Testimonials:

General

“Pam is a warm, kind, and caring counsellor. I wouldn’t see anybody else”

“With Pam’s help I am now no longer suffering with panic attacks at all and can get on with my exams and enjoying school”

“It is hard to put into words the gratitude I feel towards Pam. My therapy sessions with her were a revelation and an enormous relief.  With empathy, patience, insight, and gentle humour she helped me out of a very difficult place.  I learned so much about myself and about how to cope with what life throws at us.  Thanks, in no small part to Pam and her intelligent, generous approach, I have found extraordinary happiness.  I feel like she’s equipped me with some incredibly useful skills, and a deeper self-knowledge and self-compassion that will serve me well in the future”.

“I had been suffering with long bouts of crippling anxiety and panic attacks for almost 10 years and suddenly after a bereavement and a failed relationship I found myself in a very, very, deep depression. I could barely function at all.  Up until that point I had used every self-help technique under the sun to manage my anxious feelings and had fully accepted I would be there forever.  I went to doctors and started taking Citalopram and immediately had booked in to see Pam for CBT.  I had briefly had CBT in the past and had not got much from it.  I knew from the very first session with Pam that this was entirely different to what I had experienced in the past.  Pam is so professional and attentive, she remembers every single detail that we discuss.  I have been seeing Pam for 4 months now and I can’t believe the difference in me!!  I am no longer depressed, and I am incredibly no longer anxious!  I don’t mean I am ‘managing’ my depression, or I am ‘coping’ with my anxiety, its actually completely gone!  I know there will be challenges ahead but Pam has taught me to be able to handle these when they arrive.  I am back working full time, I sleep like a log, I am in a great relationship and I can go to all manner of public places without checking for exits and running through every potentially embarrassing situation that could occur.  To say seeing Pam has changed my life would be an understatement.  If you’re even slightly considering having CBT with Pam – do it”

“I arrived at the first sessions depressed, with an in-built sense of never being good enough and continually seeing the negatives in life. As part of my coping with depression I cut myself off emotionally.  The worst part for me was that I had lost touch with positive emotions like love and happiness.  As my sessions progressed with Pam, I started to feel those emotions return.  At times I felt difficult and challenging emotions in session, but it’s absolutely been more than worth the effort.  I am now depression free and engaging in life in a way I didn’t think possible for me”.

“The support and guidance that Pam has given has allowed me to find a better way to view my everyday relationships and to look ahead to the future. The process has not always been easy, but when I made the effort, I’ve experienced the difference in my emotions and as a result realised that there is a better way to live”

“I started seeing Pam for depersonalisation and derealisation symptoms that started randomly one day. I was feeling so spaced out and like I was watching myself go through life from afar.  It was like I had entered a robot or zombie mode and I couldn’t bare these symptoms anymore. I felt so much worse when I went to busy places. Pam helped me learn coping skills for these symptoms and helped me find a way to feel connected with the world again.  Through Pams help I could see that I actually had a lot of stress going on in my life and that these symptoms were a way of my brain escaping this stress.  I learnt how to identify and deal with this overall stress and I seemed to return back to normal fairly quickly.  Pam also helped me realise how much of a protective routine I was in designed to minimise my symptoms.  This I know now with Pam’s help, really wasn’t helpful as I was so focused on reducing my symptoms which just made them worse!  I’m so happy to be feeling better from that scary episode”

“I had never considered counselling before I approached Pam. Once I’d taken the first step of booking and attending an initial session, I was surprised at how quickly I felt at ease.  Therapy with Pam slots easily into a busy professional life.  She has helped me find the courage to take control and move my life in a new, positive direction.  With Pam I feel that I am taking an important step in rebuilding my life in a way that’s true to the real me.  Working with Pam has made a significant difference to the way I look at the challenges of life.  I now have a variety of ‘tools’ that I use to get more positive outcomes from difficult circumstances.  Pam’s positive, friendly, constructive approach really makes a difference”

“I had been suffering with unidentified physical symptoms for years since I had a traumatic experience. I was diagnosed with a conversion disorder where my brain was converting emotional pain and distress into physical symptoms.  With Pam’s help I was able to find ways to work through the trauma and find ways of my brain coping and dealing with the trauma and depression without experiencing such horrible physical symptoms such as paralysis and blindness”

“I am based all over the world so having Skype sessions with Pam really suits my life. I am feeling a lot better now and able to deal with my adult ADHD without it holding me back”

