Linda | Therapist/Coach, Bsc Applied Psychology

I came to counselling at a time in my life where I felt exhausted after battling anorexia on my own for so long. With Linda's help I was able to see that sharing my struggles made them so much easier to fight and overcome. The first few weeks of my recovery journey were difficult to say the least but with constant guidance I was able to push through the hardest part of letting go of my eating disorder. I’m now rediscovering who I truly am as a person without an eating disorder and what I want my life to look like. It feels so freeing and is something I never imagined would be possible for me. To anybody else considering starting counselling, I would definitely recommend reaching out to Linda. She will set realistic goals for you and work at your own pace whilst still challenging you, by the end of your time you will find yourself again and see that recovery is possible.

I can’t even express how much my sessions with Linda have been life-changing. I have spent way too many years not being happy with my body and feeling guilty when I ate. I feel like I am finally free. Working with Linda felt like talking to a friend. One who knew exactly what you were going through and how to get you to the other side. I just wish I had done this sooner.

Linda has been amazing helping Ashleigh through their regular talks and it helps because Linda can relate to how she feels and the journey she is going through.
We both feel Linda has been such a help and given her some good techniques to guide her through and start to gain her old life back again.

I have been so grateful to Linda. I think she makes such a positive influence in others' lives and I honestly didn't know how I was going to get through this with my daughter so having Linda for Ashleigh to talk with was a true blessing.

I reached out to Linda because I was struggling with emotional and binge eating. I had a lot of significant life changes, such as moving out of home, moving to a new city, and starting a new job. The struggles I had with my eating for a long time became very prevalent among all these big life changes, and I no longer could deal with them myself; I needed support.
The main positive change I have noticed is in my mental health and attitude towards my body. Being stripped back to the basics to learn healthy and sustainable habits and allowing myself freedom from food rules has been the largest positive change. Learning to love myself and my body, and realizing that my self-worth isn't determined by how healthy I eat or how much exercise I do, has been the most wonderful gift I could have given myself for my mental health.
I loved the strategies we worked together to create. As someone who had done quite a lot of research into binge and emotional eating and had tried strategies at home already, I found working with Linda far more successful. Linda was open to the strategies I had tried and was able to rework them in a way that had a more positive effect.
I feel like we unpacked areas of myself and my influences that I wasn't aware of. For example, you helped me realize that I don't process my emotions, and that, to me, was a huge eye-opener in how I tick. That realization has helped me move forward massively.
I won't forget any of the vital lessons and recommendations - I will continue to practice and keep them as a part of my life.
Yes! It is hard to put into words the feeling that comes from opening up about what I was going through for a long time and never talking about it. With your service, talking to someone who had experienced the same things firsthand was hugely beneficial. Feeling understood and empathized with was massive for me. As I said above, I tried to help myself a lot with many strategies and intuitive eating practice before using your services. And although we worked on strategies within your service, at the end of the day, having someone tell me that when I have a bad day, it's actually okay, and that I am allowed to forgive myself, was so important for me!

I came to counselling because I wanted to improve my physical health and self-esteem. Linda gave me lots of practical advice about things I could do to address my issues, and always in a gentle, supportive judgement-free way. I always felt comfortable talking about difficult emotions I was having and knew I would get useful information to help change my thought patterns and behaviours to healthier ones. I am now much kinder to myself which feels so much better. I like myself much more than I did before, and I don’t have negative self-talk as much. I have healthier eating habits and a more positive relationship with my body and with exercise. I feel well-equipped to continue working on these issues independently and I know I can contact Linda any time if that changes. Thank you for helping me so much!

