During quarantine, what I thought was a happy marriage very quickly turned into a painful separation. After being betrayed by my partner of over a decade, and losing control of a life that I had only just started to embark on in the Bahamas, I felt completely overwhelmed. I was introduced to Rima when I was at rock bottom, and after our very first session, I started to regain a semblance of self-worth and structure. When you are in the midst of an emotional roller coaster, you often don’t have the tools to dissect the situation and move forward in any kind of positive way. Rima has a soft touch, that enables you to really look within yourself. Our first session will always stand out in my mind. Using a visualization and breathing technique, she guided me towards my truth. With closed eyes, I described the images of a happy life that my brain conjured up and Rima asked a simple question, “Is that your life?” As I mouthed the word “No”, I realized that we had unearthed two possibilities, neither of which I had reflected on before. In the first place, happiness was not actually an accurate description of my former life. Perhaps this is not something I would have realized on my own. In the second place, in the midst of all of the pain and sadness, the happy life I had visualized was actually now in my reach. Rima opened my mind to these possibilities. As a single mother, with a full time career, trying to keep it together under quarantine, we did all of our sessions remotely. The freedom, convenience, flexibility and personalized communication with me via social media made the whole experience so much more humane than other counseling experiences I have had. I truly felt like I was not just a number, as often you are made to feel during these sorts of appointments.
Her structured approach promised that after eight sessions I would learn to feel happiness again. When you are rock bottom that is exactly what you want and need to hear. You justwant to know thatyouwillclimb out of it. I can honestlysaythat, eventhough I need a bit more time to reachmy full potential of self-love and internalhappiness,
I could not have come this far without Rima. I believesheis an excellent source of strength and guidance to getyou to whereyouneed to be. (C.W)