"He has really helped me"

My feedback is about accessing CBT which is based at Trasna House in Lurgan, County Armagh. I’ve been seeing a therapist called Gareth. The reason for me accessing this service is because of an ongoing childhood trauma that was never addressed as a child and has manifested itself throughout my life , Gareth has been absolutely brilliant, his compassion and understanding of what I am going through and he has helped me to fully realise where my anxiety and my troubles have come from and where they have stemmed from, I’ve blamed myself so much, I didn’t understand what had happened, I have felt guilt and shame, and he has helped me understand that all this has come from childhood trauma ana I am in no way to blame for it and I know it is an ongoing process that I have to deal with every day and I am now more accepting of why it has happened to me, where it has come from and it explains a lot. He has helped me to understand it so much and it all now makes sense; what has happened. His methods and his compassion has been exemplary, he has been outstanding.

My sessions started just before Christmas last year, then there was a break, as my therapist was off for a little while and my sessions are coming to an end next week. The need for a break was not a problem for me at all and was also communicated to me well, plus the service offered me help there if I needed it during that time, but because he had been so great, I wanted to stay and wait for him to return so I could have that continuity.

I feel confident that although sessions are coming to an end, this isn’t the end and if I need help there is still help there for me and I won’t be left on my own which is really good to know, as it is something I have struggled with my whole life it is going to be an ongoing process, I’ve been given excellent tools from Gareth to help me cope and help me process what has happened and why I am the way I am, he has really helped me get a grasp of that and come to terms with that.

I think I’ve been really lucky, I’ve been given a therapist who really understands and is very compassionate and has been extremely helpful and I have made that connection with so at the moment it remains to be seen whether I need extra help but at the moment I feel very positive about the therapy I have received from Gareth, he’s been excellent and it’s been a really helpful and positive therapeutic relationship.