I reached out to Linda to get help in overcoming negative thoughts and manage areas of life that had become overwhelming. I found Linda listened to me explain the different areas I found challenging and showed me how to break things down to a manageable level. She gave me strategies that I was able to put into practice as well as how to turn negative thoughts into positive ones. By setting little goals, I became aware of / recognise triggers that I learned to interrupt early and avoid it spiralling out of control. This helped me change my mindset and also see things from a different perspective. We also worked on other ways to communicate to understand how to be more effective with both my partner and children. Linda provided various diagrams / tools that helped me understand where I was at and why. The strategies you provided continue to be very useful in my everyday life.
This experience has taught me not to take things so personally, to dedicate some self-care time as well as be kinder to myself.
I found Linda to be extremely thoughtful, empathetic, & caring to my situation, which is what I needed and made it easier to talk / trust her.
I would definitely recommend Linda to anyone that needs help how to manage a life that has become too hard and overwhelming.
Thanks, Linda!

I wanted help with my depression, and be able to identify and bring myself out of those low points/spirals; any conflicting feelings I had about my relationship with my dad and overcome any guilt that I harboured around it; be a better friend and girlfriend - be more tolerant and understanding instead of getting so caught up on the things that bothered me.

I can identify pretty well when I’m in a low mood spiral from my depression (and not just generally feeling sad) and have strategies that can help lessen their effect.

I can deal with bigger life changes in a much healthier way.

I am far more patient with my friends and family. I can recognize when I’m internalising my worries and letting them manifest badly towards others. Instead of allowing that to happen, I can stop and reflect and figure out what I need to do to move past these worries or make them less impactful.

I can also tell when I’m being kind to myself and when I’m just trying to make excuses and avoid doing something I know I should do/ pushing myself out of my comfort zone.

Counselling has helped me be more open with my close friends about things I’ve always been too afraid to burden them with in the past, and in turn, they can be more open with me about similar things.

As cliché as it sounds I wish I had found Linda sooner because she really made an immensely positive impact on my life, and I am incredibly grateful for her guidance and the effort she puts into making each session valuable!

I took me a very long to accept I had an eating disorder and take the plunge to start having sessions with a therapist. I chose Linda due to her experience and qualifications on paper. It is fair to say I had no regrets. After the first session, I felt instantly at ease and it has been the best decision I have ever made. Working with Linda has changed my life. Something that I never thought possible has been made possible due to the support and work Linda has done with me over the last 10 months. The way she structured the sessions has been brilliant. I always leave feeling good but also find myself reflecting on the session content for the rest of the week leading into the next session. I wanted to take control of my life and be more present with my wife and two young daughters and again, that is now happening. I owe an enormous amount to Linda and urge anyone that is debating whether to seek support to look no further than Linda.

I came to coaching to improve my relationship with food and my body. I was super insecure and didn’t feel genuine joy in my life. The idea of having to eat constantly overwhelmed my mind and I was wanting to gain full food freedom and to be able to love myself. Since starting, there has been a huge shift in the way that I view myself and how I treat myself. I no longer feel the need to starve myself to make myself feel good or to think that I’ll look better. I have found too that the joy I was missing in my life has come back and I’m excited to go into each day. My mind isn’t filled with constant negative thoughts, and if one does pop into my head, I now have the tools to be able to deal with it.
Linda never made me feel ashamed of what I have been through and she always validated my feelings. Linda is understanding and compassionate. She is passionate about what she teaches and she shows that she truly cares. She is always an email away and tries to comfort others as much as she can. Once again, thanks so much!

I came to counselling because I was extremely sad and miserable, I was morbidly obese, and my weight consumed every thought I had from waking to sleeping. I needed help. I needed to find a way to live. I had tried and failed at every attempt to lose weight, this in my eyes branded me a loser with no willpower or discipline. I was shutting down and shutting off to the world. I lived with constant negative thoughts about myself.

The positive changes to my well-being are phenomenal. I no longer am consumed with the shape and look of my body. I would say that 90% of the time I no longer am consumed by  “diets, what I can and can’t eat”. When I wake in the morning my first thought is not about food, it’s about my day. When I have negative thoughts, I can use the Tools that I have experienced through the counselling sessions to work through them.

Linda took time to know me as me, not as a number or person to fix. She nudged me in the right way: to enable me to reflect on a lifetime of negative thought processes and to live my life in a positive way. Linda enabled me to come to terms with some confronting issues and work through them.

