Hello, my name is Sophia!
I would like to share my journey into the world of self-discovery and emotional maturation, in which I immersed myself together with an experienced guide - Catherine Thomas.
I will start my story with a brief account of myself: I am an aspiring scientist, and at the age of 17 I went to England to study, where I received my Master's and Bachelor's degrees from a rather respectable university. I very much liked to chew the granite of science and in general the process of learning biomedical sciences was easy for me. Upon graduation, for a number of reasons, I had to leave England and start my doctoral studies in a small European country.... That's when my world turned upside down...!
The new country greeted me with gray colors, unfriendly cold people and a number of strange things that sometimes just made me horrified and bewildered. My mood began to change drastically for the worse.... The situation was aggravated by the longing for my beautiful young man who stayed in England, my wonderful family and the magnificent, full of life London. Moreover, my workplace and boss made my stay in this small European country almost unbearable! Every day was difficult for me, I could barely find the strength to "kick" myself out of bed. I was afraid to admit to my parents that my life in this strange country was unbearable. I resolved to act and seek a way back to England. And just as I found my way back, the unexpected happened: a pandemic and border closures....
From the moment the general quarantine was announced, a fog covered my head: apathy, despondency, anger, irritability, longing, sadness.... I felt like the world was falling apart and no one could understand my "grief"! I could not accept the fact that my plans could not come true, I stopped recognizing myself.... I tried to fight with my emotions and tame them with yoga, meditation, walks and sports. But nothing helped...
At that time I didn't think about therapy sessions with a psychologist, because in my culture and family it was not very common to talk about my emotions. And so it was a surprise to me when my Mommy, after a phone conversation, suggested that I seek professional help. As it turned out, my Mommy had already been reading Catherine Thomas' blog for some time with interest. I immediately contacted Catherine, and since then my journey of learning about "myself" began:).
From the very first session we established a rapport with Catherine, I was able to open up completely and share my "sorrows". I began to unravel the tangle of my emotions and put everything in its place. During our meetings I learned my values, realized my inner contradictions and roles: child, parent, adult. And most importantly, I got on the right path, step by step, moving towards emotional maturity!
Catherine played the role of a guide to MY own world! This kind of self-discovery initially seemed scary to me, but as we worked together, this fear slowly receded, and over time was replaced by an interest in everything that was going on in my inner life. I was surprised at how much I was interested in learning about myself! With each session I felt more confident, starting to build on a gradually forming inner foundation. I changed my outlook on life and myself. And yes, I stopped crying (!), leaving somewhere far behind the position of a helpless child.
At the end of the course of therapy with Catherine, I finally felt like an adult young woman who knows her own worth! I also noticed that my relationships with my loved ones became even better, because after understanding my emotions, I began to feel and understand the emotions of others.
Thank you very much, Ekaterina, for your help and professionalism!