“I am based in UAE and being able to have therapy sessions via Skype with a UK based counsellor has been so helpful and comforting to me. I am feeling a lot less anxious now with Pam’s help and support”

Health related testimonials

“I have been suffering with functional neurological disorder for years now. I had resigned myself to the fact it would never get any better. My consultant neurologist mentioned that I could make a significant improvement with the help of Pam Fitzpatrick an experienced CBT therapist in dealing with these types of disorders. I decided to give it a go with a sceptical mind about how CBT could possibly help with a physical disorder. Pam put me at ease straight away with these concerns and explained that I could gain control back over a lot of my symptoms by challenging my current behaviours towards them and the current levels of distress I was feeling because of them. She explained how becoming anxious about my symptoms had worsened and maintained the disorder further. This made complete sense. We worked on the anxiety and also the symptoms of the disorder and as a result I am feeling a lot brighter. I still have a few symptoms of FMD kicking around, but I hardly notice them. I am again fully engaged with and enjoying life following my sessions with Pam”

“I came down with CFS about a year ago. I had recovered to a base level of activity on my own but was very much stuck and not getting any further than about 50% functioning. I was desperate to return fully to my life. I started CBT for my CFS with Pam and undertook a very strict Graded Exercise Programme along with CBT specific to CFS. Well I will never look back I am now 95% recovered and enjoying life again, riding my horses, playing with my kids and working all at the same time! “

“I can’t thank Pam enough, through therapy I have made such an improvement with my M.E. I am coping and managing with my symptoms so well that it barely interferes or holds me back with my life”

“Through Pam’s help I have overcome my Over Training Syndrome and I am back climbing those mountains!”

“I started suffering after having a bout of labyrinthitis with constant dizziness and unbalance that just wasn’t shifting at all, I think the doctor termed it uncompensated labyrinthitis. As a result of this I also started to feel very anxious about getting dizzy while out and about. I was referred to Pam Fitzpatrick for specialist CBT help with my dizziness and inner ear issues. We started a vestibular rehab plan almost immediately and I could do this in my own time in between our sessions. In sessions we looked at my emotional reaction to the dizziness and I learnt amazing ways to cope with being dizzy whilst I was undergoing the vestibular rehabilitation plan. I also looked at how I was reacting to my dizziness and surprisingly learnt I was encouraging the dizziness through some of my behaviours which I actually thought were helping keep me dizzy free. Now I am at a point through the CBT and vestibular rehabilitation that the dizziness has almost gone. I am almost recovered lets say. I do sometimes suffer with some feelings of dizziness when I’m in busy environments or after being on boats or lifts, but with Pam’s help it doesn’t make me anxious at all”

“I saw Pam Fitzpatrick for unexplained dizziness. I couldn’t do any of my activities with my friends like skateboarding or going to the cinema, I was completely miserable. After my sessions I felt so much better. It was hard at first doing the dizzy exercises, but I managed to stick with it. I’m now back skateboarding without any dizzy attacks!”

“I went to see Pam to help with my fibromyalgia which I had had for 20 years. I was really sceptical that I could make any improvement after so long, I was very wrong. I was able to make a significant improvement to my quality of life”

“I started seeing Pam earlier in the year, due to some difficulties coming to terms and coping with a long-term genetic health condition. My therapy journey has been challenging at times, but I have gained a greater insight and understanding into why I feel and act in the way I do and therefore start taking steps to change things in my life more positively. Pam’s expertise has not only given me emotional tools, but has also provided practical assistance in pacing myself, managing my condition better and therefore regaining some feeling of control in my situation. I cannot emphasize enough how valuable it has been to have someone I can speak to honestly and openly, without having to censor myself as I would speaking to family or friends for fear of upsetting or hurting them. This has also meant I have found positive ways of communicating with my family and partner about my condition which I didn’t have before seeing Pam. I was dubious about coming to any therapist as I didn’t see what difference speaking about a condition would make when it wouldn’t change condition itself, but I am so glad now that I have taken the step as I had not realised how much I could positively influence the impact it was having on my life.”

Reports and Appeals

“I had been battling with an insurance claim for permanent disability due to severe CFS and Fibromyalgia for years. I thought all hope was lost as I was on my final appeal. A consultant put me in contact with Pam Fitzpatrick who assessed my case and symptoms and was able to write an incredible evidenced based medical report that enabled me to get what I truly deserved.  I could have never have returned to my previous physical and mentally intense work role.  Thanks ever so much to Pam for her understanding and support. Her report really did make such a difference to how they viewed my condition”

“Thanks for the amazing report, I won my PIP appeal!”