation that feelings and coping mechanisms within ourselves will on occasion be sorely tried and tested can be hard to accept, particularly when deep seated. I personally, as an ex-Military man, did not think I needed help, and tried to ‘soldier’ on - in the end unsuccessfully.
I chose Dawn, not from her list of credentials, but that she had the sort of face to whom I could unburden myself and be honest. The first meeting confirmed this somewhat unusual assessment of Dawn, and I was immensely relieved to be in the hands of an empathetic Counsellor, who obviously listened to what I said - but also guided the session in an un-obvious way. Her attitude made returning week after week something that held no fear or anxiety, but as I walked through the door I was meeting someone who was really helping me.
I found that my dealings with myself and my family were improving significantly as time went on - such that I was able in out last session to verbalise what was the link to all the various aspects of my issues over my 55 years during which these issues occurred.
My thanks to Dawn have no bounds, and in the unlikely event that should things change for the worse in the future - I would no hesitate for a nanosecond to re-contact her. Thank you Dawn.
Henry.
I have just finished therapy with Dawn. On choosing a therapist I had to be sure to choose one that would challenge me while offering a safe space to explore what I needed to explore. I had received 6 sessions in person centred therapy as well as 12 sessions in couple counselling with 2 different therapists prior to working with Dawn and while I may have got from them what I need at the time I wanted something, someone to challenge me. One of greatest gifts as I see it from my therapy time with Dawn was a sense of holding which I hadn't felt with the previous therapists. Dawn was with me every step of the way and I truly felt held. This holding allowed me to explore openly and most importantly for me honesty . For the first time in my life I was completely honest and her words in one of the sessions " I hear you" will stay with me forever. I felt the therapy came to a natural ending. I can see clearer now. I started off saying what I wanted and left saying the same thing. The difference? I sorted my thoughts, my demons , fantasies , my reality and my past all into little boxes in my head. It felt calmer and clearer now. I had grown! And so I will continue to grow and deep at the centre of this continued growth will be the space that Dawn provided me with.
Jenny.
“I am at present in counselling with Dawn. I was in counselling with another therapist prior to this and since working with Dawn have very quickly realised that I was stuck and not moving forward in any way with the previous counselling I was having. It is a struggle dealing with the problems that have brought me to counselling in the first place and the different emotions it brings but I feel that I am in safe hands and completely trust Dawn to help me work through my problems and get me to a better place in my life. We are in the middle of the process at the moment and I believe that, with some hard work from myself, and the support I receive from Dawn, I will achieve my goals”.
Sandra.
“The help, support and understanding we received from Dawn, during our counselling, has helped us greatly as a couple to understand and begin again. The effort shown by Dawn, to us both, has been heartwarming. She brought us closer together than we have ever been. We don't think our marriage would have survived if we had not received this support”.
Paul and Susan
"After a family bereavement, I felt that I was losing control of all aspects of my life. Feeling unable to further burden my family, who were all grieving, I decided to consider counselling. After an evening's research, I found Dawn's website, and straight away felt that I would be comfortable with her. Dawn was calming, comforting, and above all a hugely constructive influence on me. We moved beyond the initial issue of my grief, and she helped me address other issues, such as confidence, self esteem and personal relationships. I feel that I have turned a corner, and that Dawn has helped me to develop personal skills and techniques that give me the confidence to move forward without the constant worry that had plagued me. Seeking counselling was one of the biggest decisions I have ever made, but I am so glad that I did it, and I am so grateful to Dawn for her help."
Jennifer
“I was initially very anxious about the prospect of seeing a counsellor, however on meeting Dawn these anxieties soon dissipated...Dawn was very welcoming and I soon felt very comfortable...I truly believe that it is the best thing I have ever done as Dawn helped me through a very difficult period and for that I will be for ever grateful. I have since recommended Dawn to other friends and family experiencing difficulty and they have also spoken very highly of the support and guidance that Dawn has offered and I wouldn't think twice about recommending her again!”.
Marie
Dawn quickly helped us identify our relationship problems and to understand the causes of them. She showed us ways we can communicate more effectively and it has made a huge improvement to our relationship”.
Robert and Lindsey.
