See what our clients say about their therapy experience at
The Awareness Centre

I was going through a troubling time after the epidemic and the lockdowns, which I had found very hard. I started seeing Karlene hoping to deal with the troubles that were at the “surface” level of my day to day thinking.

Karlene was calm, kind, non-judgemental but most of all an extremely skilled therapist. It turns out that the troubles that were at the “top level” of my brain were that – only the surface. I hadn’t been able to see this for myself, but Karlene very carefully and gently helped me to unpick this. There were layers to my issues, going back decades, which we began to peel back. I came to an understanding of certain events that had taken place in the past that were colouring my experience of the present.

Having this understanding is hugely helpful – I now have the ability to watch my own thought processes and understand when they are going down certain avenues coloured by past experiences, and to redirect where necessary.

I cannot recommend Karlene enough. Sometimes it is simply not possible to see beyond our own day to day thinking patterns, to begin to understand why we experience life or certain situations the way we do, without the help of a skilled “other”. For me, Karlene was exactly what I needed at that point in time, and I cannot thank her enough.

My partner and I didn’t know what to expect from couples therapy. I think we thought you only go if you’re about to break up, but the sessions made us closer and more understanding of each other. I would recommend this centre to anyone – especially couples who want a safe space to work through any disagreements.

I’m currently new in counselling and so far I’m enjoying it. My therapist made me feel human and that having emotions are ok. He listen to my concerns and address it. He’s really a big help especially on the type of work I do. Counselling made me realise a lot of things and recognise that I do need help. Thanks Pavol!

After the sudden death of a close friend, which had followed on from the sudden death of another good friend, I began to experience anxiety attacks. They were serious enough that I attended hospital by ambulance. I came to therapy with Donna in order to cope with bereavement. However, through her probing questions, I was able to understand where I was in terms of my life and also the loss I had felt of my inner optimism and vibrancy.

From the first session, I began to feel deep relief within myself and since then I can think of my friends and family without having an attack. I also feel liberated from the closed in feeling that I had carried with me for a while and I have regained much of my confidence both personally and professionally. I think that Donna was able to understand what I needed straight away and I am grateful for the space to be able to speak freely about my emotions without feeling judged.

I was sceptical on how effective therapy would be but seeing as my life was a total mess with me having no joy, no hope and no clue on how to deal with it I thought I may as well give it a go. I’m extremely happy I did. On 28th of September, which was the day before my first session, I was as low as could have possibly got – I didn’t want to socialise, I didn’t want to go to work, I didn’t want have any contact with anyone to the point where I had hardly been outside the house for the best part of a year! With Minoo’s help however, my life has changed dramatically. She managed to get me to ask questions of myself – questions I would never have even thought about without her assistance – and I now feel empowered enough to make drastic changes. Now I’m not going to say that my life is now perfect and there is quite a way to go but for the first time in a long time (and by long I mean at least 6 years) I feel like I have the ability and the strength to change things around. Like I said at the beginning, I was sceptical on how effective Therapy would be but after the sessions I’ve had with Minoo for the last 3 months I would recommend it (and have been) to anyone who is struggling with there mental health as she has really helped my to turn things around!

Thank you Minoo – you really have helped me more that I can put into words!