SUCCESS STORIES

You know, I tried so many other things and this is the only thing that’s worked.  It’s an investment you have to make.

Sleep is really important and you just need to go for it and get it done.

Frances is fantastic to work with and you’ve got nothing to lose, basically, apart from your insomnia.

                                                                                                     Steph 54, Chief Finance Officer

Success Highlights

Before working with me:

• loss of confidence in her ability to manage at work resulting in time off work on ill-health grounds
• anxiety and low mood
• irritable with family and work colleagues
• lack of energy and motivation to adopt healthy habits
• very disturbed sleep with an average of about 4 hours a night
• score on the Insomnia Severity Index of 26 – suffering from severe clinical insomnia

 After 6 sessions together:

• back at work full time and functioning well
• self-esteem and confidence back
• free from anxiety about sleep
• undisturbed nights sleeping for an average of over 7 hours a night
• excellent Sleep Efficiency score – spends over 83% of time in bed asleep
• score on the Insomnia Severity Index down to 4 –  no longer suffering from insomnia

1. What was your sleep like before you started working with me?

I would describe my sleep as a kind of permanent insomnia. It was really bad. I felt like I was barely getting any sleep in the night.  I kept constantly waking up and felt completely exhausted.

2. What impact was poor sleep having on your life/health/career/relationships/happiness?

I was really desperate. It was affecting my life on so many levels, including my mental health. I was struggling with work, with my confidence, with my mental health generally because I was just so tired all the time. I was grumpy and miserable all the time.

 I knew that there were quite a few things in my health space that I needed to fix. But I knew that if I didn’t fix my sleep then because of the importance of sleep, the rest of it would be almost pointless. Without sleep I was never going to be able to solve my other my other health and wellbeing priorities.

Worrying about sleep became the key focus of my whole life.

3. What made you decide to work with me?

I’d got to a point where I had tried so many different things, all the things that you can Google and various different things and I just couldn’t seem to get anything to work. They might help for a few days or a couple of weeks but then the insomnia just comes back.

 So I knew that I have to invest in myself to make it happen which is why I reached out to you.

I felt working with you was my last chance.

4. What concerns did you have about working with me or tackling your sleep problem?

I was concerned that it wouldn’t work. I was sceptical because I’d tried quite a few things before. I knew that one-on-one would help me but I was concerned that we’d get to the end of the process and I still wouldn’t be able to sleep.

5.  What did you enjoy and/or feel challenged by in our work together?  

I enjoyed our consultation Calls.  I found those really helpful.  On a personal level you’re really easy to work with. I particularly appreciated the way that you encourage people and the way that you coach; you’re not just thinking about the sleep hygiene and sleep side of things, but you’re also thinking about the wider areas within somebody’s life.

A lot of people associate sleep with what they do just before they go to bed. But I never really thought about how actually, what I do during the day, has a big impact as well.

I’d tried a programme before but it wasn’t bespoke to the same extent that yours is. The one to one aspect was the thing that I really needed and appreciated.

6. What impact has our work together had on your work and life generally?

It’s changed everything! With good quality sleep I’ve just got more energy.  I can focus on my other health and wellbeing and personal priorities.

I don’t worry about sleep anymore. I don’t consider myself an insomniac.  It’s no longer a key focus of my life.

I just don’t think about it anymore.

I do have ups and downs but on the days when I maybe feel as if I don’t get as much quality sleep as I’d like I no longer lie there worrying about it. I can brush it aside and say to myself   “I know I can sleep well. It’s just a blip.’

All this has had a knock-on effect in terms of my relationships with my husband and my family. Because I’m a more relaxed and calm person inevitably means that those relationships are a lot better and also those at work.

At work I’ve lost count of the number of people that have said to me, “Oh my god Steph looks so well and healthy” and it’s fantastic feeling, it really is.

7.  Did anything surprise you about my Sleep Well Programme and its methods/impact? 

Overall some of the content was familiar to me but the thing that surprised me most was the way that you look at sleep from an overall perspective. Probably the bit that surprised me is the journey that you take during the day and it’s not just the hour before bed for example, it’s about how you actually look after yourself during the day.

8. What would you say to someone who was thinking about working with me? 

I would say to anybody who’s reaching out to you to say

 “You’ve just got to do it and 100% go for it. Go all in with it and it’ll work. Don’t bother with anything else.”