I think that the biggest gift that Linda has given me is that I no longer dread life, I can enjoy food, and I no longer live in a state of deprivation or negativity!

I came to counselling after a family member expressed concern for my mental well-being. At the time, I didn't fully recognize the extent of my struggles, but deep down, I knew I wanted to be a happier person. Through counselling, I've become more aware of my regressive behaviour and the root causes behind it. Additionally, I've learned effective strategies for shifting negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones, which has led to positive behavior changes. I've also developed the ability to avoid dwelling on negative thoughts, which has been a positive change for me. This experience has shown me that sometimes we may not fully recognize our own mental state and the help that we need.

I sought help for my 14-year-old daughter S. because she felt often sad, lonely and lacked self-confidence.

Linda took her time to really get to know my daughter well. Linda had a lot of empathy and took her issues seriously. Linda spoke openly about having gone through similar issues as a teen which was very very helpful. 

My daughter was not keen on starting therapy but Linda was able to keep her interested and engaged for 3 months.

My daughter has gained a lot from the sessions. She is a lot more open to her (new) friendships. She now has the tools to approach new people and be less shy. She is much happier and has gained a lot of self-confidence!

Many thanks for your help!

Linda had an understanding and an ability to connect with me 100%. She spent time to get to know me and went above and beyond to get invested in my healing and my journey.
Working with Linda completely transformed my relationship with my body and my relationship with food. She took me back to the beginning of my eating and got me in touch with my natural needs. What I had been doing was not working for me and Linda helped me transform my relationship with myself and my body.
I am finally free from the prison I’ve subjected myself to over the last 30 years and for the first time I feel beautiful and ALIVE and above all else I have FREEDOM and happiness. I have started to truly live my life focusing on how I want to feel.
I’m more confident, kinder to myself and happier than I’ve been in so long (if not ever).
Growth is uncomfortable and to be honest at the start I couldn’t have even imagined being where I am today as at all seemed just impossible to me!
Seeing Linda once a week for 12 weeks and then a further 3 sessions over 2 months was CRUCIAL for me and it opened my eyes to how much of a chronic dieter I’d become and how low my self-image and confidence was!
I really wish I had bigger words than THANKYOU to say to Linda I honestly do.

I decided to seek outside help because I was struggling with a few issues and needed help to process them.

You were very personable and easy to talk to. You encouraged me to explore different positive narratives to tell myself. You suggested some helpful strategies and ideas without being too pushy. You also listened really well.

I would recommend your service and I already have! I said that I found you to be really easy to speak with. Also, you helped me to be more confident in my own abilities and skills, and to be kinder to myself.

My 10-year-old son and I have been working with Linda since June 2021 and I have nothing but praise for her experience, approach and commitment to supporting his understanding of himself and his personal growth.

We had quite recently arrived in NZ after almost 12 months in lockdown in the UK and the pressures of that coupled with international relocation, loss of friends and trying to fit into a new school had all become too much for my son. We were referred to Linda through the school's Mana Ake programme.

His weekly sessions with Linda have become fundamental to his personal confidence and have helped him find creative and effective ways to achieve and sustain calm and work through the issues that challenge him. In working with Linda, he has begun to understand and like himself better, realising that he may be different to other kids and deal with things differently but that doesn't make his way wrong.

Linda's patience, acceptance and close relationship with my son has been the foundation of this for him and her hints, tips and toolkit of activities has also helped me to help him and to support and sustain the good work they do together.

I can absolutely recommend Linda and her work to support tamariki and their whānau to meet the many challenges we all face now properly equipped, prepared and supported.

My husband and I came to counselling because we wanted to understand more about choosing healthier options, recognise the negative impact of society on our body image and to rewire our brains around better choices with kai.

We loved that Linda allowed us to create our journey of what we needed to be supported with and we appreciated that she’s cultural sensitive!

Linda has helped us to think differently and enabled us to be more accepting of what we look like and how we view our relationship with food and our body. We now accept ourselves from the in- and outside and realise that happiness is greater than anything!

I contacted Linda when I was at the lowest I’ve ever felt in my life and no matter what I did to try to change that on my own nothing was working. I really needed help to improve to feel a lot better.

