Testimonials & Clients' Stories

On Sessions

“Within 30 seconds I was in a state of bliss. Within five minutes I was laughing and within 10 minutes I was in an altered state. When I left Mike, colours looked brighter, the world seemed full of joy and sensuality”
Naomi Wolf, Sunday Times article, 29th August 2010

“I have woken up feeling refreshed and flowing. When I turned up at your door I was petrified. Immediately you made me feel relaxed and safe by creating a sensual, sacred space to open, explore and expand – Thank you for your kindness and healing touch. The paints are touching canvas with renewed energy this morning. I am very happy”
Tara

“It was a wonderful experience and since then I’ve felt happier, more relaxed and more comfortable in myself. I’m also more aware of my breathing. I really appreciated how comfortable and easy you made everything. I’ve felt more confident and at ease with
my body and my sexuality ever since”
Anna

“Thank you for your care, tenderness and professionalism. It certainly went very deep”
Patricia

“A totally fulfilling and enriching experience which felt like the most natural thing in the world. I did not feel at all self conscious or awkward. It is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Mike’s hands are like pieces from heaven!”
Sarah

“What blew me away was how strong your presence is. It wasn’t until the next day that I realised that you opened me further than I can open myself.… thank you”
Heather

“Thank you for holding me so skillfully in my vulnerability”
Danielle

“After seeing you I hear my heart beat, I feel so alive, a real woman. Thank you”
Susan

“Thank you so much for your support, Mike. I received profound healing”
Katie

“Thanks, Mike. I feel grace and courage, feminine, protected, strength, clarity, focused…..a serene smile on my face”
Sally

On Skype Sessions

“My experience of therapy with Mike, via Skype, was great. Being home was convenient. Mike has an awareness which noticed my resistance and caught important, subtle details. He was gently challenging, helping me recognise un-healthy coping methods and habits. When he shared insights I became more aware of how my behaviours affect my life. I felt supported, encouraged to go deeper and safe. Mike was serious about our work, but could share a laugh with me when I found something funny about myself and my behaviour. He used creative methods for helping heal old wounds, like guided imagery, breathwork and role playing – even on Skype. The experience I had was very positive, healing and, because I learned some new approaches for tackling difficulties, I feel like I have a new set of tools to keep and use”
Laura – California, USA

Clients' Stories

Here are a couple of more detailed desciptions of sessions in the words of the clients themselves

Alice, 50

“I'm work in social care so I knew three routes that I could go down, a) Relate b)a psychosexual
counsellor or c) a male escort but none of them seemed right. When I read about what Mike does in the Sunday Times, I had a mini-epiphany. A session with him seemed exactly what I needed.

I hadn't had any sexual contact with a man for twenty years. As a teenager, I joined Christian group that believed in no sexual contact until you get married. So my first experiences where after I got married. I had my first child and my husband told me he was gay. We stayed together for the next ten years, had another child but very little sexual or physical contact. Finally, I woke up and realised I was acceptable whatever religious inculcation I had experienced. I divorced him, and he went on to meet a man and have a civil partnership.

Meanwhile I became asexual. The children were my focus and somehow my sexuality felt irrelevant. I probably felt that to feel sexual was wrong too, that God would think it was wrong.

But last year, I'd done a lot of work on myself, become a counsellor, left the Christian group and a
friend invited me to a 5Rhythms' dance class. It was all a revelation, a challenge and a shock. The
male friend who was married, asked me if there had been men in my life. I had to say 'No' there
hadn't been any. He said: “Are you dead from the neck down?” I was being tested. Also there were seventy people dancing wildly around in the room, clearly very comfortable with their bodies. I wanted to bolt and escape, and I managed to stay but I could only sit on the carpet. It was a gift
because that evening really put me in touch with the huge longing to contact that sensual, physical side of myself. I knew about my issues from the counselling training but I needed a physical experience.

Spirituality is an inherent part of who I am so I couldn't go down the male escort route. When I read the article about what Mike does, I realised that it had a spiritual dimension which attracted me. I also looked at his website, saw there is a client's charter, also you can take a chaperon if you like, and asked my male friend to check the website out. I was approaching the age of 50 and I wanted change. He told me to go ahead. So I did.

I arrived at Mike's house thinking if it feels uncomfortable when he opens the door , I will walk
away. But that didn't happen. At first, we chatted about what I was looking for, and what we could
explore, for an hour. I went through my family history and at the end, I was thinking 'I do trust this
guy'. It felt very safe with him.

It was also funny some times. I'd never been naked in front of a man before, and here was Mike
asking if I'd like to put on a sarong. I had no idea how to put it on. So he modelled one for me.
Different ways of wearing a sarong. We laughed. It helped.

During the first session, I had my first orgasm. Ever. I was there with him, and I'd decided that I
would go into the experience as fully as possible. I'd spent my whole life holding back, now was the time to let go. My aims were to explore being held by a man physically, and see how I responded to that. I was aware of how restricted I was in terms of being able to love and be loved. I wanted to moved toward being intimate with men. I felt like I was a nun, and that I'd been dead to men, so I wanted to change that. I wanted to see if that part of me could still be alive.

He massaged me, I cried, I laughed. I did keep disassociating but I tried to bring myself back into
the moment, and Mike would encourage me to do that. It was as though I was discovering embers
that were still alive. In a lovely tender way. And the orgasm was fabulous. I had the sense that there was so much more to me than I had discovered.

