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Confidence

Confidence is a skill that can be learnt, or simply improved. Sometimes it can feel as though you are the only one in the room lacking confidence. Others can seem to do things so easily, shake off setbacks with ease, hold the attention of a room and always be an ‘achiever’.   It can cause you to doubt your ability, over analyse, procrastinate, miss out on opportunities, be more fearful,  isolate yourself from others or stop you from fulfilling your dreams. But it really doesn’t have to. 

Confidence touches almost every part of our lives from interviews to dating to taking on challenges to interacting with others to high performance in sports and at work/school/university. Building confidence not only reduces our stress and anxiety levels but also opens up new worlds to us. It gives us the freedom to take the next steps in our lives and accomplish things we have always wanted to do but never thought possible.

I use CBH and coaching techniques, including self hypnosis, to help us identify and challenge your negative thoughts, identify negative thought patterns and limiting beliefs and replace them with positive ones that will help you build a resilient, positive mindset for both now and the future.   

Public Speaking

Taking the lead at work meetings, training groups of others, giving presentations and sharing ideas in groups, making speeches and being the focus of attention can be daunting. It can hold back careers and damage our self-esteem, cause anxiety and create or maintain a fear of failure.  But it need not be so. 

Public speaking is a skill that can be learnt so that - hold your breath - you may even enjoy it! We tackle this skill through CBH techniques such as assertiveness training, hypnotic imaginal rehearsal, desensitisation, coping skills, self-hypnosis skills training and more.

Performing and Auditions

Studying, performing and teaching Drama and Theatre Studies for 30 years has brought me immense pleasure and taught me some truly amazing life skills.

There is a great thrill in exploring stories and themes, working with like-minded and curious souls, nailing moments on stage that touch others or make them think, or seeing someone progress from being unable to read out loud to taking to the stage and express themselves. To me, it is a thing of beauty and vitality, and a skill that can open up many areas of your life. 

Some people find this difficult (or even impossible currently). Are you a novice wanting to build confidence, or someone who sits there wishing they could join in? Are you a student wanting to improve their performance skills, or simply overcome inhibitions and be more free and expressive? A seasoned pro suddenly hit by a lack of confidence, doubt or even stage fright? Or do you have an important audition coming up that you would like some help with?

I have a wide variety of tools and experience that can help you.   

Work Success

The pressure to succeed has never been higher or more constant; not only from others, but from ourselves.   

It may be that you have a high work-load and work long hours in order to succeed or ‘live up to expectations’.  It may be that you are responsible for your own business and the employment/welfare of yourself and others, seeking promotion or a career change or looking for an edge to improve your performance or results.  It may be that worry hinders your output or that you do not know how to properly wind down after stressful days, or give yourself credit when you have done a great job; we are often our harshest critics. The list is long, fortunately so are the CBH and coaching options to help you through these issues, and more. 

I can help you unpick your concerns, understand them, plan and execute the next steps.  

Exam Success

As a teacher and Assistant Principal I have seen first hand the worries, challenges and anxieties that young adults can have, both in and out of school.  I have guided thousands of students through the study/examination processes to great successes, helping them plan and move onto their chosen careers paths.  

In today’s world exams are high stakes. With GCSEs and A Level grades relying predominantly on examinations with no chance to re-take, the pressure to perform and get the grades for your next steps has never been higher. Some thrive on the pressure, and for others it can be truly terrifying; yet we have all been there, dreading a test or exam of some kind or another, even if we know we have prepared for it. I am committed to helping them overcome this and become happy, resilient and confident in who they are and what they are capable of. 

I use a variety of coaching skills and CBH techniques to help you identify and overcome anxiety and doubts, mental blocks and bad habits. Together we will work to build new, positive cognitions and routines that will help you to improve and thrive.   

Sports Performance

The more you practice, the better you get. 

So, if you do that for your physical performance, then why not do it for your mental performance? The two are as one, after all, and the research shows that mental as well as physical training can improve results much more than physical training alone.

Athletes of all levels, not just the ‘elite’, are increasingly working on this element of performance.  I work with you to understand and overcome blocks, build confidence and create a more consistent and better mindset in order to optimise your performance.

And who knows, maybe you will even enjoy playing more.