Linda is calm, caring and genuine! Her strategies work and really changed my life! I’m forever thankful she’s helped me change this. I’m so glad that I had the therapy with her because it’s really helped me feel stronger and back to feeling like myself.

 

I would definitely recommend Linda and I would use her services again!

I reached out to Linda because I wanted to work on my daughter’s big emotional outbursts, anxiety and sleep habits.

Lola and I loved having our sessions with Linda and you definitely helped us both! You have given us some great understanding and tools on how to move forward.

Linda built such a great relationship with my daughter and myself. It usually takes a long time for L. to open up and show her vulnerable side so easily and you got to show that very quickly.

You knew what to focus on and what the underlying issues are.

You listened to what I had to say with my opinion on her behaviour and I never felt judged in my parenting or made to feel stupid.

You had a genuine warmth and friendship with L. which was so lovely.

L. was sad to finish our sessions with you, even though she found the sessions challenging.

You always followed up with the session notes and an email checking in with us!

Your help with connecting with my inner child has allowed me to re-imagine my emotional attachments.

I feel it is a miracle to have forgiven myself for the past habits, and each day I make the choice to keep going. I have never experienced this level of commitment to myself before.

Thank you Linda for your time and energy on my journey!

I reached out to Linda because I had a complex relationship with body image, food and exercise after years of competitive sport and studies. These concerns and thought patterns were taking up a lot of my time and energy and making me very unhappy. I was eager to address them for my own well-being.

Linda formed a lovely rapport with me, is a great listener and is non-judgemental. I felt very comfortable sharing things with Linda that I had never voiced aloud previously.

I now have awareness of restrictive food habits that I hadn’t given much thought to previously, I can now approach and undertake intuitive eating and have a different view of health as more than just body size, food intake and exercise.

Thank you Linda for all your help and guidance over the past few months. It's helped me more than I can say. I will use the skills you have helped me to develop for the rest of my life.

I started my coaching journey with Linda because I wanted a more positive/neutral body image, and I needed some guidance on intuitive eating and finding movement I enjoyed. 

Linda is really good at making you feel comfortable and safe to open up about anything and everything! A lot of the time it felt like I was having a zoom call with a close friend giving me advice.

Linda has amazing empathy skills and also has an awesome sense of humour! Linda always knew the right questions to ask to make me look at my thought patterns with a different perspective, and that ultimately led me to having more balanced thought patterns in the long run. 

Since working with Linda, I understand the root cause of my emotional eating. Instead of numbing my feelings with food, I now acknowledge them and work through them and honestly can’t remember the last time I ate until I was sick, which is a huge win for me.

To put this into perspective, I’m currently going through an extremely challenging time with a ruptured Achilles as well as an endometriosis diagnosis with fertility struggles (in other words, this would have been prime emotional eating time for me in the past) and I haven’t once turned to emotional eating to regulate myself.

I can have photos taken of me without freaking out or feeling like I need to edit or delete them! I love that I can look at photos as a whole instead of zooming into parts of myself. 

I’ve let go of food labels and instead listen to what my body feels like - and know that my body has different needs every day and that’s okay! I’m embracing gentle nutrition and focusing on movement I enjoy.

I don’t get upset if clothing is too small for me anymore, and I don’t find clothes shopping as stressful as I used to. Clothes are meant to fit me, not the other way around! 

I’m still working on this one but I’m feeling more comfortable with letting go of the perfectionism trap. I’ve learnt that perfectionism is just another way of restricting myself. 

After this being my goal for so many years, I can finally say that I’m now focusing more on how I FEEL rather than how I look.

I sought support because I have been struggling with my body image for over a decade and was unable to “resolve” the issue on my own. I was looking for tools to better be able to handle self-criticism, comparison to others as well as to myself in the past, and in general low and negative moments regarding my appearance and eating habits.

Linda has helped me address more than just the things I contacted her for and has helped me make some real tangible changes (I’m still going to the gym every week and while I have lost no weight at all, I’ve become way stronger – exactly what I wanted).

