Archives: Testimonials

“I started working with Sebastian at an absolute low-point. Career, relationship and health seemed to crumble. My mood was continuously low and I often felt anxious and nervous. I needed fixing and to get back on track. What surprised me most, was that Sebastian…

Continue reading “Henry, Investment Banking”

“It has been a tough time with Covid, but we are much happier now and we back on course. I want to thank you for everything you did for us. We were in such a bad place and I really feel like we have come out the other side, hopefully much stronger for it.”

I give Sebastian five stars – wholeheartedly.

Through his counselling I became more aware as a person, with a greater understanding of mine and other people’s behaviour. I feel the benefits of my counselling both personally and professionally every day. I worked with Sebastian on a 1-1 basis and then joined a men’s group as I went through a divorce.

Thank you for all the help you have given me in 2020. Im in a much better place now. 

Sebastian is a mindful and perceptive guide and counsellor. He understands me well and is able to propose insightful solutions to my problems from his general knowledge and experience as well as his mindfulness practice and training. I look forward to our sessions eagerly and enjoy them thoroughly.

It’s not always easy for a man to open up and accept to be helped. Like a lot of others, I have first tried to fix my problems alone and failed miserably. Of all the practitioners, I chose Sebastian because we have some common interests as it was important for me to get easy bounding. 

In just a few sessions, using subtle methods, Sebastian made me accept the obvious that I was denying (the depression) and gave me easily implementable exercises and techniques, which is what I was looking for. I didn’t want a long therapy, I wanted to see fast measurable results and I got just that. I highly recommend Sebastian.

The MCBT course with Sebastian helped me uncover valuable self knowledge and develop a stronger awareness of who I am. It opened my eyes to a significant number of unproductive patterns and themes that were constantly showing up in my life and that are not the least conducive to a fulfilling life. It showed me that suffering is, in fact, a choice.

It wasn’t and it still isn’t easy to implement the techniques and keep steady a routine of breathing and meditation and I still have periods of self doubt and victimhood but, today, I am more equipped to deal with the challenges that come my way and less prone to jump into action and want to change what it’s not under my control. And actually be ok with that.

As an expatriated family man, the stresses of my Hong Kong professional life had begun to take a toll on my emotional wellbeing. The program helped me realise, in a non-threatening way, how to respect the health of the mind in the same way as the health of the body and armed me with the tools and techniques to set me on a path to greater physical and mental well being.

My journey through the program took me from a cynical non believer, worried about a load of ‘hippy mumbo jumbo’ to a realisation that the science of MBCT is well founded, and that the practicalities of training/exercising your mind are essentially no different to the practicalities of exercising the rest of your body.

Once I’d come to terms with this and realised that the rest of the group were no more or less normal or hippyish than me, the benefits of the training & shared experiences were outstanding.

It was an overall much more impactful experience than I’d expected for myself. I wasn’t sure if it would really help me with the struggles I’d had, but I went in with hope that it might help. And it did. 

Meditation was new to me but I stuck with the home practice assignments and felt good for it. I learned from others who said that when they had started meditation they didn’t see the point but then kept it up as they thought it would be good for them. I kept that same mantra in my head during the course where I could. ‘Keep going because it’s good for me’.

About 4 weeks into the course I experienced a stressful experience which through me off meditation as I was too agitated by my situation and too pre-occupied with processing it that I couldn’t bring myself to be still and meditate. The thoughts would be too strong. I did still do some of the home practice but just not all. But in one sense I am glad I went through this difficult time during the course as when I discussed with Sebastian and the group, it was accepted and deemed normal.

The fact that I was aware of it was important. And falling off the band wagon didn’t mean I couldn’t get back on. And I did get back on. And it wasn’t always easy but I kept going. I was determined to do what was good for me even if I didn’t always ‘feel like it’. 

 

Perspective and tools to deal with Depression and Anxiety and the Reduction of both.

I found (and find) it hard to be disciplined about a routine, though when I am more disciplined, I can sense an improvement.  Working in a group was helpful.  We all have different situations but similar challenges and needs.  We are not alone.

Living in this fast-paced city that is Hong Kong, I have had difficulties dealing with anxiety and chronical phases of depression. I trusted the program to help me to find some peace of mind and prevent relapse.

