When I started the sessions I was in an angry place where I hated the  way my life was going, skipping on my friends and family, and I just  felt I wanted to be alone. 

During the sessions I realised my mistakes in communication, and I also  started realising others mistakes when communicating with me.  I think I  understand the social aspect of life better now.  I am spending more  time with my family, and highly performing at my job.
 
All this was not obvious on the first day after the sessions were  completed.  The time I waited before I sent this feedback, allowed me to  see the results of how my life is improving with my improved social  communication skills. I now have daily company in my trip to work, my  life at work is enhanced and more opportunities appeared.
 
Much of the stress in my life is significantly reduced.
 
I will miss the sessions as this was a space for me to talk more about myself and focus on my growth and development. 
 
Thank you to you and Yasmine and everyone else who contributed to the  Free Hearts, Free Minds project for this great opportunity. 
 
Regards,
 Kamal, Middle East

I would like to thank  Yasmine and everyone else who made the  coaching I received possible.  It was really a great experience. Please  accept my sincere apologies for the delay in providing feedback.  I have  tried my best to explain my  experience below but I think sometime  words are not enough to explain these feelings and experiences.
 
Before starting my coaching sessions, I was in a state of chaos and  could not see any possibilities. It was like everything was impossible  and I’d already lost a number of good friends, so I was totally  devastated and frustrated.  This affected my physical and  mental health  badly. I was suffering from the issues of breathlessness, mood swings  and Blood pressure problems. A feeling of loneliness and depression. 
 
Digging deep inside me was a sense that there was no hope for the  future. I was so afraid of reaching out to people and making  conversations, afraid of rejection and ostracism, due to my atheism and  religious disbelief. I was feeling hopeless about ever meeting a partner  and was worried about my future.
 
After completing my sessions I felt motivation and encouragement.  The  coaching allowed me to find and accept possibilities, explore  opportunities, overcoming my fears and practice self-acceptance. I am  now motivated to approach life in a different way.
 
I discovered that there were a number of things that I was hiding from  myself and struggling to understand, I avoided discussing them, not even  with myself. But now I’ve understood that life is not limited, one can  be anything one wants and everything is possible as long as the person  is willing to put in the work and do what is needed.
 
The most impacting things that was constantly haunting me was acceptance  by others and what I’ve learned is that I cannot control people and I  should also understand that not everyone will appreciate me for what I  am, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I am imperfect. One needs to get  out of the shell of limiting beliefs and fears, to explore and  experience the beauty of life.
 
These sessions have helped me to improve my mental strength and health and that has positively impacted my physical health.
 
My therapist equipped me with some cognitive tools that I’m continuing  to use everyday and it really brings a smile through my face.  A  wonderful feeling, like enjoying a sunset from the rooftop top of a high  building.
 
For me the best thing about these sessions are:
 
Constantly helped me to understand my inner self and overcoming my fears and weaknesses.
 
To understand the possibilities that I can achieve.

To explore and expand my social circle and know more people.
 
Thank you so much to everyone who made this possible.
 
Ms Unjum, India

I'm very thankful and grateful that I was directed to the coaching  sessions, it really changed my life and my perspective. My mentality was  that I had no control over how I felt and that I was screwed from the  start and would never be able to get over it. But taking these sessions  one by one, every week, with the various techniques we used helped me  look back into myself and my emotions.  It helped me get over the  anxiety and paranoia of how damaged I felt because of my circumstances.
 
I was also able to make goals and achieve them, such as finding and  joining a community of people who share and understand my experiences.  I'm still following all the instructions and points guided to me during  these sessions and they still help me in relieving the negative emotions  in me.
 
I tended to overthink and feel overwhelmed with things that happen in my  life and I guess I let myself get so used to the stress and anxiety  that I became unable to go on with my life.   
 
Ever since I started doing the cognitive techniques I started feeling  more relaxed and more focused on my daily tasks and activities rather  than stressing over them. 
 
Reflecting on what can go right in my near and far future really impacts me positively.
 
Thank you to everyone who helped to make this happen.
 