Linda created a space that felt safe and judgement-free and in which I was able to admit things (out loud and therefore to myself, as well), which I would normally not dare to admit to others.

Linda challenged me to redefine the things which I regarded as flaws and to describe the person I want to be in new words. Those were my favourite exercises.

I’ve become kinder to myself, both regarding my “failures” (for example by not seeing them as such) and self-criticism.

I am more accepting of the way I look now and I am better able to avoid comparing myself.

Fun fact, the two things I wanted from my wedding dress were to hide my arms and my belly but I went for a form-fitted, sleeveless dress and really like the way I look in it!

I feel like I can rely on things we discussed, it’s like having a safety net to fall back on.

Since the age of 13 I have been aware of my changing body, weight, size, and how it looks. Over 20 years I have spent thinking about food, counting calories being on various diets and trying to change the way my body looks. To no avail. I was never happy no matter how big or small I was.

I was so sick of having my life literally revolve around food. Every thought was constantly consumed by food, how many calories I was eating and then subsequently burning through exercise, what I “should” be eating and avoiding (really, the list could go on forever).

Linda helped me through a process of being so fearful of all foods to being able to genuinely enjoy everything. Linda helped me feel more comfortable with who I was. That I am not what I eat, that food isn’t just for nourishment, but also something you can use to connect with people et cetera. I had always thought that food had no real purpose.

I also learnt that there are NO rules around food. I am now free with food with no judgement and total trust in my body. I now know that I am more than my weight. My body will go through changes, but the type of person I am will stay with me forever.

This work I was doing for myself will help my children in the future. I can also teach them how to listen to their bodies and nourish them. Working with Linda was truly a life changer!

I wanted to do counselling with Linda because I was hoping to learn more about how I can be a better parent to my children. I wanted to learn why I was dealing with an unexpected difficult situation with my daughter.

I find Linda approachable, attentive and caring without judging. I liked how Linda counselled me and I felt comfortable even though I was terrified to start with.

I liked how Linda listened to me intently and actually helped me articulate what I needed to say. Linda was warm and sincere. She brought me back to the subject when I rambled on about other things. Linda made me feel comfortable talking about the issues I had. 

I’ve learned to be myself while framing my words in a different way. I am now finding compromises between the way I speak to people and the way they perceive what I say. I am able to leave the past behind and focus on what I can change. I am able to give my girls space to live their lives and to stop criticising what they do, it's their life. I am now better at setting boundaries for myself and communicating this to others in a positive way.

I would get in touch with Linda again without hesitation if I needed to. I’ve been to other counsellors before who left me cold and not wanting to return but Linda made me feel listened to and cared about.

I came to see Linda because I wanted to process some of my fears around a new diagnosis while not resorting to diet-culture solutions. I also wanted to unpack why exercise was so difficult for me and find new ways of engaging with exercise that worked for me.

Linda is empathic and understanding, with a strong body-positive focus. Linda is flexible, which meant that I felt able to talk about what I needed to.

Linda helped me become aware of and work through my hang-ups around exercise. I now do yoga reasonable regularly and I am also still managing to eat with enjoyment (without bingeing), despite needing to replace a few things due to a medical diagnosis.

I initially went to coaching/therapy with Linda as I was feeling constantly feeling at war with my body and struggled hugely with body confidence. I had a lot of guilt around my eating and exercising habits and really wanted to find freedom from this.

Linda was/is a fantastic coach as she has been through some similar experiences and really understood where I was coming from and how I felt. Linda has a great sense of humour and is able to create a very safe environment to share. She is excellent at helping give another perspective and at showing the difference between what you may perceive to be true versus what is actually real. She provides consistent, calm and straightforward advice with no judgement and really believes in you.

What I've gained from the sessions (apart from feeling like my whole life is different!):

- A different perspective on what I eat and how I feel about it. I no longer feel shame or guilt towards food and eating (woohoo!!). It's something that I genuinely didn't think was possible to achieve before this and my whole attitude and approach to food is different now. I now want to nourish my body rather than judge or feel guilty for everything I am putting into it.

