"I have known Natasha for many years.  Though we are separated by the miles between us we have met a few times.  I was happy to discover Natasha to be as lovely in the flesh as she always was on-line.  Natasha was responsible for helping me through a dark time of my life, and I still use her methods to help me to this day."

LN, Southport

"Natasha is an extremely competent and effective therapist; her considerable experience and expertise makes her an exhcellent choice for you.  I highly recommend her."

Devin Hastings, president of the Minnesota Institute of Advanced Communication Skills (www.miacs.net) and author of "21st Century Medicine: Clinical Evidence for the Healing Power of the Mind"
(www.lulu.com/content/3119367).  (colleague)

Please feel free to contact Devin about me on devin@mindbodyhypnosis.com

Giving Up Smoking

I started smoking when I was 12 - from then until the age of about 17, I rarely got through more than 20 cigarettes in a week, then my parents (who were heavy smokers) allowed me to smoke at home and I started working in the West End where everyone smoked at their desks (well it was the 80's).  I would say I averaged 30 a day for at least 10 years that I was a smoker.

I dreaded winter colds as I always got catarrh, and awful headache and a cough that wouldn't go away.  As I got older, I tried many, many times to give up smoking - when my father died of lung cancer, I stopped for a whole year but every day was torture.  Everyone I saw seemed to be smoking and they looked so happy and content - all I wanted to do was to open up a pack of 20 and join them.  On a drunken night out, my will power evaporated, I lit a fag stupidly thinking that just the 1 wouldn't hurt, I wouldn't get hooked again, I was in control and then - lo an behold within a week I was back on 20 a day.

Going out for a meal was torture, all I wanted to do was eat really quickly so that I could get outside and have a cigarette - I don't think I ate a full meal in any restaurant where I wasn't allowed to light up.  Going on holiday was hell, 2 or 3 hours on a plane and all I could think about was landing, getting outside the airport and lighting up.  Shopping irritated me, if I couldn't see what I wanted straight away, I'd leave the shop and stand outside puffing away.

In my early 30's, I developed a permanent sore throat, a cough that wouldn't go away, rasping breath when I was going to sleep and chest pains.  I knew I couldn't carry on and that I was making myself very ill.  On top of this, the man who is now my husband and I had just moved in together.  He was an ex smoker and, because of my constant puffing, was sliding back into smoking, having the odd puff here and there, nicking a cigarette off me when we had a drink or a meal.  In an attempt to cut down, I started smoking in the garden - in effect, all this did was make me smoke more because I went out at every ad break and spent the 15 minutes between ads thinking about my next cigarette.

I kept trying to give up - on my last attempt, I remember lying on the floor crying because of the physical pain I was feeling.  I lasted four days before I caved in again.  The feeling of failure, mixed with the need to give up just stressed me out more and I was gradually creeping up to 40 a day.

I had a chat with Natasha about something else and happened to mention how much I wanted to give up smoking but that I just couldn't do it.  She suggested I came and saw her - I did and we talked through what she would do for me.  I went into her treatment room desperately clutching a pack of 10 Marlboro Lights and, an hour later, walked out empty handed (having forgotten about my fags) and a non smoker.  It was almost too easy so I spent the next couple of days testing myself.  I went into a pub at 11am the next day and had a drink fully expecting to be knocked sideways by the longing for a cigarette - but it didn't happen.  I went to work and hung out with the smokers and didn't feel a thing.  I went out for a meal and actually sat and ate all of it.

When I have had the odd twinge (and even people who have never smoked look at smokers sometimes and fancy a ciggie!), I have the tools to deal with it and have now been a non smoker for 4 years.  I feel so much healthier, my sense of smell has returned and I no longer struggle for breath.  Lots of people I know have tried to pack up using various methods and have failed.  They've suffered misery, pain and emptiness you feel when you stop smoking, the not quite knowing what to do with yourself?  A lot of people think if you haven't got will power that makes you weak, I think you are a stronger person if you admit you need help and wouldn't you rather carry out your life as normal rather than constantly struggling with the urge to light up?  Seeing Natasha was the best decision I made and I only wish I'd done it years ago.

