Amrit Sagoo MBACP (accred.); MNCS (accred.) Psychotherapy and Counselling in North London

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for our sessions! I have taken so much from them and continue to apply them to my every day! AB, July 2021

Earlier this year I was put under extreme stress at work and had what I can only describe as a breakdown.  I had reported my stress at work and asked manager for help, but she did not respond and help me and I could not cope with the pressure any more.
I was signed off work by my GP  in July 2020 and given medication and psychological support by my local health service.  I made contact with Contact and was assigned Amrit as my counsellor.  From the first day I spoke to her on the phone I knew I could trust her and that she really wanted to help me.  She has been a constant support to me in our weekly telephone sessions and I am so grateful to her for all she has done to help me back to health.  

Amrit was the one who told me that I would get better, but that it would take several months and to expect that length of recovery. I thought I would be better in a matter of weeks and if Amrit hadn't been so forthright and transparent from the start I would have been worried that I was not getting better and maybe never would.

She is a wonderful ,caring person and just knows the right things to say when I have been sobbing on the phone to her, when everything has felt hopeless and that I cannot cope.  The CBT online course with my local health authority was helpful, but on it;s own would not have taken me to a place of wellness. I needed to talk to someone who would listen, give me ideas and advice when I felt completely lost and unable to make even simple decisions. Amrit was that person for me. I could tell from the start that this was not just a job to her, she really cares about her clients and this is so obvious when she is helping you. As her client she made me feel, cared about, safe, and confident that everything was going to be okay.  I looked forward to our weekly phone sessions, although of course they were often emotional and difficult. I felt that I was not just a job to Amrit, she really wanted to help me get better and she believed in me that I would recover and be well again.  She really is a truly amazing human being and I am so grateful that she came into my life when I needed her. God really did answer my prayers.

I just wanted to let you know what amazing work Amrit does.  I am so much better now and am starting a new job in my local hospital in the New Year.  Amrit helped me find the strength and confidence to apply or for this role and attend the interview - not easy when you are suffering from depression and anxiety related to stress at work. But with her support I went for 3 interviews and was offered 3 jobs!  This helped me believe in myself again and that other people will value me in a way that my previous manager did not. That I am not hopeless and useless and pathetic, but I am a very experienced and skilled midwife and any organisation would be very pleased to have me work for them.

Amrit and I had our final session last week and I now feel ready for moving forward without her weekly calls. She has done her job and done it quite wonderfully.  I am sure Amrit is appreciated by all the clients she works with, but I am not sure that they all write to her to tell her what a difference she makes to us and our progress and our health and wellbeing.  Please forward my email to Amrit as she deserves to know how much she is appreciated for the wonderful caring work. Vanessa H. December 2020

I was apprehensive about sharing my thoughts and concerns before the first session but within a short time of talking with Amrit I felt completely safe and secure enough to reveal hidden aspects of my life . Amrit is warm and empathetic, this made me feel relaxed in her company . Importantly , she is also wise, strong and supportive . I felt Amrit was not judging me but was accepting and encouraging of my attempts to sort out difficult issues. I found it helpful that Amrit took my issues seriously but I was sometimes able to laugh in our sessions .I would recommend Amrit as a psychotherapist. - Joan, September 2020

I am really happy to have worked with you, too. I am grateful for many things, your attention, your thoughtfulness; for guiding me through this period in my life; for making me feel stronger and more confident. I am especially grateful that you confirmed that my intuition indeed works well. I’ll continue to listen to it. Our sessions and the lockdown days showed me that there is indeed enough room in my life for my art and my spirituality; something I knew was there but did not pay enough attention to - RB, June 2020

Thank you so much for helping me through what I needed to work through. I feel like a different person to the one that first met you. You helped me to see what I needed to see about my own life and gave me so much wonderful support in doing so. It feels sad to say goodbye, but it also feels a testament to all of the great work we have done together - Lucy, May 2020

Thank you so much for helping me through what has been such a difficult time in my life. I’m so grateful to you for providing me with a safe, warm, and kind space each week to be heard. My sessions were an anchor of light in my week, they gave me so much strength and always something to look forward to. It was really with great sadness that I said goodbye to you today, but I know it’s a reflection of how much the time meant to me. I will also never forget you and I am just so grateful for your time and wisdom, it has helped me so much. Thank you. - Laura M. May 2020

