Here is a small sample of some of the real life stories and experiences
of Effective Thoughts’ Clients, in their own words (permission
has been obtained to release this feedback):
Dear Effective Thoughts Coach...
"I find coaching so powerful. The past is not dismissed but
the focus is on the future. I am feeling much more positive."
- A.D. London (3 sessions)
"I am really going to give things a go now. I was surprised
at how emotional I found the session. I now don't think I am going
mad! I was unaware how my negative belief had taken me over."
- E.M. London (1 session)
"I feel the sessions were successful for me as they helped me
see life in a different way. Since the first session, my anxiety attacks
are not as bad as they were and I now have a go at more things as
I know I can do them, whereas before I struggled.
I was very comfortable with Cara and felt at ease discussing things
I felt embarrassed about. I would recommend coaching to anyone as
Cara taught me different ways of handling situations using different
techniques." - J.M., Shoreham-By-Sea (2 sessions)
"The session made me realise that I am capable and I do have
the abilities I need. I also realised that it is only me that can
make the changes that need to be made" - H.W., East Grinstead
(1 session)
"The session went really well and clarified my thoughts around
something that had really been bothering me. I had a real revelation
during the session that a past concern could never actually happen
again. Afterwards, when a similar situation was brewing, I used the
clarification from the session and managed to totally avoid it developing
again. It also enabled me to reflect before I took any action."
S.D., Worthing - (1 session)
"I felt excited when I first decided to try Coaching because
I felt at last it might be an opportunity to address issues that I
felt had been controlling my thoughts and making me unhappy. Before
Coaching I never really had a place to let these thoughts out because
other people were either too involved and protective of me or the
thoughts were about them! The Coaching helped me work through some
difficult thoughts and helped me make decisions and put things in
perspective. Some of the tasks made me think differently about others
people's view points and made me change my own perceptions of them
and myself.
Some key things I feel have made me stronger and helped me accept
some things I can't control such as other people's behaviour and attitudes.
It also made me realise that I can choose to feel how I want and not
to feel others are controlling me. I still have issues but I feel
better equipped in dealing with them since Coaching- if I feel things
are starting to affect me again I think about the strategies I have
learned to help cope with it and it makes me feel more in control
again. Now I see other people around me and have noticed how many
other people have not dealt with certain issues that are controlling
their lives and they are unhappy as a result." - G. C., London
(7 sessions)
"I was in a place in my life where no matter how much I asked
my inner self questions, I felt I just couldn't get the answers I
needed to implement change. I realised that I wasn't asking the right
questions, as I was too close to my own personal state. That was when
life coaching came to my rescue. Life coaching was a helping hand
that guided me down different paths that I hadn't considered. It showed
me that I could break free of the constraints that I had imposed on
myself." - S.G., Great Missenden (4 sessions)
"I was able to look at the problem from different angles which
triggered more thoughts about the good things in my life" - E.W.,
London (1 session)
"My initial expectations of Coaching were for me to be challenged
and maybe think about things I hadn't previously been aware / thought
of. The sessions did exactly what I expected and more.
The first session: Coaching gave me the reassurance that I was going
in the right direction, so it did move me forward and encouraged me.
On the second session, it highlighted something so simple and so obvious,
that I was surprised I hadn't thought about it myself. It demonstrates
that very often you are too close to the problem to think properly
and this process just makes you think laterally and sensibly about
it. Therefore, it did move me forward as it has immediately helped
me with that issue and will continue to help me going forwards by
prompting me to stand back and think.
I would recommend Coaching to anyone about anything, as even one session
can help you put things in perspective."– K.S., Worthing
(2 sessions)
"I am naturally cynical about these things and was not sure
what to expect. I think I approached it in the mindset that we would
have a chat and you would offer me some good advice and that would
be that, so it was very weird trying to get into the Client/life Coach
mentality (i.e. non-directive). I guess I was looking for someone
to tell me what to do, in the hope that it backed up my own thoughts,
hence giving confirmation that I was making the right choice. This
really forced me to think and I found it tricky to clarify my thoughts
and then relay those thoughts to you. With hindsight, the value of
encouraging me to do this is clear - it was a decision that I had
to make for myself, and it also made me "group" my thoughts
into organised bundles, such as "positives", "negatives",
"fears" and "ambitions", rather than have them
swirling around in no particular order.
Tip: I would suggest that any Clients be urged to think clearly about
what they want to talk about in the session, to aid the feeling that
it has been as productive as possible.
I found it quite easy to discuss fairly deep feelings, which was
definitely a good thing. While I, and I'm sure many others, can talk
openly with their partner, a natural response of a partner if you
put yourself down is for them to lift you up again. For example, if
I conveyed my fear of failure and a concern that I can't do the job
to [my partner], her natural reaction would be to assure me that "of
course you can do the job......standing on your head". In the
session, there were no such subjective responses so I had to search
for that reassurance myself.
Overall it really helped, I made my decision very quickly afterwards
and I am certain that I have made the right decision." –
P.D., Reading (1 session)
"I thought the session was really useful as it gave me a lot
of different tools to think about/try out. It was good that the problem
was broken into smaller pieces and looked at from various different
angles, so revealing different perspectives. I liked the fact that
it was looked at the present time context rather than looking back
in your life thinking what might be the cause. Doing the Coaching
over the phone was a bit weird to start with, but very quickly I found
it preferable to sitting in a counsellor's chair, as you can do it
from home which is more relaxing." - M.M. Brighton (2 sessions)
"Coaching totally turned around my initial belief that ‘I’
did not need Coaching to identify and bring me out of the rut that
I was slipping deeper in to. It left me with confidence and a positive
outlook.
Initially I was sceptical about the benefits for me... So I was shocked
by how much I started to talk about, personal issues that I had not
analysed in this way before – by you listening and only offering
some comments I found that I continued to talk and hence became more
open. I felt very emotional at times, and at the end of the first
session felt that I had really needed to talk about what I was currently
feeling about ‘me’ and ‘my life’. To hear
someone summarise and relay back what I had said put it into perspective.
The best bit was at the end of each session: the feeling a relief
of having a non-judgemental person listening to concerns that had
been (subconsciously) troubling me, then hearing these worries summarised
thus giving me the opportunity of viewing them more subjectively.
The worst bit was the very start of each session: searching for what
to say, and trying to describe my feelings/thoughts in a cohesive
manner and getting into the flow.
From the 1st to the last session: The first session felt more of
a sounding board/ opening-up session, whilst the next concentrated
on areas that I needed to address in more detail. You allowed me to
decide what areas these should be but by summarising the previous
session at the start of the next prompted me to remember what aspects
were more troubling to me and hence needed more focus. This was also
added by you providing the email feedback that we agreed, which I
could read in my own time, analyse/ consider what we had discussed
and hence realise which areas I was naturally gravitating towards.
The final session summarised all of the previous ones and hence allowed
me to see how different I was now feeling in myself and hence how
this had changed my life, leaving me feeling elated, encouraged and
a sense of self-empowerment.
I feel that I had the perfect number of sessions: after the penultimate
session I didn’t really feel that another was required, but
at the end of the final [review] session it made realise how important
this one was as it made me feel very positive as I could now appreciate
how much had changed for me, and how differently I was now feeling
about myself and my pathway in life." – A.C., Hove
(4 sessions including a final review)
"It was wonderful having the space and time to really think.
I did not feel at all pressured even though you did give me the challenge
I needed by your questioning” – AS, Leicester (6 sessions)
"The Coaching drew things from me that I had never explored,
including making me look at the positive evidence of the good things
about me." – P.W., Hove (3 sessions)
