Testimonials

Testimonials from Individuals
“I found it very easy to form an initial relationship with David. I liked his open and structured approach, and subsequent sessions have proved invaluable in dealing with my personal problems. David has managed to put problems that had frustrated me for years into perspective and I was given sound practical advice, which I have since used to good effect. Everyone’s problems are different, but in my case, I found the counselling of great benefit and on that basis I would highly recommend David’s services.” John M.

“If you’re in a place where you don’t know where to go, then the one thing I couldn’t recommend highly enough is that you go to see David. His ability to listen and contribute constructively is invaluable. I began in a bizarre way to look forward to our sessions and learnt an immense amount and my relationship with my family has improved beyond belief. David has left me with increased communications skills, confidence and self belief. Thank you.” David S.

“My experience with David was extremely positive. His welcoming attitude and room, followed by the professional help provided, was priceless to me and I now look to the future with a smile.” Penny H.

“After some changes in my personal and work life, I contacted David. I was very nervous at first as I had never spoken to a counsellor before. David’s friendly and relaxed manner put me at ease straightaway. After discussing my thoughts on a number of subjects, David offered practical advice to help me positively move forward with my life. David’s approach was like having an open and honest conversation with a non-judgemental friend who would happily provide support. I would recommend David to anyone who might be facing a stressful or difficult time in their life.” Alan G.

“I first went to see David during an emotionally challenging time in both my professional and private life. David’s kind and warm demeanour allowed and gave to me the confidence and assurance to open up about issues that I had never previously been able to discuss. I cannot thank David enough for his support throughout this difficult time that has allowed me to look forward to my future with a positive outlook that I never thought possible before.” Tom R.

“On first meeting David, I described my mind as a tangled mess. Having relationship problems, hindered by long-standing life issues, I was at a loss. With his kind, understanding and most importantly non-judgemental approach, I have learnt to deal with my emotions and problems in a more rational manner. It has been a difficult and painful journey, still ongoing. But no longer feeling worthless and having a more positive outlook, I feel able and strong enough to cope with my fears. Thank you, David”. Jane B.

“I want to thank you David from the heart for your patience and understanding and listening to me each week. Our meetings were very beneficial to me mentally and I think without them I would have fell apart. I no longer have silly thoughts about calling it a day and life goes on and you have helped me through that David. I will always be grateful to you David.” Tony M.

“I often thought counselling was not for me. It’s surprising how quickly you can get bogged down with your feelings but since attending David’s sessions, it has made me realise just how valuable his service really is. I now feel that I can deal with problems in a more productive manner.” Ian I.

“Thanks to my counselling, I have managed to overcome my emotional problems in a way that I can deal with them . This means that I can now focus more on the future and am feeling less stressed and more healthier. Thank you David!” Sam F.

“Previous to my counselling sessions with David, I’d spent years trying to deal with low esteem and extreme lack of confidence. David is very easy to talk to. He allowed me all the time I needed without ever judging me. We talked through the times in my past, particularly from my childhood, which had greatly influenced my feelings of being useless and not worthy of having an opinion. He asked me how I felt at the time when I told him about incidents in my life, my relationships with relatives, friends and colleagues and we would then talk things through. Often this would be quite painful and distressing but with David’s caring attitude and good listening skills, along with his non-judgemental explanations, I began to feel stronger.
He offered reading material and particular books which he thought I may find useful. At the end of each session David would give me “homework”. This I found really beneficial as I could continue to think things through more fully and allowed me to put into practice what we had discussed. At the beginning of the following session David would ask how I was and encouraged me to tell him about my life. But at no time did I ever feel pressured to do anything I didn’t feel I wanted to do.
At work I began to realise that I felt more confident. Situations, that previously I would have found really daunting, I dealt with professionally and calmly. Even when faced with unexpected tasks, I coped without feeling unduly flustered. I have joined in with activities that, in the past, I wouldn’t have considered and would have made an excuse so that I didn’t have to take part.
I have found David Woodward’s counselling sessions very rewarding. His skills, thought provoking explanations and descriptions, along with his naturally genuinely, caring personality has instilled in me the necessary coping mechanisms I needed and that I can continue to use and build on in the future.” J.

