Extended Testimonials – in their own words

Thought I’d drop you a little line with an update on how I’m doing as we haven't spoken now for some time but also I spotted something today that made me think of you.

The biggest development is my work life. I have been approached by an old colleague in respect to a job. This was an unexpected development but I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity land in my lap. Not that I haven't earned it mind. I bumped into this person whilst attending another individuals leaving party. It was a completely random encounter but one that wouldn't of happened if I had been sat at home feeling sorry for myself! I've been making much more of a conscious effort to socialise more again, meeting up with old friends on a regular basis. I'm not walking on air all day by any means but I feel as though I’ve made huge significant progress in the right direction.

The change has been so refreshing & just seeing how I’ve achieved these changes inspires me to attempt more in life. I have you to thank for that. One of the most valuable lessons you taught me is that you have to take action in life to achieve things & to facilitate change. It's a very hard lesson to learn when you're in a pit of despair but if you can summon the courage to take action then that's the medicine you need to move forward & the reward is more than worth the effort.

I think I’ve talked for long enough now! Hope everything is good with you & family. Miss our chats - you helped me so much in so many ways. I think I’ve only truly began to appreciate that fully now on reflection.

Testimonial from Cris, around 3 months from our final session

I think that the cruellest thing about depression is that when you are trapped in it, you really really believe it’s never going to end, and so you just can’t bear to endure it. It’s like one is so exhausted with thinking and being; it seems relentless, ever present, constant, like there is no way out, which is why so many take their own lives.

Human Givens is really amazing stuff that has a totally different approach to so called mental illness. I have already decreased my meds to 20 mg Prozac which I will slowly wean myself off.

Andrew was confident in his abilities, approach and methodology; he also respected and understood how mentally exhausted I was, how sick and tired I was of this mind fuck spell that had taken possession of me. He respected me as a person and did not label me a patient; he understood that no one is harder on me than myself and that I put myself under so much pressure already without being told to do this or that and that if I could snap out of it I would have already done so. It’s like he took me seriously, he was a witness to the real me; that I was not mentally ill, just mentally exhausted, that years of not using my mind correctly had taken their toll.

He somehow took the pressure off me so I could relax and break this spell. I literally felt my depression lift dramatically after the second session and without having to dwell on the story of my wounded childhood.

I am so sick and tired of being told I have a genetic chemical imbalance and that I need to stay on meds forever by countless psychiatrists, when I innately know that that is not true.

Part of the Testimonial from Michelle - click here for the rest.

Shortly after moving to London I had become quite depressed and frustrated with my own lack of self esteem, low morale and subsequent inability to be self directing. I was struggling to accept myself and feeling at odds with the world at large as well as with the people closest to me. As a result I had become quite withdrawn. I Googled for things like perfectionism because I am very self critical which was one of the things both inhibiting and motivating me - I had arrived at a stale-mate between the two and was unable to function. I am an artist and as such need to be particularly self motivated so this seemed like a huge problem to me.

The information on perfectionism led me to look into cognitive behavioural therapy and from there to find the Human Givens website, where I found Andrew Richardson listed. From the first time I met with Andrew I began to feel more at ease with my situation. We talked at some length and Andrew sent me home with a hypnotherapy CD to listen to. I found the CD to be very calming and quietly reassuring. I began to feel more positive about having had to seek help with my state of mind and confident that the Human Givens techniques were a suitably flexible and practical approach which could help me to deal with the my problems. I had about six sessions with Andrew and no longer feel depressed and anxious.

I have been through some difficult circumstances recently affecting my physical health and I suffered a bereavement. Despite these factors I am continuing to make progress with my personal fulfilment and goals. I have been able to return to my work and have just had a painting accepted for a prestigious exhibition in central London. I have found a new studio and enough confidence in myself now to commit to leasing a space to work in. I had previously chosen to work at home as I didn't have enough faith in myself to go out into the world to work.I have also joined a meditation/psychic development group where I have connected with a group of people who share some of my more unusual experiences and help me to make sense of them. This was an area of my life which I was living largely in denial of as I felt that anything psychic is so taboo in our society and likely to attract ridicule.

I did not broach this subject with Andrew until quite late in my therapy sessions with him and was relieved to find that he had an open mind on the subject and encouraged me to follow up my hunch to join an organisation where I could understand more about it. This has been the single most empowering thing that I have done, but I would have been unlikely to do this or any of the other things I have mentioned if I had remained in my former state of mind prior to seeking Andrew's help.