HY, United Arab Emirates

I wanted to say thank you to you and everyone who contributed to making the coaching sessions happened. The sessions were very good and I couldn’t have asked for more in all honestly.

Before  our sessions started I was in constant fear of failure suffering  heavily from anxiety and depression and having many regrets about my  life. 

Life as an Atheist in Egypt is still pretty hard and sometimes it seems as though there’s little hope but now I can see that there is still hope. The sessions helped me to gain confidence again and to open up and start speaking to people. They helped me to not be afraid of failure and to go after my dreams again. Speaking to you every week helped to encourage me to connect with other people and to open up to them. Reconnecting with people was the biggest benefit I received from the sessions and it reduced my feelings of isolation.

Thank you to you and the team and everyone who contributed.

Abdul, Egypt

Before I started my coaching sessions, I felt defeated. I felt like all  my hard work was for nothing, and no matter what I achieved in life it  wouldn’t mean as much because I wouldn’t have my parent’s validation. I  had always judged my life through the perspective of my parent’s  happiness, but through my coaching sessions I realized that because my  parents were unhappy with their own lives they could never be happy with  me.
 
I used the meditative techniques that my coach thought me  in times of stress and anxiety. I attempt to find time at least once a  day to step away from my work and practice it. I do feel that my brain  has stopped defaulting to “doom and gloom”.
In my conversions with my  coach I have realized that I should learn to accept my parents the way  they are, because then only can I learn to work with them. I must stop  making excuses for their toxic behavior and not be passive with them.

I  have slowly started to feel optimistic and self-reliant again. I have  started to feel that my parents don’t have such a strong hold on me  emotionally anymore. I have the ability to understand behavior (Parents’  perspective) but not excuse it.

My life won’t be spent trying to meet unrealistic expectation for a moving goal post.
My physical health is also better, as a lot of my anxiety would manifest in lack of appetite.
I feel overall positive about the future.  
 
I  have learned to emotionally not get embroiled with my parents and draw  boundaries. I have also learned how to express myself freely, keeping in  mind the difference between “progressive conversations” and “defensive  conversations”. I don’t let guilt eat me alive any longer, because I  understand that this has very little to do with me and everything to do  with who they are.

I feel emotionally equipped to have healthy relationships in the future, and recognize toxic patterns.
 
I  think my coach was perfect and I felt that he had an insight that other  therapists have lacked. He was always willing to listen through and  talk through things. He never dismissed my feelings, and recognized  cultural problems that are common in South Asian households.

Thank you for your help, it was really something I needed, I saw good results in only 6 weeks which is incredible.

Before the sessions I felt that I was hopeless and I was giving up, my anxiety was winning and I didn't do anything to fix that and even the smallest problems made me feel like a total loser.

Today I started to see the cup half full.

I have the tools to fight negative thoughts. I feel happier and stronger and I can see myself having a better life in the future which wasn't the case before. I'm planning to join a gym soon and I focus on having a good diet. I'm mentally stable and it's affecting my physical health in a really good way.

Now I have the courage to improve myself, deal with life and I’m no longer having the loser mentality. I can control my emotions and I keep trying even when I have bad days.

Thanks to the coaching I developed a positive way of thinking and I figured out what was exactly wrong in my life. I want to fix myself, become the best version of myself and remove depressive thoughts from my life.

I developed the will to fight for my happiness, I’m able to see life clearer.

I was lost because I didn't know what was exactly wrong with me and thanks to the coaching, I know what caused my depression/anxiety and I can finally work on solving these problems.

I was excited to do the session every week and talk with you. The sessions were literally mind blowing because of the reactions I had doing the exercises. It was also entertaining and I didn't feel time passing.

It was a pleasure talking to you and I’m really glad and lucky for getting your help. I wish you the best. Thank you to you and everyone at free hearts free minds for making this happen.

A big thank you to you and everyone who made the coaching sessions possible. 

Before the sessions I was feeling depressed, trapped, and hopeless. I  felt as though I have exhausted all my efforts working with what skills I  had and I wanted to do something about it and needed help.  Also, I was  in a state of paranoia about being found out as an Atheist because I  felt like I could not contain my anger and newly developed hatred toward  religion.
 
