Testimonials

I only wish I had access to Helen's services early in my career and would really encourage young people to see Helen.

She has provided me with awareness and clarity that equipped me to negotiate a role with my organisation which builds on my strengths and contributes to the vision of the company.

As you may recall, an internal opportunity had arisen at the time for me to apply for a Project Officer role within the fundraising team. After many careful and diplomatic conversations with my Manager and then going through the recruitment process, I was successful in getting that role. Everyone was supportive in the end as I was very honest about my journey thus far and my motivations for moving.

I've been in the Fundraising role for a week or so now, and am already feeling confident that this was a good move. Whilst it is a huge learning curve, and I am uncomfortable and challenged (in a good way!), I'm already starting to recognise that some of the things that suit my style or personality are much more catered for here in this role (i.e. I have a bright, relaxed, flexible team around me).

I will look to start some study in the new year, once I have my head around a brand new job/field of work.

So thank you, I've already felt the benefits of my sessions with you and am so pleased that I pushed myself to take the leap.

Standing at a cross roads and not knowing which direction to head in, I sought the assistance of Helen. Now I know that it is something that I should have done sooner. Helen helped me to build on my own understanding of my strengths, weaknesses and personal preferences.

We explored how they interact with one another and how they may translate into various career paths. I walked away from our sessions with greater clarity about the direction that I am heading in.

Finding Helen was the best thing that happened to my career. During our consultations, I learnt so much about myself and with her help, I uncovered a career path that I was passionate about.

A month after seeing her I quit my job and enrolled in a Marketing & Public Relations degree. One year later, I am so happy and planning to re-enter the workforce in my chosen field. I am so grateful to you Helen for all of your help! Thank you!

My self esteem was in tatters and I was doubting my abilities and skills. Through a series of consultations and discussion with Helen, I was able to grapple with my emotions and the situation to overcome those doubts and formulate a path forward. On reflection, Helen had prevented the onset of depression and made me realise that I was in mourning.

I am certainly in a more relaxed position and it is becoming easier to identify a sense of life/work balance compared to what I was used to ie. long hours, stress, blame culture and so on. While I still miss some of the cut and thrust of a highly competitive, high achieving corporate environment, it is becoming easier to adjust to a more "life affirming" work environment.

I really value your work and have recommended you to people that are as lost as I was.

I wanted to fill you in on my career path since I did the career assessment. I was asked if I'd like to help with a complex IT based project at work and three months ago was given the okay to manage it on my own. This is a big benefit for this IT company as I am an employee who knows the business, the people and am an accountant. Usually this work is done by an external consultant.

Since then I have focused totally on this work and I've told the company that I will be moving on after the system is implemented. This IT company want me to be an implementation specialist as I have the skill in strategic planning, business knowledge as well as an accounting background.

I no longer do any accounting work but project work which is dynamic and exciting. I visit different locations and the staff have told me that I inspire them because the new system will make their lives so much easier. I can be flexible so if I don't need to come into work I can work from home. It's perfect. I would never have looked at this kind of work before as I would have thought it was purely financial but accounts is only a module of an entire integrated system.

From there, Helen was able to provide me with possible career pathways that I had never fully considered. I am now excited about the clarity I have for my career and all the possibilities it will provide me with.

I cannot recommend her services highly enough.

Through the confidence and belief you instilled in me and in helping me think differently about ways to combine my skills and interests. No mean feat! Thank you.

I hope our paths will cross again soon...

Knowing that she had assisted others with similar experiences in my profession was comforting and it helped to know that I wasn't 'the only one' who had come to question their career choice. Talking to her helped me to identify what I value in my work and life generally.

I found Helen's details on the internet and decided to get in contact. After an initial discussion on the telephone, I decided to work with her. I was based in Europe, but distance didn't cause any problems. We managed to get access to career planning software online and conducted all sessions by a Skype.

We spent 5 sessions together, and as a result I now have a clear head and a career direction. After 2 months of searching for a job in my new chosen field, I managed to secure a position. I am now thinking about doing further study to advance my career further.

Astoundingly, I have never met Helen, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommended her to anyone else looking for some direction.... even if they may be situated 17,000 kilometers away from her office.

You enabled me to see the true value and importance of things I have known about myself, but taken for granted. You gave me clarity.

I wanted to use the opportunity of moving interstate to allow me to fundamentally reconsider my work life. Above all, I wanted mature and realistic discussion of new career opportunities based on my actual interests and skills.

I found Helen's approach to be empathetic, courteous and, above all, helpful, in clarifying issues, providing clear and realistic advice and, while allowing me to consider new career options, to be more realistic about the potential for growth and development within my current profession.

Highly recommended.

I felt she was deeply engaged in the process and I have referred clients to her who have given good feedback.

Undertaking scientific research at a prestigious university had been a dream of mine for so many years, when the experience was virtually nothing like I had imagined, I knew a long-term career in science was definitely not for me.

However, I really did not have any concept of what type of career would be right for me. Helen came highly recommended to me by a friend and I rang to make an appointment with her almost immediately after I had submitted my thesis.

Within a few minutes of speaking with Helen at my first session, it became clear that my character, how I liked to engage at work was not well suited to a career in Science. I needed, for example, more people contact, she supported me in my decision to discontinue. This was a huge relief to me! Unlike some other career interest tests I had completed in the past, which merely involved ticking boxes, Helen actually got to know me on a personal level. As a psychologist, she could easily assess my character/personality and make informed decisions about career paths that would not only suit my skill set but also my personality. After seeing Helen, I felt more positive about my future career prospects than I had in a long time. One of the options Helen presented to me was psychology, which I had contemplated in the past, but never acted upon.