Testimonial from Jacqueline, some six months after our final session

I came to Andrew in the depths of a very bad depression, I have suffered with depression before but nothing like this and I have had counselling before but didn't want to go through the whole me speaking for 95% of the session about how awful I'm feeling and getting very little constructive help on how to change this. I was drawn to Andrew's 'keep it simple' strategy and the counselling seemed more structured and actually offered ways to feel better from the start. I warmed to Andrew immediately and felt I could trust him which was very important to me. He explained that the Human Givens therapy was very effective and usually four sessions was all that was required, yeah right I thought to myself, I felt so wretched and desperate I thought there's no way I'll need at least ten sessions!! Well, I'm very pleased to say Andrew was right, it was touch and go up to my third session but then it all fell into place. I'm not saying it was easy, for me anyway, I had to go to hell before everything became clear and everything Andrew said made sense. I now feel I have the understanding and the tools to allow me to live the life I want, mentally strong and free from depression. I still listen to Andrew's relaxation cd every morning which keeps me mindful and acts as a gentle nudge if I'm feeling at all negative.

I had been depressed for a year, I couldn’t sleep well, I was anxious and over sensitive to pressure. I visited Andrew Richardson after reading ‘How to lift depression fast’ (the best selling book by Ivan Tyrell and Jo Griffin, the founders of Human Givens). I learned how to relax and put a stop at the grey ideas rumination. I revisited some parts of my childhood and more recent years to understand fix things and release emotions. After four sessions I was officially not depressed. It's been two months since the last session and progress.

The Human Givens approach came highly recommended to me and i will certainly recommend it to others." I want to thank you for the work you did with Anna. The sessions have been so very helpful and have allowed her to emerge from a very dark place. I speak to Anna very regularly and I am amazed at how much her outlook has changed in such a short time. She has mended her friendships and is talking positively about her future. Clearly she still has a way to go but the strategies you have helped her develop are enabling her to find positive ways forward. Thank you so much for helping my daughter to get her life back. The Human Givens approach came highly recommended to me and I will certainly recommend it to others.

Mother talking about her daughter

I have been doing a new type of work (driving a mobile exhibition and road show for a diabetes charity) which, while it has its own stresses, they are not the same as those associated with my normal work. Your guidance has helped my wife and I deal better with the depression – and each other – and we are progressing nicely, I think. I go to the Depression Alliance meetings still but I am increasingly taking a contrary view to the majority of those there who say “once a depressive always a depressive”. I don’t want to believe that and I am improved for thinking in the positive way that you have advocated.

I am much livelier, more social and have been throwing myself in some long outstanding DIY projects. I am sleeping well most nights too. Overall the word would be energised. Much of this is, I feel, down to our sessions for which I thank you again. Perhaps I can stay in touch as things continue to progress.

Testimonial from Graham, who emailed me this a year after our final session

I am a counsellor, trained in Integrative Psychosynthesis - an approach that has helped me enormously. I have spent some years in personal therapy, and no longer feel the need for on-going support. I have been to see Andrew a handful of times - seeking help in moments of crisis. My interest was partly professional, partly personal. I have heard about the Human Givens approach and wanted to know more. I experienced a seemingly simple combination of hypnotherapy, storytelling and conversation which calmed me, helped me take my needs more seriously, helped me draw on my resources to that end, and gave me new insights into my situation.

Debbie (not her real name)

When I decided to learn more about the Human Givens approach from the US, Andrew was available via Skype. I had heard about Human Givens approach and was curious to try it. I live in Mexico so I start looking for someone who was willing to give me therapy by SKYPE. After a few months of unsuccessful fertility treatment I started feeling exhausted, could not sleep at night and felt uneasy all the time. I was lucky enough to find Andrew, who helped in only 2 sessions to feel relaxed, happy and optimistic. We did relaxation and trance by SKYPE also and Andrew could clear all kinds of worries that I had – mainly to do with my work which he found had developed from my past. I am a psychologist who had tried many different types of therapies both for me and my patients and I never experience something so effective and fast! Thanks Andrew for your generosity.

Claudia (from Mexico)

Andrew stopped me in my tracks before I got too upset, which was a huge relief... He relaxed me and used the rewind technique to quickly remove the feelings of trauma which had burdened me for so many years. He then went on to help me see ways in which I could take back control of my future and improve my relationships. I went out of that first session feeling that a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, and able to imagine a bright future again. I can't recommend Andrew highly enough.