For a Saudi ex-muslim woman inside Saudi Arabia, life is not much  different out of the faith than within the faith, unless you’re  privileged enough to have access to places where expats or royals  practice their freedoms within the country. You have to fake religiosity  in front of your community and family. For me, I was barely able to get  my parents to accept that I no longer want to wear the niqab (veil). If  I wanted to take the hijab off altogether, I don’t think they would  ever accept it. Every Saudi ex-Muslim woman that I know (through social  media) fakes being Muslim and could never dare to admit atheism to  family members.
 
Since our sessions I am in a much better place. My circumstances have  changed, so now I am not in the same environment that I was in when I  started getting coaching. Now I have more control over my time, and I  have more space away from my family. I am now busy with studying again  and I have developed new online friendships that I keep contact with  everyday. I feel like my mental health has improved. My thoughts now are  focused on future plans toward more independence. 
 
Through the sessions I have learned more how to better communicate and  empathize with my parents (Transactional Analysis). I was also  encouraged to make ex-Muslim friends, which pushed me to do so. I have  joined social media groups for Arab Atheists and we talk and share  news/memes/books daily, which helps me feel less lonely.
 
What I liked best about the sessions was being able to speak without  fear or judgement. I also liked learning about Transactional Analysis.
 
Thank you for everything. It was a pleasure to work with you.
 
M.A. 
 Saudi Arabia

Before embarking on the coaching sessions, I was in a weird space of self-destructive behaviour and self-blame; I was working on fully isolation myself from everything.  My relationship with my family was at the peak of chaos; life was nothing but a grey blank page.  This seemed to be the overall situation of each chapter of my life.  Mentally I think I was depressed, a form of depression at least.  I was also physically weak due to stopping the gym and this was due to not having enough mental strength to do anything. 

 After the 6 coaching sessions I can clearly say that I'm more open to life and feel fresh.  I’m doing my best to engage with my family more and get to understand them from a different perspective; the ways that we explored in our sessions. I have got back to the gym already and that has made me feel even better.  I can say that now I have a spark of hope.  

The sessions helped me to understand how powerful it is in life to develop your own understanding and to be coachable.  I would love to learn more about the techniques you used in the sessions, they were amazing to say the least and I found them very beneficial.

 I loved the feeling that there was someone who would listen and understand what I was going through.  To have someone there each week who was willing to be there and guide you a bit through this grey tunnel during this time in my life. It means a lot to feel that there are some good people around, people who are actually willing to be there for you.  

I can't thank you and all the people who have made the coaching possible enough.  Thank you to you and all of them. 

S.M. Tunisia

Ive heard of Free Minds when I attempted to contact  Yasmine for support in March. I have been in a place and a country where  I cannot explore myself, forced to follow a religion that I don't  believe and a family that bullies my decisions. I was completely  overwhelmed by emotions that sometimes brought me to dark places and  even, dark thoughts. I even wished to a point that I wanted to put an  end to all that hurts. Hence I started communicating Free minds and I  was connected to Jimmy.

At first, the sessions  were all general and more informative and I was a bit skeptical to be  honest. Until we started discussing to the reasons that brought me to my  dark thoughts, I remember crying for at least 10m after the session,  and even thought it was hard to visit that space, yet when I faced it  with complete strength ( Of course with the help of Jimmy) I have  managed to fight this dark Aura. And with the days passing by, I've  learned to face all those thoughts in reality. I've realised that the  words that used to be bullied with, the religion i was forced to follow,  and most importantly the decision on who to love were all controlled by  ME and ME only. Nothing affects me anymore, because simply, I deserve  to live my life to its fullest and I should be deciding how to live this  life, Not my FAMILY and definitely not by BELIEFS that are not even  mine. 

I became stronger, more focused and  learned to take matters in life with less complexity. I've befriended  people who respect what I am and still love me, who are now my family  and most importantly, a family that RESPECTS me. I have Jimmy and Free Hearts Free  Minds to thank because NOW my MIND is indeed FREE. Every session  provided me with sense of independence and love to what I already  appreciate in life. I appreciate the exercise that made me love and  respect myself through any troubles and most importantly, I loved how  relaxing Jimmy's voice was. That voice helped me visit places in my soul  that was locked for over 10 years and helped me empty everything that  was negative in my life. It helped me reset every bit of my soul and  changed into a new, refreshed one that's ready for life in all its  forms.

