Excerpt from Dan's email:

You’ve brought me out of me what has been there all along but I just couldn’t see that for myself.  You were able to pin point where the problems were and I felt supported during the change from my old angry explosive behaviour to the new calmer me.  You’re easy to talk to and I felt I could tell you anything without feeling silly.  I really didn’t expect telephone counselling to work, but it did. 

Thank you.

Jackie had always been afraid of aircraft, she wouldn’t even travel past an airport without closing her eyes and feeling very sick; airplanes on the TV or in magazines would make her feel queasy; and when collecting relatives from the airport she experienced phobic reactions.  Now in her 40s she had run out of excuses which included; ’the children are young it’s not sensible to expose them to the heat; unclean drinking water; food poisoning risks.’  ‘The UK is so beautiful we should explore our own country first.’

Knowing that she wanted to do something about this, Jackie contacted her GP who offered a prescription to help her stay calm during the flight.  She didn’t like this idea and contacted Dawn for help.  Jackie said, "…we are going away on the 4 February and I have managed to tempt him with a Cottage in Cornwall, but I think he is getting wise to my diversions.  I know that thousands of people fly every day and statistically it’s a very safe way to travel, I should be able to book a holiday without this fear.  It’s ridiculous I can’t understand where it’s come from, it’s not as though I have ever been on a plane."

Dawn worked with Jackie and one week later part of Jackie’s email read: ‘We have booked a flight to Spain on 10 March, and are staying for a long weekend.’

The next email: ‘I had a great time on the plane; I was a bit apprehensive at first, but chose to sit by the window for the landing, brave or what!

And the third email: ‘Just booked our next holiday, we are going to Turkey on 14 April for one week!’

Within a year Jackie had enjoyed a holiday to Tunisia in the summer, a short break to the Netherlands and a further holiday to Egypt

For many years I have suffered from Vertigo.

Three years ago I took up rock climbing as a way of overcoming that fear of heights and whilst I have been able to progress a long way, the underlying concern has prevented me from doing some of the climbing I would like to do.

I approached Dawn at Life Designs and more to see if she could help me finally overcome these issues.

After one consultation I was able to climb a crag which I had been unable to do in the past.  Last week I went on a climbing course in Wales during which I felt comfortable climbing over a 350 foot vertical drop, something which I would previously not have contemplated.

I would like to thank Dawn for helping me, and I would have no hesitation in recommending her services for anyone who has a phobia they would like to overcome.

Phil was unable to drive over bridges or through tunnels without panic and clammy hands (well, wet through really).  One example was Barton Bridge; he would drive the opposite way around the M60 rather than drive over it.

You might think he is new to driving, you might think he doesn’t get about much.  But you would be wrong he is a very successful business man and travels around the country on a regular basis.

We worked together for around 4 hours and he is now driving without panic and clammy hands.  How do I know this? Because he drove me over Barton Bridge first with clammy hands and later when we had finished working together without clammy hands!

There are some things in life that you can fake, but you can’t fake clammy and un-clammy hands!