Testimonials from Clients

How was counselling helpful?
Helped me to be more self aware. To take control of my life. To recognise my strengths (not just the weaknesses). To help me move on. To see why events in my past influence the way I behave now. To make me feel good about myself. To understand my feelings. To celebrate my achievements.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
Perhaps I thought I might be 'fixed' at the end of the process, but I realise that maybe it's more about me managing myself rather than being a new person.

How was counselling helpful?
It has made me feel like I am worthy of good things in my life. It has made me believe I deserve to be loved and cared about because I am an atractive young women. It has helped me to understand why I do certain things, and break those patterns. I feel calmer and in control of my life now.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
Nothing bad to say, other than the walk up that hill used to kill me!

How was counselling helpful?
It was helpful to me in so many ways. I am more confident in myself and my opinions. I can handle any situations that come my way without any problem. I can stand up for myself. I realise what a great person I am and that I have lots going for me. I can look forward to the future now and not be anxious. Overall counselling has changed my life for the better.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
I suppose I thought I would get answers just given to me instead of working them out myself, not really a bad thing. I realised that not everything I was told I would agree with 100%. Also, that not every session was going to be a good session.

How was counselling helpful?
It was incredibly helpful for me to talk to a specialist about the difficulties I was having at the time and to work out why I was having these issues and difficulties and to try to tackle what I could do in a manageable way. I found each session really helped me in lifting me from my depression and lack of confidence. It was not a quick fix but after each session I felt it was helping and I had something to work on. There was real belief early on that I could get out of the situation I was in and get back to how I was. I have had conselling before but this was different in that I was not just talking myself although I was sharing my thoughts all the time I was given proper advice and formed a really understanding relationship.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
I would definitely say the experience met my expectations and exceeding them. I'm so glad I spent the money on discussing why I had this negetivity, social fear and unhappiness. It was linked to alot of changes in my life with my job etc as these started to get sorted out I found great confidence again and have felt good about myself this was developed on with my sessions with Allan. Which helped me to see the positives.

Allan has been fantastic in not only helping me with specific issues in my life, but also by encouraging me to study and understand proven, reliable psychological techniques and studies, allowing me to help explain the very core of "who I am".

His calm, warm, yet direct manner allows you to examine any particular issue or problem, spending only the required time to understand its root cause, before moving on to the pursuit of it’s management, and/or solution. Along the way, you will be encouraged to further explore how this may affect other areas in your life, in my case explaining many unanswered questions, which now answered, have undoubtedly made it a richer place!

Allan’s understanding of the pace with which your problems should be addressed is one of his many attributes. As I came to realise, it is as important to understand the ‘true cause’ of any issue, as well as any possible solution. His methodical approach will ensure that any solution reached, has allowed you to fully understand and appreciate the ‘true cause’ along the way, making the solution not a mere quick fix, but a solid base with which to move forward from in your life.

If you are committed to investing time and money into understanding who you are, I would suggest you’d have to go a long way to find another counsellor better suited in helping achieve your goals…. were it not for the fact that I may well "check-in" again with Allan in a few months for reanalysis, I could well have suggested in my last session that he puts his fees up!

Thank you!

How was counselling helpful?
Counselling helped me to make some big changes in my life. It helped me to tackle a series of problems and has left me feeling happier and more confident. I am so glad that I chose to embark on this journey, which although tricky at times, was well worth it.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
I feel that it met all of my expectations. I am very happy with the result.

How was counselling helpful?
The decision to seek counseling is possibly the most important decision I will ever make. Counseling provided me with the knowledge, skills and support to create positive and lasting change within myself. Each session planted seeds of change that have continued to expand my sense of being and positively influence the decisions I make in life. By gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of who l am I have greatly increased my self-knowledge, which has helped reveal my true worth as an individual. I feel I have been saved from a life of potential un-fulfillment and now look forward to a future of hope and opportunity - one that is challenging but immensely more rewarding. At long last I am finally realising an end to the fear, suffering, and loss, born of self-denial, and for this I am truly thankful.

I am profoundly appreciative of Allan, for his knowledge, abilities, and compassion. I sensed a friendship that transcended our many differences and reached out to a common humanity. As I continue to grow and change and my capacity to enjoy life similarly expands, I will look back on my time with Allan as fundamental in allowing this to occur, and will be forever grateful that our paths have crossed. Finally, since words cannot convey the actual experience of suffering that is inherent in life, and nor can they express the joy of living well; it is in utmost sincerity that I thank Allan Kelly for helping me see the truth of who I am.

How was counselling helpful?
It was great to have what I thought to be a support structure outside of my everyday world that was solely for me and no one else, where my thoughts and feelings were of primary importance and I didn't have to consider anyone else. It was great to have somewhere to go every week where I could be honest and open without worrying about the consequences and being judged. It made me feel stronger, more confident and helped to realise the kind of person I wanted to be, and although I'm not quite there yet, I know it's now not long till I will be.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
It fulfilled all expectations.

How was counselling helpful?
It was very helpful having an impartial person to talk to and having that time set aside just for me. It was also helpful having someone to get me to look at things from a different angle.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
It did meet my expectations.

How was counselling helpful?
The sessions helped in some ways to reconfirm my own thoughts and reasonings with regard to my situation and. in other ways, to offer new perspectives which I hadn't considered previously.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
I did not expect an overnight or miraculous remedy from counselling. Of course, it would be great to be able to say I feel totally back "on form" after the sessions but I know that would be unrealistic and I think it is up to me now to look to the future and take action along the lines we discussed.

How was counselling helpful?
The counselling sessions I had allowed me to openly discuss the difficult areas I was undergoing in my life in a non-biased and confidential environment. Having someone experienced in these situations to listen and to provide a different point of view. I felt that the end result was more clarity and a better understanding of these difficult areas and provided me with a few useful "tools" for me to apply to my everyday life in handling these situations.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
My expectations were unclear when I first started the sessions as I have never done anything like this before. I was really just looking for someone to listen and to provide an experienced view on the difficulties I was going through. At times I felt that I could have done with more input, however I also realise that it takes time for the counsellor to get to know the client.

How was counselling helpful?
Saw issues from a different perspective.
Helped me deal with "acceptance".
Gave me life goals to think about & strive towards.
Helped me realise that I'm not as "messed-up" as I thought I was - and helped me take the necessary steps to move forward & take on a few exciting & interesting challenges.
It has given me a little bit of much needed "self-esteem" boost.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
Realised counselling & sorting out ones problems was not about taking "drugs" - but being pro-active in talking & trying to sort my problems out!

How was counselling helpful?
I gained more insight into myself as an individual and as a partner in my relationship. I similarly gained insight into my partner, in relation to himself and within our relationship. All this has provided me with healthy, helpful skills to give our (young) marriage the best of my potential. I am confident that we will both make the best of it. We have learnt to work as a team, which requires a lot of cooperation. At the moment we are both feeling safe and are at peace with ourselves and within our relationship. All of this was of course due to Allan's clear guidance. Thank you for providing us a third and fresh perspective, which was so essential.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
Not all issues I had concerns about were covered. I accept it is due to time constraints, and that one can't 'fix' all at once.

How was counselling helpful?
Increased understanding of how to deal with each other, the positives in our differences and giving us strategies to deal with potential conflicts.

What ways did counselling not meet your expectations?
Our expectations were met.