As much as I wish that I could have more  time just to have those positive conversations, but I love how that's  the only thing that I miss about our sessions. Because I was taught how  to fish and was not given a fish that fed my hunger for a day. And I  could never thank him enough for that.

I wish for everyone who is in such dark place that I once used to live, to stumble through freeheartsfreeminds.com  and then be guided to the place where I am today. A place that's filled  with positivity, strength and most importantly FREEDOM. 

Thank you again for providing such a great opportunity.

Yours Truly 

Sheraz

Life is hard you have to hide your identity . One can't express him or herself for fear for their life even from ones own family . Its hard to hide all the time.

2018  was tough year for me. I was very frustrated with my situation and  things with family and my status had me in a tight spot . I am now more positive about life and how to deal with it.

More sessions would have been great. I am happy that my sessions with Free Hearts Free Minds were by an ExMuslim who understood my situation and the threats I face . 

​Going into the sessions in the beginning, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I found out about the website from a friend of mine who recommended it after knowing my struggles. I sent an email immediately just because it sounded like such a good concept.

Being an Ex Muslim in Oman has always felt very lonely. I’ve never met anyone whose beliefs were like mine and it felt very unfair for me to be the only one with this kind of mentality. The worst part for me was feeling like I didn’t belong and that there was nothing I could do to make my life bearable here. I was very hopeless and felt like there was no way for me to possibly live a happy life. 

My main struggles were about every day tasks like going to school and seeing my friends. Because everything around me, from my hijab to the prayers I have to do every day reminded me of Islam and that’s why I felt depressed and anxious often. 

Now looking back, after finishing my sessions, I am a much calmer person. The main thing I learned is to be able to control my thoughts or the route they’re going in; therefore, control my reactions. I’m generally happier and more outgoing, and definitely not nearly as hopeless as I was before. The every day tasks that I still do aren’t as troubling to me anymore, I’m much better at controlling how I feel. 

I have learned many valuable things from my sessions, but what I have found to be most helpful to me is the cognitive exercises I did with Jimmy. I still am quite consistent with those because they help so much with my mental state; I feel calmer and happier after. Another major thing that has helped me are the visualization exercises, and I do that occasionally which seems to get me in a better mood in the morning.

Jimmy is so understanding and really helpful. For me I wouldn’t change anything about my experience. 

I am very grateful for all the efforts done by the people working so hard to make this happen. The sessions have made my life here much easier. Hopefully they continue to make the lives of Ex Muslims living in Muslim majority countries a tiny bit easier.

I am Saudi woman, mother  and Ex-Muslim who is fighting for her simple rights. To be born a female  in Saudi is to become practically a prisoner. All your moves are  controlled. You don’t have the final say in your personal decisions.  Women in Islamic community are treated worse than slaves.  As  a Saudi Woman, depression and anxiety are a part of my life. I  recognise now that it has been for the majority of my life. I am a  victim of emotional and physical abuse. Me and my kids.

It  would take me close to hours to coax myself out of bed. The only reason  I would even get up was because I have kids and they need my care. I  felt like all my energy was being sucked up in dealing with adverse  circumstances, leaving me no resources to do the things I really wanted  to do in life. I lost all interest in the hobbies I would have enjoyed  in the past. And this was because of that internal tug of war that I was  having to go through every day. I believed that something was seriously  wrong  when I started to have passive suicidal thoughts. 

I was so lucky to have sessions with Jimmy when I sunk into this deep depression. Jimmy  helped me to think about my life in different ways. Before starting the  sessions, I was focusing on the bad thoughts that were stopping me  from feeling happy,  my energy was limited, and the whole situation was  negatively affecting me and my kids. The  sessions guided me in the right direction to find myself again and  experience  happiness. I become more positive and started to create a  picture in my head of how life should be and when I see myself with my  beautiful kids in future it leaves me hopeful. I  believe that I still have a long way of fighting, but all the training I  have done has been worth it and  I'm starting to feel the benefit. I am  in better health than I have been for years.  Plus, I am not alone  anymore, I have a brilliant support group of atheist friends at telegram  and Twitter who I was able to find through the support of Free Hearts  Free Minds. 

