"Anxiety and Uncertainty about the future"

I was originally referred by my GP and was seen by Monisha.  I've been dealing with anxiety my whole life and coming from an Asian background its almost still seen as a stigma/strange behavior that 'isn't real', especially being an Asian man it's not something that is easy to talk about so it took me some time to get here.

As you can imagine I was a little nervous about this whole IAPT treatment but Monisha has helped me so much, it's actually unreal how far she has helped me come. I initially went in with the mindset that I'd walk in and a few sessions later I'd walk out anxiety free. Monisha achieved this goal but it took a lot longer than a few sessions, this is because she taught me skills and methods to reprogram my thinking so I could deal with anxiety provoking situations. My anxiety was so bad that I developed alopecia from overthinking things and stress. Monisha broke everything down into baby steps for me, challenged me and my thinking so that she doesn't give me the answers but makes me think in order for me to learn properly and use these skills throughout my life. As mentioned I was suffering from alopecia due to overthinking/stress, towards the end of my sessions I was planning a my wedding and had a lot of family stress going on, a lot worse than the my alopecia time but I handled it so much better and that is all down to the help and support of Monisha.  

She helped me understand the difference between hypothetical situations and current situations I had in my head and helped me deal with my tolerance to uncertainty.  Monisha seems to honestly love her job and does this because she actually cares and not because she just gets paid. She goes the extra mile and I cannot thank her enough for all the support, I don't  know her as a person outside of our treatment but I can honestly say from the time I spent with her, she's someone I really respect and admire. Very professional and for those who suffer from anxiety will know that if someone can help you out of a dark situation like that you see them very highly.  Thank you Monisha! I honestly wish you nothing but success and pray for your happiness in your life as you've helped me more than you'll ever know. Thank you so much!! May God bless you!

Before I wouldn't even talk about my issues, not even to my missus, but now I'm happy to talk about it online and to others suffering, we all need help sometimes. The sessions can be sometimes intense but one thing I would say is, give it time and do your homework! Trust me, you'll come out feeling so much better, stick with it till the end and don't give up (this is coming from someone who isn't very patient). I would 100% recommended Hounslow IAPT. Thanks Hounslow IAPT and especially to you Monisha.