“For me it was a big step to undergo private counselling, as I thought it was for people who had “issues”! It turned out, after my first session with Dawn, I realised I was the one with issues and that I was more in need of counselling that I ever imagined. I feel that I have found a place where I can come to get help from someone who will be working with me and supporting me, and the balance is just right. I feel I’m getting a friendly and helpful listener who knows how to offer help in a very professional manner and someone who has made me think in a different way. This has encouraged me to start looking at myself in a different way, more constructive and more positive. My confidence in Dawn has allowed me to be so open and honest and being able to tell her absolutely anything without being judged on what I’m telling her.
I can’t thank Dawn enough for her help as I’m more focused in every aspect of my life. As things go into overdrive in my head, Dawn has shown me how to slow things down and focus on every separate issue rather than jumping from one thought to another and not to be so random. I now have a greater understanding of my own behaviour and why I react the way I do, and Dawn has given me the tools to identify these situations and deal with them in a different way, but more importantly, dealing with them the way I want to.
I’m still going to counselling as I now know what I want from my counselling and Dawn is helping me get there. Dawn isn’t going to carry me there as I know I have to get there myself. The healing process of counselling is going to let me be the person I know I can be and more importantly the person I want to be. Parts of my life came to a standstill and I didn’t recognize this but by going to counselling it has made me aware that it had and with Dawn’s help I’m looking forward to finally getting on and having the life I have always wanted”.
Jeremy.
“At first I was quite reluctant to attend counselling and I only went because my wife encouraged me. To be completely honest, I had a negative impression of counselling and counsellors and I wasn’t sure it would be for me, But I have to say I was wrong.
Dawn is a brilliant listener and she really gets me thinking about things I should have thought about long ago. Her guidance finally allowed me to focus and have the confidence to look back at difficult times in my life. I began to examine my fears, anger, worries and insecurities. I wish I had gone to counselling years ago. I am sure I would have been happy and healthier for it.
Dawn’s counselling has given me a much clearer idea of what my issues are and where they come from. I have actually reduced the amount of emotional baggage I carry around with me every day. I am starting to feel more confident, optimistic and happy again. Counselling has also helped me improve my ability to communicate how I am feeling and my wife has really noticed the difference.
I feel more confident and capable of coping with the stress and challenges that life throws at me. I can now see that I am back on track to becoming the person I want to be again”.
Daniel
“At the end of 2010 I was really not coping with my grief, I had lost my only sister to cancer at a young age and no matter how hard I tried to get on with things, I would find myself struggling to get up in the morning and to function. My sister and I were two peas in a pod as they say, and without her I felt that life was just not worth anything anymore. I had spent the first year after she died supporting my parents and holding in my feelings, to the extent that my work was suffering and I was constantly arguing with my friends.
In desperation I googled “counselling in Glasgow” and Dawn’s name was one of the first in the list. I decided to get in touch to see if she could help. I was so lost that at first I didn’t believe that she would help me and the first two weeks were a struggle, I didn’t know if I really wanted to go through with it. However, with her constant support and encouragement I started to hit the goals that Dawn set me and I was able to see that I could start to live my own life again and discover who I really was. My whole life had been intertwined with my sister’s as we were so close and it was hard to accept that this was gone. With Dawn’s support I realised that I was my own person too and I did have the strength to live my life in the way that I wanted to.
For the first time I was able to talk to somebody completely impartial who had the insight and professionalism to give me the support that I needed. This meant that I could be completely honest about everything, something that I cannot do all the time with my friends and family. I have always been a positive person and I hated the negative person I had become because of my sister’s death. Dawn made me realise that I could be a positive person again.
Thank you Dawn for helping me and I will continue to stick to the advice that you gave me throughout the 6 months I was being counselled by you; it is invaluable and it really has helped me get on the right path again”. Diane.
“Nobody chooses to need counselling but if the time comes when you do, the one thing you need to choose is the right counsellor – for us that was without a doubt Dawn. She gave us the confidence and encouragement to say the things that we needed to say to each other. She opened doors for us that had been closed for a long time.
We have a lot to thank Dawn for and will always be grateful to her. The one piece of advice I would offer anyone who is thinking of calling is don’t wait, Dawn can really help you”.
Claire