Loretta M Kelly Accredited Counsellor in Co. Antrim

A former client wrote this about her therapy experience:

From our first meeting Loretta made me feel at ease. The worries and fear I had in the days and hours before melted away. Loretta was warm, sincere and genuine and I felt as if I had known her for years. That first meeting gave me the reassurance I needed to go back again. I was able to speak freely without fear of judgement or ridicule. This was something, I could never do. I could truly be myself as I felt safe and protected.
I was the type of person when family/friends had a problem, I would have been the one to help. But I couldn’t help myself. I bottled it all up so tightly that even I couldn’t release my own fears. Friends would cry, get upset and I would reach out to them. But yet I couldn’t reach out or ask for help myself. I have now learnt to do that too.

Be under no illusion, counselling is not a run in the park. It takes hard work and determination to get better. If you think like I did, that your therapist is going to give you the answers to your problems. You can think again. Counselling doesn’t work like that. You have to try different therapies to see which one(s) work for you. It’s trial and error. Everyone thinks and works differently what works for someone might not work for another. Loretta helped me find the tools to enable me to get better and I am still using them today.

I always had heard people mention about they felt they were on a journey and I wondered what they were on about. Counselling is like that sometimes a session goes well. You feel afterwards that you have made some headway, then on other days your brakes have ceased and you come out shattered. There are days full of emotional highs and lows but you work through them. You try one approach; it doesn’t work so you try another. But Loretta was like my sat nav. She kept telling me that my destination was up ahead, there were a lot of miles for me to cover. But with her support and encouragement, I did finally make it.

This past year has been without doubt life changing. It wasn’t easy but anything in this life worth working for isn’t. I do look at things differently now, I have changed, others notice it but can’t really put their finger on it. I have now a greater understanding of myself and what I need and I have let go of everything and everyone who has held me back over the years. I no longer look back as my past is history, I look forward to many tomorrows and I enjoy the present as it is my gift. So thank you Loretta for giving me my gift. It will be forever unwrapped.