After moving back to Wales after living in Thailand for several years Alex identified that he was struggling with some OCD symptoms that were quite unusual and abstract and recognised he would benefit from accessing some talking therapies. Alex spoke to his GP who referred him to CTM Mind.
“I had guessed my symptoms were related to OCD traits, but they weren’t the typical OCD symptoms I had experienced in the past, and I was having trouble pinning down exactly what was wrong. The practitioner really helped me gain insight into my condition, and how OCD traits like perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty were at the root of many of my symptoms.”
Alex felt that his counsellor at CTM Mind really listened to him and worked with him to put in place tools and techniques he can use to help manage his symptoms.
“I feel the practitioner did an excellent job of listening carefully and rooting out the underlying causes. The practitioner worked with me and has advised me to spend some time practising the tools and techniques that were introduced to me during our sessions together, and she has pointed me towards some resources to help with that process”.
Alex feels he has benefited from the talking therapies which really helped his self-awareness however he is keen to look at accessing further therapies from CTM Mind in the future to help with his self-confidence and self-esteem.
“The practitioner was an excellent counsellor. The practitioner’s structured and methodical CBT counselling was infinitely better than support I’ve accessed before, and I feel I made good progress in my eight sessions. I discussed with the practitioner that further down the line, perhaps a couple of months from now, I would probably benefit from a further period of counselling with a therapist from CTM Mind, once I have had the chance to consolidate the work done with the practitioner”.
Finally, I would like to point out that the counselling goals the practitioner and I developed together were centred around gaining a clearer understanding of my condition and what was driving it. The deliberate decision to focus on understanding my condition and my symptoms meant that we only had limited time toward the end of the eight sessions to work on behavioural change. This was a trade-off we had spoken about and agreed upon in advance. As a result, I have made more progress in areas like understanding and self-awareness, and less in areas like self-confidence and self-esteem. This was by design, not by accident.
Many thanks to you and your colleagues for all your help.