Success Stories of Therapy Clients

Karen: Suffering from Depression and Exhaustion

Problems That Karen Brought to Therapy:

When Karen first came to therapy for her depression. She was feeling desperate and worn out. She was barely able to function. She hadn’t worked in several years because of her extreme exhaustion. She spent most days in bed. Any activity felt like a chore.

Karen slept little, even though she spent most of her time in bed. Most nights she spent in troubled sleep. If she did sleep, she’d wake up several times during the night.

Karen was extremely frustrated that her life had fallen apart. She felt hopeless. She hadn’t been successful at anything she tried to improve her situation.

She also lost her boyfriend because he couldn’t take the stress of her inability to do things. Karen’s feelings of abandonment due to this loss made her sink deeper into the abyss. This unbearable grief led Karen to seek a therapist for her depression.

The Outcome of Karen’s Therapy:

I used a proven method of therapy for depression called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

Gradually, over 4 months of therapy, Karen made significant improvements. She began to spend more time out of bed. After 7 weeks of counselling, Karen was able to be up for several hours without having to rest.

After 16 weeks of therapy, Karen reported that she could return to work part-time, was going for a walk each day, and felt more optimistic about her life. She attended more social functions and even started dating again.

Karen was excited about her potential and all the things she could now participate in.*

Helen: Riddled with Anxiety That Was Ruining Her Life

Problems That Brought Her to Therapy

When Helen entered therapy, she was riddled with anxiety that was ruining her life. She suffered from sleeplessness and struggled to work full-time. She felt unworthy and lacked confidence.

Helen was filled with worries. She worried about spending time away from her family and was scared to tell them about what was happening for her. She didn’t know how to talk to her husband about what she was feeling. This created distance between them, both emotionally and physically.

Helen told me that when she first came to therapy, it felt like a black box. She was anxious and doubtful. She didn’t understand what was happening in the sessions, but she felt safe with me as her therapist, so she decided to trust the process.

Outcome of Helen’s Therapy

Therapy helped Helen learn to trust someone with the parts of her life she had never talked about before. She reported that I listened with kindness and respect, which played a crucial role in her feeling safe enough to disclose her deepest fears.

Helen told me she appreciated my professionalism and that I stayed very focused with her.

In EMDR therapy, Helen was able to acknowledge the severe abuse that she had endured in her childhood and the negative impact it had on her day to day life.

For Helen, even just talking about the abuse out loud was cathartic. It was important that I validated her experience. This allowed her to look forward to her future and feel hopeful that she could heal from the devastating effects of her abuse.

Today, Helen is free from anxiety!

When therapy ended, the abuse in Helen’s past wasn’t consuming her thoughts anymore. It stopped impacting her decisions and relationships. She was able to work and travel with ease. Her fears and worries vanished.

Helen reported feeling much freer and more confident. She was now enjoying her time with her family, and her relationship with her husband improved a lot. She was now telling him her feelings, and they were communicating effectively when tension arose between them.

Sandy and Ken: A couple on the brink of divorce

Problems That Brought Sandy and Ken to Couples Therapy:

When Sandy and Ken first came to couples therapy, Sandy was throwing around the “divorce” word. They were both deeply unhappy in their relationship. They were angry and blamed each other for their problems.

Sandy reported feeling alone and isolated. She was mad at Ken because he was often home late from work. When he was home, he was not engaged with their family.

Sandy felt she had tried everything to reach Ken. She felt he made excuses or ignored her requests to be at home more often. She resorted to begging and eventually yelling at him, which only made Ken more distant.

Sandy was fed up and was demanding that Ken change. If he didn’t, she said she would leave with the children.

Ken participated very little in our early counselling sessions unless he was asked questions. He reported feeling stressed because his job was demanding. He was often required to stay late to meet strict deadlines. He was tired of Sandy’s anger and stated that it made him feel inadequate, causing him to withdraw from her.

Ken admitted that he sometimes stayed late at work when he didn’t have to, to avoid Sandy’s “demands.”

The Outcome of Couples Therapy for Sandy and Ken:

Using Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy, my job as their therapist was to help Sandy and Ken express the deeper emotions that they were feeling. As their marriage therapist, I helped them rebuild the emotional connection they once shared.

Once Sandy could tell Ken how lonely and abandoned she felt, Ken softened toward her and began to open up. He shared the pressure he felt to support his family and how much anxiety his job caused him. Once Sandy heard Ken’s struggles, her anger subsided, and she became more compassionate toward him.

Over the course of 16 weeks of couples counselling, Sandy and Ken grew closer. Sandy was no longer angry with Ken. Ken was no longer withdrawn and disengaged.

Sandy and Ken were much more affectionate with one another. They spent more time alone together, and more time together as a family.

Ken talked to his boss and was able to reduce his workload, which allowed him to be at home more. He now felt excited to come home after work to see Sandy and his children.

Leaving Ken was no longer an option for Sandy. She had what she wanted: a husband who was present and showed he cared.

They were surprised and pleased that couples counselling had helped them improve their marriage to such a huge extent. They even joked that they were grateful that Sandy threatened divorce because it was what brought them to seek couples therapy.*

Dan: Struggling with Anxiety

Problems That Brought Dan to Therapy:

Dan came to counselling for anxiety after several years of suffering. He described himself as an introvert who kept to himself at work. He was afraid of interacting with others because he wasn’t a good conversationalist. He worried that he would say the wrong thing and people wouldn’t like him.

However, Dan’s main concern was that he had to give presentations for his job, at least twice a month.

Dan was in a constant state of anxiety about delivering these presentations. He often didn’t sleep for several days prior to the presentation, fretting about what could go wrong.

The closer Dan got to the presentation date, the more anxious he became. His palms became sweaty, and his heart raced. Sometimes he was in so much fear that he thought he would die.

The Outcome of Dan’s Anxiety Therapy:

Using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), over 3.5 months, I helped Dan substantially reduce his fear. CBT helped Dan change his thinking and step out of his fearful mindset.

He could see himself as a skilled presenter. Although Dan still felt some nervousness about presenting, he was much calmer and more focused. In fact, he actually felt some excitement because he was getting such positive feedback on the quality of his presentations.

The reduction in Dan’s anxiety allowed him to become more relaxed in social situations as well. He took more risks in initiating conversations and realized he could have engaging discussions with others. He even began attending social functions with his workmates for the first time.

When our therapy sessions ended, Dan was well on his way to having a complete and fulfilling life.*

If you want to become another success story, contact me now, and we’ll get started.

You can see me via video conference. I see clients online in Winnipeg and worldwide.