Thank  you Jimmy, Yasmine and everyone who helps towards this scheme for  giving me the most incredible advices and supporting me during this hard  time In my life.

Best regards,

Fatmah, Saudia Arabia

It is difficult being an ExMuslim in some Somali communities in Kenya and distressful because sometimes people can try to lynch you or get you killed

Before I started the sessions I was in a really dark place. I was thinking about ending my life altogether and I used to feel like dying in my sleep every night. I was in a haze and could not think clearly. I used to feel tense and burning in my stomach all the time because of the stress. I used to smoke all the time.

Now after the sessions, I have a very positive view of life. My mind is clear. I have specific goals that I want to achieve. I think straight now. My body and mind are relaxed. I wake up everyday hopeful and optimistic. I have also quit smoking now and don't get suicidal thoughts anymore. I try to keep myself focused on what's important.

I have found the strength to look for a new house in a new neighborhood and I live there currently. I also have the strength to cook for myself and look after myself. These sessions have really awakened my senses to my innate ability to cope with stress and push forward with life, my endurance and perseverance. I feel rejuvenated now. 

I have quit smoking. I am looking for a way of getting out of here to somewhere safe and peaceful. I have managed to move to a new house. Before I was just trying to live for the day. But now I plan what I want to do.

The future is bright and if I were to visualize it , I would say it is like a clear night filled to the brim with trillions of stars all shining and beckoning me to grasp them. It is like they are inviting me to have the peace and tranquility I have not hard for the last 25 years. I really hope my situation changes and I can get out of here and live the rest of my life in peace and tranquility.

They sessions were interactive which provided me the chance to explore what I wanted to do during my sessions. Also Jimmy was very kind, very professional and really cared about his clients including me. I loved talking to him. He had a way of calming you down and making you feel at peace with yourself.

Thanks so much for helping me 

I am very very very grateful to both Jimmy and Yasmin Mohamed . They are 2 wonderful human beings.

Thank you also to everyone who donated to this program.

Hassan Ahmed

Kenya

Updated: Jan 27, 2021

Being  a female ExMuslim in Malaysia For the most part is not  disruptive to daily life. It is not immediately visible that one is an  ex muslim so the presumption will always be I'm a liberal Muslim. The  only issue is being an ex Muslim, but Muslim passing due to being Malay,  is hard to endure. Being surrounded by your  Malay community who are all so clear to you as being indoctrinated and  to varying degrees, because of the religion, but you have to play nice,  is hard to endure. To read the news and see Islamic authorities doing  bullshit things policing citizens and being  allocated taxpayers' funds to fund these activities is enraging. To  hear the overwhelming male population being entitled in their misogyny  is aggravating. 

 Before  the coaching sessions I was struggling because I had  felt secure being in the company of the non-muslim community believing  they embraced me as one of their own. I'm slow to trust and had believed  they were as well and that we had built a rapport over a period of 2  years. I had some kind of psychological breakdown  when I realized they never had considered me one of them because of  race. I may identify as non-muslim but I'm not of the non-muslim race of  Malaysia. The politicised racial division in Malaysia has developed  non-muslim communities i.e. Indian and Chinese  to be insular due to their protectionist approach to preserve their own  cultural and non-muslim space. I was experiencing anxiety and panic  attacks and felt like I was drowning. I was desperate for help and  sought social company from friends, family and realised  they were not equipped for the help I need. I then sought psychiatric  treatment from a local hospital and also reached out to Jimmy hoping it would help. 

 I  also started prescribed medication by the psychiatrist which  helped with anxiety and panic attacks. This gave me some mental clarity  and not be too affected by the drowning feeling of not belonging. I  didn't have any clarity on what exactly mentally healthy means, I've  always thought I was mentally healthy.  