After interviewing several psychologists and researching the qualifications required to become a psychologist, I decided to enrol in a graduate psychology course. It's only early days, but I already feel more at home in the field of psychology. I'm excited about hopefully becoming a practising psychologist or a research psychologist, or maybe even both! My years in science certainly have not gone to waste either as I still work part-time in the lab to fund my psychology studies. My life is certainly much happier and fulfilling than it was a year ago.

We set goals, planned processes to reach them and constantly monitored how I was going. Finally we had closure when I started my course and then secured employment.

Australian Test Cricketer, Senior Coach, Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy

As a mature-age student it's a bit of a challenge financially but I'm looking forward to the change and am taking steps to work this out.

It feels great to be turning over a new leaf and I have become very interested and quite passionate about architecture, so I feel confident I have made the right choice.

Thank you so much for the work that we did together as I think this really helped to break out and explore new ground, and think about what would really make me happy. I never would have considered this as a career until we started looking at options but it really makes sense to me and brings a lot of what I have done both personally and professionally together. You also gave me the confidence to go for it! I'm looking forward to leaving the administration world behind at last and to following my creative passions!!

Helen was able to show me how my experience to date in conjunction with qualities I had not been able to draw upon, could be used to set the course for the next stage of my working life.

Her work confirmed for me that I was capable of much more and my next career is definitely a step in the right direction.

Thank you Helen.

Her assessment program not only clarified the career possibilities for me but also gave me insights into my personality and highlighted the fields of employment which would suit me best. During our sessions, Helen applied her wealth of experience in careers counselling along with her great listening skills and compassionate nature to guide me in the right direction on my quest to find secure, satisfying and suitable employment with the possibility of career advancement. She offered practical advice and suggestions on how and where to seek further information and showed a great commitment to achieving the best outcome for me.

Perhaps most importantly, Helen boosted my confidence (which had taken a beating after being made redundant at age 50). She reminded me that many of the skills and experience I took for granted in myself would be highly valuable and attractive to a prospective employer. She did this in a sincere and constructive way. As testimony to her skill as a careers counsellor, I recently secured a full-time position which ticks all the boxes Helen had listed for me. I am truly grateful for her guidance and support.

I needed someone with the expertise, who understood both the professional and scholastic landscape that would see me reach my dreams. Helen provided this advice in a way that helped me feel confident about getting there as well as a forum to discuss important issues that shaped my opportunities to succeed.

Four years in, whilst I found I was good at the job, I had become heavily disillusioned by the amount of stress the role gave me. I felt overworked, under appreciated and no longer believed in the work I was doing.

I felt stuck in my job and could not see a way out. I considered moving to another company but felt that the same problems would follow me there. Instead I decided I needed a complete career change - but had no idea where to start. So when a friend recommended I see Helen, it seemed like an obvious choice.

With Helen I discovered that my personality was not suited to the demands of the advertising industry and that I had some unrealistic expectations placed on my shoulders. Having someone else justify my headspace felt like an enormous weight was lifted from me.

Helen was able to show me that I was suited to a more structured, tangible, people-focused environment. Not only was she able to show me that these places existed, but she gave me a variety of options and helped me put an action plan together to move into a new career.

I found the sessions with Helen to be enormously rewarding. She easily understood the situation I was in, was able to help me articulate my feelings and helped clear my mind in order for me to see the options in front of me.

Helen provided me with multiple options with which to move forward in my life, and I am now looking at starting a new career in retail buying/marketing.

During these years, I moved schools several times and left each time with a sense of dissatisfaction and in the hope of finding a better professional situation for myself.

After 32 years of working with children and young people, I felt confused by my feelings of displacement. I had always loved teaching and felt it was my life's calling. I was beginning to wonder whether I should make a career change. I was depressed and bewildered by the way I felt regarding my work.

Through my sessions with Helen, I began to understand what was happening to me and to start to make plans for my future pathway. I decided that I did not want to leave teaching, but that I had a number of needs that I should consider when applying for and accepting employment opportunities in the future.

Helen helped me to understand that I should probably work part time, thereby allowing me time to enjoy other things in life. My discussions with Helen had a significant impact on me as we sorted options and clarified needs for me. Above all, Helen helped me to regain self confidence in my gifts as an educator, and to realise that I needed to be in positions where I could express these to the fullest in order to feel professionally fulfilled.

54 year old teacher with 32 years' experience in education ranging from Reception to Year 12 in country and city SA.

I've just started a new job at the Environmental Defenders Office (a community legal centre specialising in public interest environmental law) as an administrator / office manager.

A few things helped me find this new direction:

• Seeing you gave me confidence that I could put together a good job application and prove that my skills were transferable
• Recommending that I enrol in a Masters in Arts Administration at Uni SA helped me learn about strategic planning for small organisations
• Advising me to volunteer, so I did it and running the campaign for the Greens candidate in Adelaide in the federal election opened doors...

So I finally got the perfect job!

It's part time, so I can still teach for 2 days a week and work for the orchestra on the weekends. It's challenging and interesting, the people are fantastic and it makes the world a better place, plus it's a steady income and I can ride my bike there in 10 minutes! .

I was very uncertain about the future.

Working with Helen helped me to understand myself better and what range of professions and careers would likely suit me. This experience helped me re-evaluate and rethink my university and professional career path.

Helen helped me to refocus and re-evaluate my career goals/directions. Results from the skills assessment indicated strong potential in Human Resources.

From my strong Psychology and Sociology background, I decided to venture into the HR fraternity. I took up studies in HR (Masters) and two years later, I am working as a HR Coordinator and am enjoying it. Thanks Helen