YO, Essex

I met Natasha almost a year ago now.  I remember the first time we met and I was in a seriously dark place.  I had been attacked by someone at my workplace and had been given no help by the company I worked for.  Previous to meeting Natasha I had seen two other counsellors, and after meeting them, I felt counselling was really not for me (as the previous ones did nothing but ask me 'how I felt about this').  Sitting here now I really cannot remember what I was like when I first met her.  But she tells me I was scary.  I was numb, I didn't care what bad things may happen to me, and you could say I was in 'bring it on' mode.  I was very selfish and was just consumed with anger, frustration and mostly fear.  I was very apprehensive about meeting another counsellor as the last had been a big flop, but even from the first meeting she was so comforting and just asked me to go through what had happened to me.  It turns out it was not just the attack that had made me the way I was, it was an awful lot of contributing factors from my childhood (although I'm only 18).  I have seen her once a week for almost a year, and every 2 weeks I have a joint counselling session with another girl my age, and we get on really well as we have similar feelings about things.  I have improved so much since seeing Natasha.  I used to have panic attacks at most 4 times a day if someone made me jump or just if something or someone reminded me of the attack.  I now and again get down about everything, but I cannot remember the last time I had a panic attack.  I also used to have serious trouble sleeping on my own so I was sleeping on tablets for a long time, but now I find it much easier, and I haven't been sleeping on tablets in over 6 months.  It's been about a year and a half since my attack and I still work in the same place and hardly ever get worried about going to work.  (As I used to dread it every day)  Natasha is a counsellor when I need help and she is a friend when I need a friend, she is always there for me no matter what time of the day, and I would not want anyone else to share my problems with.

AH, Essex

I was 17 when I first met Natasha. I was struggling with intense depression and self harm as well as suicidal thoughts and actions. I was never convinced that I could ever be simply 'ok' or that I would survive the rest of my life before I took it from myself. Everyday was an intense struggle to cope and deal with my issues and emotional abuse. Natasha helped me through one of the darkest times of my life and with that I highly praise her and approve her for other people’s services.   I am now 19 years old, the last 2 years I have spent with her have been truly the happiest times of my life so far. She alone has helped my in ways I never thought I would be able to express, I now wake in the mornings not fearing if it would be my last but that it is simply another day, which to me brings a smile of joy to my face. Not only do I consider Natasha to be highly professional, I also consider her my friend, someone I trust and can confide in. I have told her some of my darkest secrets and memories of my past and never once has she judged me or questioned my actions, she has simply helped guide me on the right path to where I am now.  Although I am not fully ok within myself just yet, I have come leaps and bounds from when I first started seeing her. I am now going to university, which I never dreamt imaginable for myself and have started a new relationship with someone who I feel comfortable with to express my feelings and confident that I can make it work and not let my past interfere.  Natasha has, in my eyes, saved my life from the destructive path I was once on. She has encouraged me to follow my dreams and never give up. With that, I wish she could give the same outcome to others who are struggling like I myself was so they can be confident within themselves.  

Thank you for everything Tash!  

Millie, Essex

I met Natasha in 2010, on a recommendation from a friend who had been a client of Natasha. It had taken me some time to admit to myself that I needed some help, I wasn't someone who needed help I was the person who gave the help, people came to me with problems not the other way round but eventually I had to admit to myself I wasn't coping too well but I thought I knew why, I recently had a very bad breakup and I was angry, lonely, ridiculously thin, stressed and didn't like my own company or space, didn't really like me at all. What I didn't realise was the problem was so much deeper routed than I'd imagined, it went back to childhood.

At my first meeting with Natasha I was sceptical and not sure how it would go and what she would think of me! but what an easy person to get on with and confide in. I really connected and over the following weeks was able to discuss anything with ease which was a huge step, there was no leap of faith it was a natural progression with someone who didn't judge and was there 101% for me. I felt very comfortable and happy to chat, I found I was coming out with stuff I didn't know was bothering me. One occasion I can remember saying to Natasha that if I had to describe how my family made me feel from a young age it would be that if there was a room full of my family, my siblings at the centre with family tightly circled around protecting them and I would be in the doorway looking in, it was all so much more deep rooted. Natasha helped me realise that it was events and other people who had made me feel like this.

Later, I started to write notes when I got home on what we talked about. One of my notes says, "that Natasha has a knack of chatting/asking me something and I go into Duracell mode, all charged up, raring, so much to say, a torrent of thoughts, xx years of frustrations, anger, hurt and confusion.. Five weeks later I have gone from feeling heavy, sad, weighed down, to lighter, standing tall, happier, its not over but I an so much better, I'm in a lighter, fluffier, bubblier self confident place"

I'm not totally sure how long I saw Natasha for but it was probably in the region of 6 - 8 months, it was sometimes emotionally painful and upsetting but so worth it, I am so much happier. Natasha has inspired me and she had helped me discover me, and I quite like me, I'm not a bad person. Nor an I angry at the past, I am however having a better future. From time to time I still read my note book, to remind me how far I have come. I will always feel grateful to Natasha for the help in finding the real me and dealing with demons but more due to the faith she had in me.

JG Chelmsford, Essex