“I decided to contact Tracey after suffering for years, with what I believed to be Imposter Syndrome. I have a leadership role in a global multinational IT business, and as part of my job I have to deal with difficult negotiations, conflict, setting strategy, managing a high performing team, the role is very stressful but incredibly enjoyable. As part of that I have to present to lots of very strong minded (and often opinionated) people, or very large groups, and it has never been something I've been particularly comfortable with. I have always had this feeling of not being as good as the people in the room, not feeling like anyone is interested in what I have to say, and that there are a lot of people who should be there and will do a much better job than I would. I always felt that by presenting to groups I would expose myself as a fraud and get found out. In every other area of my work and personal life I'm a strong, confident, easy going person, but in these situations I was mentally crumbling.
The implications to these negative thoughts lead to massive amounts of anxiety leading up to a presentation, procrastination in creating the content, sleepless nights, hyperventilating, panic, stress, and when I am on stage I forget to breath, become light headed, and generally find it difficult to concentrate on the message I have to get across to the audience.
I have never had any mental health care before and have been somewhat sceptical about the benefits of seeking professional help, but decided I needed to do something about it and take positive action to try to resolve the issue. I had a number of sessions with Tracey to deal with the underlying cause of the issue. My particular issue stemmed from underlying childhood trauma which I had buried very deep down, and had not resolved. Tracey used a number of different techniques throughout the sessions to help me understand and confront the underlying issues. Tracey guided me through each session with an enormous amount of care, and kindness, and whilst I had to deal with some difficult issues, I always felt completely safe, and able to open up and confront the issues I had.
I now feel completely different. I still get the "butterflies" feeling about standing in front of people, but it feels very different. The anxiety has been replaced with excitement, I now have a different perspective and look forward to the opportunity to present, and tell my story. I now smile while presenting and I come across as more enthusiastic (the real me). It's now an enjoyable experience. Tracey helped me understand that I'm in my position at work because of my experience, my capability, and for who I am.
What has surprised me is that in my personal life, I'm now much more relaxed, more patient, more fun. I also feel lighter, and more positive about life in general, and I don't allow other people's negativity to influence how I feel.
I would 100% recommend Tracey to anyone who needs some help and self care.” ~Paul