“Through the talks we had, you’ve given me better insight into my thinking patterns and my behaviour and I believe you’ve given me a better chance of making better decisions in the future by making me have a better understanding of my behaviour. Thank you for everything. God bless you. I learned a lot from you.” Ben F.

“I was experiencing my second bout of depression early in 2009; as per a lot of people I had doubts about counselling. I felt it was too American, being somehow a fringe science at best and initially resisted advice from my Doctor and family to give it a try. My family and friends at this time were suffering the full down side of my depression, as I was moody, sullen, argumentative and a general pain in the bum. It was my daughters, who I love very much and am eternally grateful to, that finally made me see sense and make the first appointment to see David.
During the first meeting with David, I still harboured all my initial doubts re the usefulness of counselling. However, within a short time, we established a rapport and I found we could talk easily about anything. During this time we established a few basic elements of my depression talking briefly about good and bad thought processes. I was quite sorry when David said we had run over our time, as I was re-evaluating my misgivings with the counselling philosophy.
I met with David on a weekly basis during which time we talked at length over problems I was having with work and home life. Throughout he was my rock; we could talk about anything and everything. He had many ‘tools’ that were invaluable to overcoming my depression.
Soon life and relationships started to improve so much that I could resume work on a phased return – building my hours up over the weeks. My Doctor had told me I would know when I would be ready to return to work but without David’s help and family support, it would have been a lot longer in coming.
I am a convert. I no longer call it psychobabble and I wholeheartedly recommend that anyone with depression or relationship problems should visit a counsellor. I can highly recommend David Woodward as an excellent example of one. Yes, you can talk to David about anything. He is never shocked and does his utmost to help.” John H.

Testimonials from Couples
“After being married for almost 9 years, married life as we knew it had been struck with crisis and we did not know where to turn. After first trying another national counselling service, we found we could not “relate” to it at all! We found David through his website and have never looked back. Our marriage was on the rocks, but David’s approach to us and our situation was positive and encouraging and we found that we could relax 100% in his presence. He has given us priceless communication tools which we will use forever. Encouraging, engaging, positive, empathetic, sympathetic and professional are just a few of the words that come to mind when we speak of David. He has been instrumental in helping us help our marriage and we will be eternally grateful to him for that. Thank you David!” K. and A.

“Prior to our meetings with David we were a broken jigsaw puzzle ready to be abandoned. David has helped us to put the pieces together and now we are a whole and complete picture together. Thank you David.” K and P.

David has given us the skills to move on in our marriage and the confidence that we will overcome any future problems with the skills he has taught us.Through careful listening and amazing insight, he was able to unravel hurts and misunderstandings going back many years. Our whole approach to each other has changed and we feel happier and closer than we have ever been. My husband had resisted my attempts to see a counsellor for years and embarked on it with no confidence of success. However he is now a convert and thrilled with the results. Thank you David – I wish we had found you years ago. J. and J.

“We weren’t sure what to expect when we first embarked on marriage counselling, but David put us both at ease quickly and was constructive without being judgemental. Over a short space of time, David has given us the skills to communicate effectively within our marriage. This has meant that we have learned to appreciate each other’s differences and avoid major conflict – going forward in our relationship. David has introduced us to some simple techniques which have helped to save our marriage. If only we knew about them before!” J. and D.

We went to see David regarding my husband’s interest in pornography, seeking his guidance in something that was very difficult to talk about. Even though there was no specific mention on his website of his ability to do counselling re pornography, we felt, after reading the testimonials of others, that David’s overall approach and skills in counselling would serve us well and we were right. David helped us to communicate to each other what we were thinking and feeling and we resolved the issue to mutual satisfaction. He relates really well to both men and women and we would highly recommend David to anyone seeking counselling. C.and J.

“We were going through a rather difficult time in our marriage and I felt there was a real danger we would not pull through together and that we would drift apart. I felt a strong sense that we needed help to understand each other better and to reconnect. David helped us by giving us an opportunity to listen to each other, to take time out to sort out the issues. He gave us tools like ‘Active Listening’, ‘Relationship Skills Self-Evaluation’, ‘Love Languages’, ‘Myers-Briggs Psychometric Profile’, etc. As a consequence we are now stronger than ever. We understand and respect each other’s differences better and we have reconfirmed our love and commitment to each other. Seeing David really helped us. We continue to see David as a M.O.T. marriage check up every three months which is really helpful and gives us an opportunity to reflect on how we are doing as a couple. David has the skills experience and life insight to effectively assist couples through their marriage challenges.” B & D.