I was able to get some new perspectives and tools to handle properly each situation throughout the exercises and the sharing.

For me, the true power of this program is to be able to share and hear from the other participants. Having people around to bounce ideas and points of view to understand better the concepts of mindfulness was more than beneficial.

From one week to another, I discovered and learned several concepts that can directly be applied in my daily life. Highlight of the program: The silent retreat was really refeshing and a good sum-up of all our practices.

Sebastian is available and answers quickly. I came to him because I felt that I was stuck and that something was missing. Despite a comfortable situation, my life did not fit me – mostly professionally. I wanted to actively change.

During 5 months, we had 1-on-1 session every week or two. Thanks to a deep listening, wise questions, methods and approaches, he helped me identify my goals and make them clearer to me. He helped me to know more about myself, my core values and what really drives me.

By organizing my life around what really matter to me, I naturally changed my way to take decision and manage my time. Questions and reality were sometimes challenging but Sebastian did not push me. He let me process the information and find my own path. It was beyond my expectations since I took action fast.

I highly recommended Sebastian for those who want to be more aware of themselves and make significant changes in their life in a wise and efficient way.

Just turned 36, I felt trapped in a negative path after the loss of family members and people close to me. Everything was dragging me down …

I was also facing issues in my professional life, stress and financial pressure. Sebastian brought my awarness to the fact that I was in a depressed state of mind and helped me deal with it. He also guided me in getting back clarity of my Life Purpose. This therapy allowed me to reconnect with myself, pursue what is good for me and how to prevent and control different kinds of temptations which were distracting me from my goals.
Getting back clarity and control of my mind allows me to be more focused and efficient in work as well as in my personal life. I now analyse situations and obstacles in a more objective way. I make better choices, take constructive actions and turn them into something positive.
If you feel down, lost, sad or trapped either in your professional life or in your personal life, don’t waste a minute, contact Sebastian. Life is too short, better take action and help yourself as soon as possible.

“… When I think back to who I was at the beginning of my time here, to where I am now, one of the people that I wish to thank is you.

Sitting on the couch at the very first meeting, crying my eyes out, I wasn’t entirely sure that you’d be able to help me. But you did.“

Continue reading “Natalie, Media”

I have been working with Sebastian for about a year now, seeing him once each week for an hour. I sought out a professional to help me handle the collapse of my marriage and the subsequent impact that had on my professional life, family life, living situation, friendships, and finances. Sebastian has been invaluable in keeping my mind focused, my head above water, and my emotions in check throughout this turbulent period …

… I find Sebastian to be calm, professional, objective, witty, astute, and above all, mindful. He challenges me to face head-on the issues in my personal and professional life, and brings a charismatic clarity and long term perspective to my blind spots. Often he will state the obvious, which is exactly what I need to hear. At other times, we will enquire together to reveal an underlying disfunctional pattern or behaviour. Whatever it is we’re working on, I know I can count on Sebastian to be objective and thorough. In all my interactions with Sebastian, he has been mindful, caring, and a stand for my success and wellbeing. I highly recommend Sebastian and am happy to act as a reference for him.

Our first year in Hong Kong was challenging for each of us individually, and the stress of dealing with our own challenges left us little energy to work on our relationship. We tried and tried but felt stuck. After trying to deal with these difficulties on our own, the frustration drove us to seek for help. Sebastian helped us learn how to express our emotions clearly to each other, and therefore to find where lies the difficulty. He helped us communicate better and understand each other better.

We both became more aware of each other’s emotional needs, and therefore the communication became gentler and smoother, which left us more time and energy to just enjoy each other. After several sessions with Sebastian in a couple of months’s time, we felt the great change in our relationship. Before, we spent lots of our time and energy to “deal with” or “solve” things in our relationship, now we spend them on loving and enjoying together.

Thank you so much for helping us learn and improve as partners and lovers – every hour with you had paid off big time.

Some time has passed since we last met and I just wanted to drop you a note to say thank you so much.

I had always been very reluctant to seek counselling- mostly to do with shame- but I would actually look forward to our sessions. You made it all so natural and friendly. I always felt comfortable and at ease. Continue reading “Alice”