You know, I tried so many other things and this is the only thing that’s worked.  It’s an investment you have to make. Sleep is really important and you just need to go for it and get it done

Frances is fantastic to work with and you’ve got nothing to lose, basically, apart from your insomnia.

   This programme is a ‘game-changer’.  

                                                 I’ve had sleep problems for years which contributed to significant period of ill-health

                                                              and this helped me get back on my feet and ready to face the World again.

Antony, 47, Senior Partner, UK Law Practice

Success highlights –

Before working with me

• exhausted at work and had to take 4 months off work due to ill health
• a great strain on family relationships
• considerable health impacts
• only getting about 4.5 hours a night including at weekend
• score on the Insomnia Severity Index of 18 – suffering from moderate insomnia

 After 5 sessions together:

• back at work full time  and able to maintain health and productivity
• sleeping for an average of 6 hours a night
• excellent Sleep Efficiency score – spends over 87% of time in bed asleep
• knows what to do on the odd bad night and is no longer anxious about getting to sleep
• score on the Insomnia Severity Index down to 5 –  no longer suffering from insomnia

1. What was your sleep like before you started working with me?

Poor.  I have struggled to sleep at various points in the past.  However, it reached a low point over a 2 year period when dealing with 3 large (and difficult) cases.  For the final 6 months I was unable to sleep for 2 – 3 hours at a time and on occasion I was awake for several hours.  This, combined with working pretty long hours, led to me have 4 months off work due to utter exhaustion.  I started working with you in that period.

2.   What impact was poor sleep having on your life/health/career/relationships/potential/happiness?

See above: 4 months off work, considerable impact on my health and a great strain on family relationships.

3.   What made you decide to work with me?

I needed help! Whilst I could have bungled along as before, being off work made me realise I needed more direct assistance.  I had read Nick Littlehales’ book in the past and knew the importance of sleep.  I just wasn’t very good at it. My wife had heard of your work from a friend.

4.   What concerns did you have about working with me or tackling your sleep problem?

No real concerns but maybe feared there was not a lot that could be done that I hadn’t already tried.

5.   What did you enjoy and/or feel challenged by in our work together?  

Bringing a structure and some clarity to how sleep works and what’s required for a ‘good night’s sleep’.

Also, the fact that the course builds as it progresses with progress being marked and clearly measurable.  I appreciated being set tasks which seemed achievable if I did my part.  I also valued the structure to the tasks and their evolution over the weeks.  Also, seeing progress. Not always linear but always in the right direction.

There is some real substance to the programme.  A lot of ‘sleep therapy’ articles/programmes are pretty flimsy once you dig below the surface (have a cool room, don’t look at a mobile phone, listen to music, drink herbal tea, etc, etc).  90% of it is superficial nonsense.

Here, you get the sense that the programme is carefully thought out whilst also being bespoke for each person.  Not an easy thing to achieve.

Also, Frances has a great manner.  She provides help over and above the basic ‘sleep’ requirements, looking at what else is going on in the person’s life and how she may be able to help (in my case returning to work after a long period off through poor health).

Explaining how each session is going to work at the beginning is a small thing but helps the attendee understand ‘the plan’.

As someone who’s naturally inquisitive but at the same time a natural cynic I thought this worked really well. All is all, a very good programme (from someone who was notoriously poor at sleeping).

6. What impact has our work together had on your work and life generally?

I’ve been back at work for over a year.  On the whole using your techniques as and when needed has worked well.   I’m a long way from the Zombie who came to see you!
I’m sleeping for longer durations.  Have a plan if things don’t work: breathing exercises / focusing on other things / reading to break up the thoughts churning through my head and if all else fails getting up to get a tea.

8.  Did anything surprise you about my Sleep Well Programme and its methods/impact? 

I wouldn’t say surprised. I was pleased with the progress and impact, and enjoyed working with you.  I had been referred to a counsellor in the past through work health insurance.  There was no comparison: her work was based on a preordained script and wasn’t adapted for my circumstances.  I’m not ‘special’ but my situation is not the same as say policeman / teacher / A N Other.

10. What would you say to someone who was thinking about working with me? 

Go for it. There’s a lot of on line courses / so called ‘experts’ out there.  However, on the whole, there’s no substitute for sitting down with someone who knows their subject and is focusing on your unique situation.

This programme is a ‘game-changer’.  I’ve had sleep problems for years which contributed to significant period of ill-health, and this helped me get back on my feet and ready to face the World again.