Kay a working Mum

Andrew was able to effectively apply the Human Givens approach to my questions about losing a parent, the challenges of being a parent, and growing a professional practice. In a remarkably few sessions, the insights and techniques I gained in consulting Andrew provided me with the lasting benefits of improved sleep, stress reduction, and work/life balance. Andrew used the rewind technique to resolve painful emotions related to a childhood experience. The inevitable challenges and dilemmas of daily life still arise, time often feels short, but I simply feel better able to find the resources to meet the needs of the moment. Andrew showed me where to look to find the resources I already possessed and the means to repeat the process when needed.

Ross, New York, USA. I worked with Ross via SKYPE finding this was no barrier to effective therapy

I went to see Andrew in 2008 because I had an emotional blockage. This had actually always been there, since I was very little.

I was anxious in my relationships with other people, afraid of them. I had for most of my life suffered from low self esteem. Although I had visited different psychotherapists before, I felt the blockage hadn´t been resolved and I decided to visit Andrew. What we discovered in our sessions opened my eyes and made me regain my self esteem.

At the age of 8 I suffered the sudden abandonment of my best friend at school (she went to another school). As we found out following rewind techniques in a state of deep relaxation, my unconscious mind learnt from this experience that friendship is no good and this learning led me to mistrust people throughout my whole life. I was unable to engage in close relationships with other people and I always feared abandonment and rejection. My closest friend was, paradoxically, my mother, who is the person who has helped me most and is dearest to me. Apart from this abandonment, I also lived a toxic home environment. As a growing girl, my emotions were totally neglected. My monetary and academic needs were covered, but my emotional needs remained unmet for years on end. My parents had an emotionally abusive relationship between them which reflected in their relationship with me and my sister. My dad is emotionally clumsy himself and didn´t know how to teach us to manage our own emotions. For years I was angry at him and regarded him as a bad person. Andrew helped me look at these feelings from a more objective perspective and used the tapping technique to unblock the toxic emotions. Now I don´t feel like that about my father. I have realised that he behaved the best way he knew and I know that he loves me very much. I believe in emotional education in childhood.

Emotional and social intelligence are the basics of human relationships, and are as (or more) important as IQ (intelligence quotient). They are also as important as having economic resources to give children a good academic education. From my experience, I know that meeting a child´s monetary needs is not enough for him to grow up happy and secure. It is an emotionally intelligent household what counts for in the shaping of the child´s future happiness and ability to cope with stress in life.

Madelaine, a young French woman working in London

I met Andrew when I needed his help the most. My opinion is that you meet people in life for a reason and my reason to meet Andrew was to help me recover from depression and OCD and to change the way I saw life and the future. This man gave me answers to my questions, taught me to stop looking for the wrong answers, encouraged me, answered my calls at any time of the day or night (while going thru the panic attacks), made me feel that I was good in what I was doing and made me feel important! He also made me feel that I was not alone!

Andrew kept on teaching me that the times I was feeling bad was because of the stresses in my life. And only later did I realise that he was right – that the small daily stress from running around all day with a 1 year old child and work, and no time to relax, that was what was affecting my state. I had started to think that all the thoughts I was having were not my thoughts but my imagination and that was the why I was reacting to stress as a way of harming myself (by imagining horrible things). I understood that I was reacting to what I was imagining by panicking and getting depressed but the case is that any normal person would do that if they were to imagine the worst!

So with Andrew’s help I started to stop fearing what I was imagining, slowly and gradually. I learnt that all is working if you are willing to listen to what your stress is saying to you (and when I say listen I mean really listen). You are the most important piece from the recovering puzzle. By seeing Andrew, I learnt to make time to relax and how to relax. Andrew helped me to find my interior balance, and made me understand that I MUST HAVE MY NEEDS MET! I started to see life in a different way and to search for my passions. He gave me lots of explanations to what I was going through so I felt that I had someone that understands me and that I was not going mad.

Thank you so much for all you did for me Andrew! I and my family owe you BIG TIME!

Eva, from Walthamstow, East London.

I had absolutely no resources left when I contacted Andrew. I was desperate, due to the horrendous depressions and anxiety I was suffering from. Over the years I had seen several "traditional" therapists who had helped to alleviate the symptoms temporarily. However, none of these had ever suggested that there could be a permanent cure to my problems. Within 10 minutes of my session beginning with Andrew, he had explained to me that my problems could be helped, had explained how and had isolated the likely root cause. That first session wiped away all of the pain of 35 plus years. I could not believe it. I returned for a second session, but the bulk of the work was completed in that first session. I have had no return of the symptoms at all since. He has given me my life back.

I cannot recommend Andrew highly enough. He really does have a gift. Human Givens is the wrapper around his service, but it is Andrew himself that makes the difference - the connection and the possibilities that he makes so that the client can see the resolution and that a different life is possible.

Dylan, a family man from London

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