- I don't feel resentment towards my body like I did before. Linda's sessions have helped me to come to more peace with how I look and feel in my body. I used to be hyper-aware of how I felt in public situations and worried about everyone's opinions but through working with Linda I have learned tools to change my perspective in these situations.

- I feel more confident in myself!! Prior to coaching, I hadn't worn shorts in public in about 4-5 years at least and now I am the proud owner of a new pair of shorts which have been worn in public on multiple occasions.

I was struggling with an eating disorder when I found Linda. I was hoping Linda would help me on my journey to food freedom and she really did!

Linda did not treat me like a number, which is the case at many other places where you can find help for eating disorders. She is kind and takes the time to really listen and find solutions that suit my situation.

Linda makes time for you and listens very well. She is kind and makes sure you feel comfortable. She is honest and shares excellent tips. I have gained insight into why I have struggled with food, I am more honest about my struggles and have found more freedom around food!

Talking to Linda is like chatting to a friend and our conversations are relaxed and without judgement.

Linda has helped me to understand why I sometimes turn to food for comfort and now that I have that awareness, I can make different choices.

The process has been really freeing for me. It is a great feeling to have no restrictions on the types of food I eat. I now eat delicious food at nearly every meal (but sometimes life gets in the way!).

I have been getting mentally stronger around food and the way I see myself. My self-talk is much kinder than it used to be as I no longer berate myself for my food choices. I have also noticed that I have more energy all throughout the day and generally feel much happier.

I have changed my reason for exercising too, it is now for the way it makes me feel instead of burning calories. I love it so much more!

This isn’t a quick fix. There is still work to be done to undo the 35 years of mental and physical damage that diet culture has instilled, but I know that I have great support in Linda.

I want to thank you again so much for how much you have changed my life already.

I find myself being more positive about myself and feeling so much better in general. I’m now able to go days without thinking negatively about my body, rather than thinking about it and feeling upset 24/7.

I am able to accept how I am right now rather than feeling like I have to lose weight.

I now feel freedom around food and exercise. I understand that I do not have to force myself to exercise which has brought back my motivation and my enjoyment. I now focus on exercise for how I feel, rather than trying to change how I look.

I would recommend your service to others, it has honestly been transformative in my life!

I have found working with Linda really valuable, I have learned so much about myself!

She really understands what it's like to struggle with food and body image. I have a completely new perspective on life.

Linda made me feel comfortable and safe right from our very first session.

Linda made the sessions fun and lighthearted but also provided a space for me to be vulnerable and to feel the emotions I was feeling.

Linda provided me with strategies that have already made such a positive difference in my life.

I can now have snacks that I enjoy in the house without feeling as though they are ‘bad’. I eat them when I feel like it and enjoy them more because I no longer have the mindset that all ‘unhealthy’ snacks have to be eaten on my one ‘treat day’ a week.

My mindset around exercise is a lot less fixed. I exercise when I feel like exercising and for an amount of time that I choose on the day. I can now recognise when I am thinking in a way that is negative or unhelpful and the majority of the time I am able to interrupt those thoughts and replace them with more helpful, positive ones.

Linda has helped me massively and has provided me with strategies that I know I will be able to use for the rest of my life!

Linda was great at making me feel comfortable to be completely honest/open with her.

 

I struggled with this with the clinical psychologist I had previously worked with.

 

Linda has helped me to form new habits with food and understand more about intuitive eating. Food is now NOT the first and the last thing on my mind! I feel more in touch with myself and have strategies to help me deal with my emotions.

 

Linda also helped me to see that my worth is not in my appearance!!!

The coaching sessions with Linda has honestly been transformative in my life.

 

Linda has helped me accept how I am right now rather than feeling like I have to lose weight. I’m now able to go days without thinking negatively about my body, rather than thinking about it and feeling upset 24/7.

 

I now feel freedom around food and exercise. I understand that I do not have to force myself to exercise which has brought back my motivation and my enjoyment.

 

I now focus on exercise for how I feel, rather than trying to change how I look.