I've been back for three more sessions. The second one was hard to go to. Harder than the first. All these feelings had been awakened alongside difficult ones like rejection. Ones I'd kept suppressed for a very long time. It was very painful. My husband had never loved me, never really been attracted to me. I'd let the genie out of the bottle and now I was having to deal with it. There was guilt for not acting before, there was shame and hurt. It wasn't pretty.

I cried a lot in this session. I also felt in a lot of physical pain. It was all the guilt for staying
with my husband for so long. I felt I'd have preferred to have been raped by someone, that way I
wouldn't have made the choice. I felt shame in that I'd never experienced foreplay. It was a hard
session. But after I'd got through the pain – Mike was stroking and supporting me – I had a magical experience. I really connected to the divine and a huge heart wide-open feeling. It was so difficult by so worth it. I released and healed a lot.

I was really out of sorts for the third session because I arrived late. Which I hate doing. I was angry and irritated. So Mike asked what do I do when I feel like that? I said: “Lie on the floor.”
“Fine,” he said, “then lie on the floor.” So I did. Of course, I had my clothes on. He asked if he
could touch me. And I said “yes”. I started shaking and shaking, and he simply lay his hands on me. And was reassuring me at the same time. Then I started laughing. I laughed until I cried. He held me and laughed too. It was so healing. At the end, I was so aware of the presence of the divine, like an announcement of the next stage of the journey.

The fourth session was recently. I have a feeling I've almost finished now. I've been on some dates. I've thoroughly enjoyed them. I'd never been able to do that before. I feel it's important that I find someone who understands where I'm coming from.

What I've loved about seeing Mike, is that unlike some therapists, he doesn't create a dependency. The flow has been very natural and authentic.

Friends have noticed that something has changed. They say things like - “What's happened to you? You're glowing.” That's a great affirmation for me.

I think it's been a life-changing experience and I'd really like to see what Mike offers, available
on the NHS. It would be great if GPs referred women to Mike. They refer women to Relate
counselling, and in many ways, Mike's work is more cost effective.

Sarah, 36

I was feeling estranged from men. I'd had to take a break from relationships because I wasn't choosing the right men. I'd been single for a few years. But I'd tried Reiki and was in a women's group, so I'd started to understand what was going on with me. I'd thought that it would be good to find a male healer, and then I read the Sunday Times' piece on Mike.

Reading the article reassured me that Mike would create a safe space for me, and also be someone who could hold different emotions if they came up. That was important to me. I made the appointment.

On the day itself, I was scared to death. My heart was thumping. I had told one female friend to be safe. And she was intrigued. I'm a very instinctive person, so I would have left immediately if I'd felt frightened. But I wasn't. I talked a lot in the first session – I've had five or six – about my previous relationships. There was a lot of rage, and Mike was brilliant at holding the space. I think I spent quite a lot of time yelling 'Fuck Off' right into Mike's face. It was liberating.

After that, I moved into being held by him. Which was wonderful. I'd been rejected so many times by partners, when I'd got angry, that to have a man stay present with me in that place, was amazing. It was very cathartic, I was very emotional. That first session was mind-blowing. I woke up at 3am that night, and wept. I was emotional for a few days, It was such a big session for me.

It costs £100 an hour but that's a bargain in terms of what I got out of it. For the first three sessions, I went once a month. After the first one, I felt shocked. I'd seen glimpses of a part of myself that I'd never seen before. I was happy. The work was shining a light on hidden issues and emotions.

During the second session, I went very deeply into my childhood. The core of the matter. Mike did role play with me, and it was very, very challenging but I was ready for it. Through this work, I was able to better understand who I am now.

Then I had a massage at the end. Again it was cathartic. It's so healing to be touched by a male healer. I've always been to women before. This was so different. And so needed. Afterwards, I was quiet for a few days. It has affected my relationship with men in a very positive way. Before I was still reacting like a child, but that child has been able to grow up. A big barrier has been lifted.

And I never confused this relationship with Mike as any other than a healing one. I've always understood that. He makes the boundaries very clear. Also I always saw it as a way of exploring myself.

In my third session I had another massage from him, and then we moved into a more sensual/sexual space. One of the most important aspects of being in sexual space with a man, was that I could be freely emotionally. I'd often been in sexual situations where I'd been afraid to cry because the man wouldn't know what to do, or would reject me. This was different and very healing. Mike is totally present and caring if I feel like crying. It's so great to be in an intimate space with no agenda.

By the most recent session, I just felt incredibly free. I was really able to flow with whatever was happening for me. I cried, laughed and was in awe of the sacredness of what happened. Anything was possible, including orgasms. I've orgasmed before, and had multiple ones, but these were much deeper. They spread throughout my whole body. I was also able to orgasm with my vagina, rather than my clitoris, which I’ve never been able to do before.

I'd never had this sort of male presence before, and it was brilliant to be totally allowed to be myself in a sexual situation. Not having to rush. Being able to emote when and how I wanted. I have started to understand what it's like to be fully a woman, and that's huge for me. And this work has affected my daily life. It's as though I was stuck, and now have started flowing. I always wanted to work in publishing, and I recently found a job in the industry. Also I wanted to live closer to London, and that has happened too. It's had a profound effect on me. I feel confident that I will be in a good relationship very soon.