15

‘After several years of living with increasingly unmanageable OCD, I finally decided to see a therapist. Jo quickly made me feel at ease and her knowledge of anxiety and OCD helped me enormously, both in tackling my OCD behaviour but also in helping me to feel less embarrassed about what I was going through. After many years of struggling with OCD and trying to tackle it on my own, I was amazed at how quickly I was able to make progress – I was soon able to face fears and do things that I hadn’t been able to do in years which felt absolutely incredible.
I particularly valued Jo’s understanding attitude which made it easy to discuss things I had felt ashamed of for years as well as her expert advice; she really understood what I was going through and how best to support me in tackling the OCD. Jo used CBT in our sessions and together we decided on Exposure Response Prevention exercises for me to try at home – Jo always managed to help me find exercises that were at the right ‘level’ to be a challenge but manageable, celebrating with me when I was able to confront OCD behaviours and supporting me when I struggled. She also drew on other types of therapies where she saw they could be of benefit to give me maximum support. I can’t say a big enough thank you to Jo for all the help and support she has given me through therapy – it is no exaggeration to say it has been life-changing. I would thoroughly recommend to anyone considering therapy to take the first step.’