Client Testimonials
This new page gives people who have received help from the Aurora Health Foundation the opportunity to give feedback on our services. It will be added to ongoingly and we would like to thank all clients who have provided us with testimonials so far.
Please note that pseudonyms have been used and some of the information has been changed to preserve the anonymity of our clients. Ages and genders are accurate.
'Mary' - 31 year old female
In the past, I have received some help from NHS services, including CBT, but everything offered by the NHS was of virtually no help. Privately, I have spent years in Jungian therapy, as well as using hypnotherapy and EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), amongst other things. Some of the other therapy helped a little - but I was still unable to get to the root of my issues.
At Aurora, I have somehow got on a path of understanding that makes me feel that progress is happening where my fundamental feeling was of being stuck before. I feel that I am making critical steps forward towards recovery - and a completely different life. The atmosphere is something I have not come across before - it is compassionate in form and content. Everything about the place, the sessions and all the staff make it all about support and kindness. It is the therapeutic equivalent of unconditional love - which is the only real way of changing people's lives.
I think that most psychological services available are at best about keeping things on a more even keel, and generally, make very little difference to the day to day life of people who are struggling. In contrast, Aurora gives the sort of treatment that can make long term and deep change - where people can radically change their lives and free themselves from the issues that have been dominating and destroying their lives. The need for this sort of intervention in people's lives is impossible to overstate.
Personally, I am deeply grateful that I found Aurora. It would be amazing to think that this sort of treatment might become more widely available and that the kind of hope I have found might replace the despair of other people who have never received the sort of support that they need/deserve - and which Aurora is able to give.
'John' - 50 year old male
I was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder 8 years ago after suffering 15 years of severe stress in my job. During this time I have been under a NHS psychiatrist and had identified emotional abuse and abandonment in my childhood. I was on the waiting list for 5 years to see a psychologist and could not afford to see one privately.
I received counselling from my workplace, which was not at all helpful, but at Aurora I have felt comfortable to discuss personal issues such as various addictions that I have not been able to talk about before. I have also received complimentary treatments that have helped me relax.
In my opinion Aurora is unique because of its holistic approach to abuse and the mental health and addictions that are connected to it. People from all walks of life and incomes can have immediate care which is not available under the NHS.
'Sara' - 27 year old female
The Aurora Foundation gave me help and support at a time in my life when I didn't know where or who to turn to. I had contacted several counselling services which were impersonal, inflexible in terms of appointments and unrealistic in terms of cost. Due to the generous discounted rate at Aurora, I could afford to attend weekly and even bi-weekly sessions when I needed it most. It also helps that Aurora specifically deals with trauma.
The environment is tranquil and private which helped me relax. Susannah's experience, professionalism and flexibility certainly helped me to cope with a lot of pain and confusion in a safe environment. Her honesty, love and generosity are what makes Susannah stand apart and what really helped me in healing myself. The range of therapies on offer was extremely useful and affordable and I greatly benefited from the Indian Head Massage, Healing and Reiki. I had never had any of these therapies previously, but they really did enhance my development, helped me to relax and open up and added an extra element to the counselling work I was doing with Susannah.
Although I have now finished with Aurora, I feel happy in knowing that should the need arise in the future that I can always contact Susannah for help.
The only downside of the Aurora Foundation in my experience was that at the time I could have really used a residential facility, it could not offer it to me. However, I am confident that in the future this will become a reality.
I am eternally grateful for the time, patience and love shown to me by Susannah and her team. I recommend to anyone struggling as a result of past trauma to use this wonderful facility, I only wish there were many more in existence.
'Tina' - 29 year old female
I have felt completely accepted by Susannah as she understands. I feel that my spiritual development is extremely important to me and Susannah has helped me to explore healing aspects within this framework. I feel comfortable in the Foundation when meeting other clients as I know we have all been through similar experiences and it is a loving and accepting environment. I value the links I have through the Foundation which enable me to experience other areas of interest to me as well as access to certain magazines and books which I would otherwise not have been exposed to.
The environment is calm and loving and you feel immediately at ease. This is not common in therapist's offices. The opening hours are accessible to those who have to work during the day, who otherwise would not have come to therapy. There are many different therapies available under one roof which is important to those who are not at ease going to new places for these therapies.