“Following the discovery of an ‘emotional affair’ our marriage was in serious trouble. We decided we needed help when it became almost impossible to communicate without an argument occuring. We found David online and on our first visit, although there was a lot of pain and anger, David made it possible for us to express what we were feeling – and the relief was enormous. David painstakingly worked with us through all of it – the blame, denial, guilt, shame and recrimination – and through his completely non-judgemental and cleverly constructed guidance we finally started to listen and understand one another. He showed us a way to begin to resolve our differences and forgive one another for any harm we had caused. His supportive and caring attitude together with his calming and ‘step-by-step’ approach enabled us to put the past behind us and start to build on the strengths of our marriage. Although we still have a way to go, we recommend David, without hesitation, to anyone going through emotional difficulties and thank him for all his help and on-going support.” P. and J.

Testimonials from Families
“Trust is a crucial part of any relationship and when relationships with our adopted teenage daughter reached breaking point, we knew we had to do something. Our social worker put us in touch with David and from the first meeting we instinctively knew he was someone we could trust. More importantly, our daughter trusted him and this was something that she has not been able to do with any other therapist in the past.
We see David fortnightly as a family and he has not only enabled us to talk openly about our hurts and difficulties but he has also given us the practical tools to try and communicate better outside of the counselling room. David’s own experience of complex couple and family relationships gives him a unique understanding; he has an empathetic approach and our children instinctively open up to him, sometimes even quoting him in between sessions. The mantra in our family has become….”David said….”
We are still a work in progress but we move forward with confidence knowing that we have David’s expertise, wisdom and support.” Lorna S.

“We felt like a broken family when we first came to David for help. The relationship with our eldest son Mark (aged 11) was under immense strain and we were all emotionally exhausted. Mark finally accepted that we all needed some help, recognised we had reached breaking point and really wanted to try and change. The majority of our sessions with David have been jointly with myself and Mark. Through David’s own experiences, openness, warmth and insight we both felt able to talk freely and honestly and I didn’t feel embarassed depleting his tissue supply either! From the very first session Mark felt comfortable with David and we both felt that he was someone who could help us ‘mend’ our family.
David has given Mark practical ‘anger management’ tools and has also helped him understand the effects his behaviour had on us all and the potential consequences for his future. Mark has really took on board the advice and coping skills David has given him. We have never felt that David was judging us, taking sides or preaching at us. We have also had a few Family counselling sessions where all four of us have been free to talk openly with each other and David has helped us listen to each other in a way we wouldn’t make time for otherwise. Six months down the line, we are a completely different family! Mark has learnt how to manage his feelings and is overall a much happier kid. We are all gradually repairing our relationship and being the family that we had always hoped we could be. We relax, laugh and have fun together (with the occasional rubbish day that any family has!). We have achieved so much as a family and Mark has matured and learnt some invaluable life skills – none of which we could have done without David’s help and support.” Hayley C.

Testimonials from Organizations
“As National Coordinator of New Wine South Africa, overseeing Counselling and Healing, I worked alongside David Woodward for several years. Together we built up and trained and coordinated a team of over forty counsellors in the Durban and KwaZulu-Natal area. David always showed great integrity, compassion and an ability to relate very well with others socially and professionally. He used his great skill in teaching to share his experience with others, enabling them to be trained effectively. He was a great asset to our team and proved to be an excellent motivator of other people. I would highly recommend him.” Garry Hare.

“David has been an excellent support to us, offering independent counselling to our members of staff. David has assisted us on a regular basis (often weekly) and during this time we have got to know him well. I can highly recommend David as a counsellor based on the good relationship we have developed with him.” Mike Creese. Centre Manager, Frontier Centre, Irthlingborough.

“I have known David for three years. David has developed his counselling skills to a high standard and this is reflected in the courses he has passed and his skills assessment on the Diploma. David is caring and understanding and is very much aware of the process of counselling and all it entails. I can highly recommend David.” Linda Taylor. Senior Lecturer in Counselling.