Testimonials

A few testimonies from different people who have engaged in online, in person or outdoor therapy with myself:

‘I came to therapy to help me reduce the extreme anxiety I was feeling towards a certain friend. JF encouraged me to sit with these feelings rather than try to describe and analyse them, which is what I have always done in the past. This was difficult at first, and counter-intuitive – but was incredibly powerful. I only had 3 sessions but somehow my anxiety has dropped away and I feel safe again. I still don’t fully understand why I was so anxious, but maybe I don’t need to know, maybe knowing how to manage the feelings is the best way to calm them’ (individual therapy)

‘When I started therapy, I felt unbalanced within myself and felt I had lost my sense of self, but I am now at the point where I have regained these things. I think I have achieved this by both the speaking and the creative methods in therapy. I have been able to learn about and understand my weaknesses which has enabled me to be more grounded and as a result I feel much more balanced’ (individual therapy)

‘A really positive and often joyful experience, exploring and making full use of the park space with your encouragement. I particularly found the emphasis on somatic experience really helpful and my relationship to the environment, as it took me out of my ‘head’ and more into my felt experience. I felt very safe and at ease to discuss deeper things and be playful too’ (individual outdoor therapy)

‘You have brought us back together and we are closer to each other now and this reflects greatly on your skill and knowledge in getting us there‘ (couple therapy)

‘Overall, I would say that therapy has helped me to learn more about myself as an individual and it has also given me the chance to express myself in creative ways that I wouldn’t have done otherwise. It has given me a safe space and it has also provided me with methods that I have been able to take away and use outside of the sessions which have helped me to be able to ground myself both in and outside of therapy. I feel as if I will be able to continue to use these when I no longer have the sessions’ (individual therapy)

‘You have helped guide me through one of the toughest periods of my life. I have gained so much self-knowledge, self-acceptance and respite, learned how to be kinder to myself and move, perceive and look forward to brighter, happier days and years ahead’ (individual therapy)

‘The outdoor setting of the therapy was a very powerful and unique experience for me and I thought you facilitated it excellently.  I loved the expansiveness of it and that it afforded an expansion of myself too. I did a lot of walking and using more of my body which is something i have never done in a therapy setting before, therapy in motion is great!’ (individual outdoor therapy)

‘The therapy has been a revelation. Tackling issues from a different angle – using props and stories – seems much less stressful than head on’ (individual therapy)

‘Through just twelve sessions, you created an environment and led a process that enabled me to make self-discoveries that had eluded me for decades’ (individual therapy)

‘I was pleasantly surprised at how helpful I have found it. I think I have avoided the idea of therapy in the past and questioned what benefit I would gain from it. But I have definitely found drama therapy helpful. I now feel more positive about various aspects of my life. I really enjoyed just having a space where I knew I could bring whatever was on my mind and I would be listened to and would not be judged. I also really appreciated the time the therapist took to understand every small aspect of myself and my life. This helped me to feel like he was really trying to understand me and what may be going on for me’ (individual therapy)

‘I initially entered into therapy because I was experiencing high levels of anxiety. At the start we talked about the goal of therapy being around finding ways to reduce and manage this anxiety. I now feel in a much more positive place emotionally. I feel that I have found some ways to manage the anxiety and have also realised the importance of being able to accept negative feelings and understand that they are OK to have’ (individual therapy)

‘Therapy has helped me to understand what I was going through and to accept it better. It also gave me some tools and some critical thinking to overcome the future difficulties that I could encounter. I am now feeling confident in my ability to either overcome the difficulties by myself or understand that I need help with them‘ (individual therapy)

‘I would like to thank J. F. for his commitment to what became a very close collaborative form of therapy. It has been invaluable to my development’ (individual therapy)

‘It was god to explore my difficulties using different mediums. I particularly found the drama scenarios very powerful’ (individual therapy)

You might also like to refer to an article, published in the 2019 April/May edition of Mental Health Nursing, co-written by myself and one of my ex-clients about his experience of therapy. This article is available for consultation here.