I have found my experiences at the Foundation very valuable in that I am healing in a manner which resonates with me and I can understand. The progress I feel I have made in my short time seeing Susannah is phenomenal as I feel stronger and better able to cope and am able to trust my own healing and feel more confident in myself. I have a brighter outlook on life because I know someone understands me and am meeting like-minded people who I feel comfortable with. I have often felt like an odd-ball because my views and outlook are sometimes rather different from my colleagues and friends. I have since learnt that I am not weird and that my experiences are valid. I would like to continue my therapy at the Foundation because I feel like a curtain has lifted and I can make real progress.
'Sharon' - 28 year old female
There are many ways in which the Foundation has helped me. I felt my needs could not be addressed safely in other services, particularly as a result of the safety and trust aspect. At the Foundation I felt could share very personal information that I previously was unable to do in other settings. I never dreamt I could progress so quickly in my therapy or that I had so much to learn about and explore, which has since greatly improved my quality of life. I personally feel that the Aurora Health Foundation offers so much more due to the treatment there on mind, body and soul, where the latter I feel is pivotal in finding or rebuilding a sense of oneself.
"The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them."
— Ralph Nichols
"To be listened to is, generally speaking, a nearly unique experience for most people. It is enormously stimulating. It is small wonder that people who have been demanding all their lives to be heard so often fall speechless when confronted with one who gravely agrees to lend an ear."
— Robert C. Murphy
These quotes give an idea of what I feel was not been met in other services, but which I did find at the Aurora Health Foundation. There I found a place where I was heard and consequently could let go without such intense shame while feeling safe in knowing that if I needed the support it would be there for me.
In difficult periods of depression, where I couldn’t find the light at the end of the tunnel, I found a safe place to be. Even when I’m not there I know that there exists a place where I could feel safe, supported, taken seriously and understood. Where I felt like I mattered as a person and where compassion and kindness is shown; it gave me hope which I clung on to get me through those dark days. Having found trust I then began to ask for support from friends and from crisis help lines which was important for me.
The Foundation has a broad range of applications available for healing and therapy. The fact that it offers choice and and healing of the mind, body and soul makes it unique to other therapies as one can be free to speak and trust in the knowledge that this is ok.
"When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand."
— Karl Menninger
Also I found that another aspect of importance for me personally is the approach to anger management. I have really tried to find ways to express myself without harming others or myself and for the first time using the methods employed at the Foundation I have found a safe place to do this.
My experiences of the NHS is not very positive. Due to poor resources the support available is quite limited, especially for those reliant on therapy as treatment for moving forward with their lives. This is a very painful and difficult process often misunderstood by health professionals in the health system.
'Steve' - 48 year old man
I came to the Aurora Health Foundation after five years of depression during which I also experienced flashbacks and panic attacks sometimes spending days at time crying uncontrollably. This had a knock on affect in my business life as I found I was unable to carry on being the successful person I had become. At this time I owned a couple of properties, a boat and Mercedes. As time went by I had to sell all my assets to prop up the business and ended up with court judgment against me. I employed staff to fill my position as I was only capable of working part time and in a lot of physical pain and feeling tired all the time.
I have had 3 different GPs over the last 6 years due to me having to move after selling of my house and flat. I visited all three and was offered Prozac and other drugs. I did try some of these and found they dulled my thinking and I felt like a zombie on them as well as having acid problems in the stomach. I asked for counselling and one GP suggested I go to Mind. I did only to be told the local branch was closed due to lack of funding. I tried another branch and they told me it had a waiting list of a year.
During my sessions with Susannah I was able to discuss the abuse I had suffered as a child such as having my face rubbed into a urine stained mattress which I and two of my brothers slept on as punishment for one of us wetting the bed. Being strangled and having my mouth forced under a cold water tap until I lost consciousness. Being hit with a stick belt and my fathers fists until I was black and blue or unconscious.
Since starting my therapy I have been able to express much of the pent up emotions in a safe, secure environment. People now tell me I smile much more and am a happier person. If it was not for the help I have received from the Aurora Foundation I think my future would be bleak. It is not just the Foundation but the skill and care offered by the staff. I know I am very lucky to eventually have the help they have given me. It’s just a shame it took me 6 years to find this help. I am sure there are many, many people who have had experiences like mine that need the same help with the rest of there lives ahead of them. Maybe some of there lives will be cut short by drink, drugs or even suicide if these people don’t get this help. I have tried all three but am lucky to have a life and a future ahead of me. Thank You Aurora Foundation.