"It was bittersweet to say goodbye to you – I will miss our time together so much, but I feel content knowing that I have been able to untangle and explore so much that I no longer need to be in therapy. As you know, I have spoken to other therapists in the past, but never felt comfortable enough to open up to them. From the start of our sessions, I found you so warm, personable, and non-judgmental – very different from a lot of cold and clinical experiences that I’ve had in the past with mental health professionals. Feeling that I could be myself with you was my first big step in realizing that I can simply be myself with others; without having to constantly feel like I somehow need to prove my worth. We unpacked and examined so much more than I thought we would, and I have grown so much in the past few months by getting to know myself better through our sessions together. It has also been very healing for me to just have you bear witness – I had not realized how powerful it can be to just unburden myself from trauma by talking to you about it. Sometimes I felt as though I just left years of hurt and disappointment and anger behind when I left our sessions. I feel empowered to move on living MY LIFE for MYSELF. I have been able to let go of so much anger towards others that was only weighing me down. While I don’t condone things that have caused me trauma, therapy has helped me to gain perspective on why the people who caused me harm may have acted that way.

This poem by Mary Oliver will always make me think of you:

“Wild Geese”

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Thank you for everything – you were exactly what I needed at a time where I was desperate to be heard." Steph, January 2020

"Amrit was fantastic to work with and really helped me heal and grow as a person. They held a safe compassionate space, giving room in the conversation for me to talk and to be - but also engaged in dialogue, sharing insights, different perspectives and things to read & watch which I loved! I'd thoroughly recommend Amrit to anyone who is seeking something for themselves, you'll be in safe hands on this part of your journey." Ben. November 2019.

"The initial session was my first interaction with Amrit, and also my first interaction with a psychotherapist. I gathered the courage to confront my relationship crisis and I made the step that I believed was the best for me at the time, I opted for a remote session through The School of Life. In our first session, even though I started very nervous, I began to trust her early and found her very warm and kind. She accepted me for ongoing psychotherapy with her and convinced me to have trust in the process.

In the first weeks it was very unclear to me whether I make progress in my life or not, but I did expect the benefits to come in time. I soon realized that she is striving to make the best of our session time, asking key questions and making interventions with great finesse. She impressed me several times by asking precise questions that made me view the situation from whole new perspectives. Most of all I enjoyed that we made a connection and that she became to me an adult to whom I can confess intimate aspects of my life and have a mature second opinion, enhanced by her great experience as a psychotherapist. Her encouragement and reassuring gave me courage to work with myself in a more brave and systematic way. In our second month I started seeing real positive changes in my day-to-day life.

I also appreciate that Amrit has shown flexibility in the schedule and that at some point I was able to continue the ongoing therapy thanks to her accommodating her schedule to my needs. Prolonging the ongoing therapy continued my self-development and I got comfortable in extending the therapy areas, including my career and my family. The latest part of our sessions have been a real changer in my general way of approaching life's hardships and day-to-day struggles.

I thank Amrit for having the patience to analyze my life so thoroughly and pragmatically, for helping me make a big life decision in a mature way, and for offering me the guidance to the good inner state I have today!" Andrei M. November 2019

"I saw Amrit in October 2016 after suffering a number of panic attacks and general anxiety over past and present family and personal relationships. Amrit was Incredibly kind, patient, thoughtful and provided the most easy, warm open space for me to just talk, release and heal. I was almost instantly at ease with sharing parts of my life I hadn’t discussed for years if ever with anyone, it was what I needed to move on. Amrit realistically provided me with an approximation of how many sessions I would likely require and offered me follow up sessions during periods that were heightened. Amrit also was available over the phone or email if and when required. As time has gone by and my strength has improved as well as coping mechanisms that Amrit put in place for me I often reflect on my time with Amrit and credit her whole heartedly with assisting me in finding my peace. I know if I go off course, that’s ok, and if ever needed, I can return and confidently speak with her again. Thank you again Amrit for your help x" Anon.

"Thank u very much. U don't know how much of an impact you have had on my journey.. which has only just begun. Wishing you all the best also. X" Michelle M.

"A BIG thank you for all your help. You've saved two lives!" - - Magda L.

"Thank you for being so brilliant at your job and helping me to get through and make sense of a tricky time. You are very inspiring and have helped me to get more/back in touch with myself and what it means to me to be a woman." -- Becky B.

"I wanted to say thank you so much for everything. I can't really put in words how much you helped me at such a difficult time in my life, but I'm not sure I'd be where I am today without your guidance so thank you for helping me see the light again." -- Nikki G.

"Thank you for all your help over the months. Thank you for believing in me. You are an amazing and powerful woman." -- Anon.

"Meeting you has been an invaluable contribution to my life - despite being on the verge of falling down, you've helped me manage to step up higher than I've ever been. I'll keep it this way!" -- J.