Releaved Mother

Testimonial for Mary Johnson My child, who is 8 years old, participates in a number of competitive sports one of which is gymnastics. Earlier the year she was unfortunate enough to have experienced an ankle injury, which deemed her unable to train for a short period of time. She became well enough to return to training and found that she was faced with the pressure of catching up on missed routine; this was achieved in no time. Within a month my child had the opportunity to compete and although hesitant at first decided to ‘give it a go’. My child really gave it her best shot starting her routine beautifully, but all of a sudden stopped midway through. Frozen in the middle of the floor, having forgotten her steps, the tears began to well and she ran from stage crying her little heart out. From that time on, when it came to competition time, my daughter would suffer from panic and anxiety attacks, which thoroughly concerned me knowing that this was a very unhealthy way for her to feel. My child had obviously built up a wall in her conscience when it came to competing, the next competition came and the same thing happened. I had been told that Mrs. Mary Johnson had worked with other children successfully in the past, but I was naturally apprehensive as to whether I really needed to be taking my child to a Therapist or whether it would complicate things further. There was a notice posted at the gymnastics hall that there was another competition coming up and as I am a concerned parent and bearing my child’s best interests in mind I decided to give Mary a call. I simply did not want my child to experience that panic on stage again. I had taken my child to practice on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of her competition week. My daughter told me multiple times that she couldn’t do this competition as it was the ‘State Comp’, which had been built up in her mind. Deep down I’m sure she knew she could complete her routine, but she totally convinced herself to the contrary. I tried to explain to her that it was natural to be nervous and that a lot of people feel the sensation of butterflies in their stomach when it came to competing, this did not help. The State comp was being run on a Sunday and therefore we were all at training on the Friday before. At training my child told me numerous times that she couldn’t possibly compete, she was very anxious and negative. It was at this point that I decided to call Mrs. Johnson, hoping that she could see my child at such short notice. Mrs. Johnson gave me time, I explained the situation over the phone and Mrs. Johnson could tell by the tone of my voice how desperate we were to see her. She told me that she had plans to go away for the weekend, but would squeeze us in early on Saturday morning before she left for her trip. I was in disbelief; Mrs. Johnson had made a decision to put her personal time on hold to see us. On Saturday morning we came to the Well-Being Center and Mary Johnson spent time with my child. Mary warmed to my daughter, gaining her confidence and then played a few simple games (which I believe were NLP techniques) with my daughter, Mary also talked to my daughter and had her open up about her feelings, thoughts and anxieties and then took my daughter through some visualization techniques and taught her how to take control of her emotional state. My child didn’t say too much to me about what was discussed, however through this experience I truly believe that actions speak louder than words. My daughter arrived at the competition the next day and when time approached and she was called upon, her preparation this time was different to any other time. Before stepping onto the competition floor, she looked more confident and finished the routine, achieving her personal best, which is all a parent could ask for. My child was awarded placing in every event she entered which boosted her spirit, confidence and definitely her self-esteem as she had achieved what she had set out to achieve. Sometimes as parents we think children always bounce back and will be resilient to things that may not affect us, however some issues are intangible and if not acted upon may leave damage for later in life. I personally recommend Mrs. Mary Johnson very highly as a Therapist, having experienced first hand the outcomes that can be achieved. It was remarkable. With Thanks Relieved Mum Sydney NSW