 During  the sessions I had insights into what psychology means  and started to see how my brain is wired. Not absolute clarity but it  was more of finding what had been subconscious issues I didn't deal with  maybe emotionally or psychologically, dig them up and have them  addressed. It had been eye-opening and gave me a  better idea of what mental health means and where I stand on the mental  health spectrum; not as healthy as I've always thought. My challenge  has always been to be less emotionally affected by others' emotions and  to be more oriented to my own emotions for  myself. In a sense, bringing my consciousness more towards myself and  my identity rather than myself in relation to others, as how I realize  now I've been brought up. I've made great progress and feel more  comfortable in my skin and a better understanding  of who I am but I also realize that ongoing sessions is likely a  solution I need to consider. 

 I’ve  learnt to  be less negative about how I feel towards  my own emotions, in essence, to accord myself more value to myself to  be closer to the value I have accorded to others' emotional wellbeing. 

I  did not have high expectations because I know I have some  deep-rooted issues from childhood trauma that had caused me great  distress for decades and didn't expect them to be resolved by a few  sessions. I was amazed to discover that it did help in the few sessions  which made me realize, I should have gotten therapy  sooner instead of anguishing about it for years.  

The sessions I've had were amazing and made a difference: How  it was fluid and dynamic and dealt with whatever I was dealing with at the moment in time. How my therapist managed to root out something based on what I say and we go down that  rabbit hole to pull out the subconscious that I have no awareness to be  aware about. The  exercises we did that actually made a difference. 

 Sofia from Malaysia. 

Before starting, I was feeling all alone confused and broken. I felt like life was not worth living. Everywhere seemed to be spinning. I wanted to run and hide but there was nowhere to hide. I was constantly on sleeping pills just so I can pass through the day and not have to go through these feelings that turned me almost crazy.

But after my coaching, I am now able to handle situations better, I have a better understanding of why I feel a certain way and I am able to consider the other person’s feelings and not be too selfish making everything about me. I have come to accept that there are times I will go through difficulties, a phase that will eventually go away. I feel more in control of my emotions and am also able to not let things I can’t control take over me. I worry less about other people’s opinions of me and am even more confident in presenting my authentic self.

Communication with my partner has definitely changed. I am more welcoming in our conversation and not too quick to judge, for that reason my partner is able to open up a bit more. And I have never been happier raising my kids.

In general I learned to love and accept myself and not beat myself up when things go bad, instead be kind to me, everyone involved and even kinder towards the situation. I have learnt to handle anger nicely that’s for sure. A constant reminder I give myself is this fact that not everyone will accept me and my ways, and that too is ok. There is definitely a sense of peace within me.

I am happy I went through this experience exactly the way I went through it and wouldn’t change a thing. 

Thank you Free hearts Free Minds for coming to my rescue and for an amazing experience.

Lubna. Nigeria

​Updated: Jan 4

Hello!

I'm Ama-Gi from Iraq, and here I share my experience with Free Hearts Free Minds.

Before starting my sessions, I wasn't only suicidal, I was, in some sense, manipulative. I would bombard people who care about me with messages about torturing and/or killing myself. Something I tried many times before. I would refuse facing facts about myself, my attitude and my behavior.

Now I do not consider suicide as an option.

I want to put it simply here; from suicidal thoughts, self-isolation, hatred for everyone and myself, to re-realizing life, re-accepting it as it is, and going back again to the world and starting to make friendships, starting to focus on myself again.

I'm at a point where I can't really believe all we have achieved...

I'm not totally back yet but I'm more back than I'd hoped for.

I hope to continue my therapy one day.

​Updated: Jan 27, 2021

Being an ExMuslim in Bangladesh is horrible. First your parents stop loving you, family members belittle you, friends make fun of you and insult you. No one appreciated me being an atheist. 

I used to feel very down and negative about life. I thought my life was coming to an end. I would get flashbacks of my traumatic experiences. At times I felt like to killing myself and putting an end to the suffering. My mental health was really bad, due to my depression, I wasn't getting better physically. 

After my sessions with Free Hearts Free Minds, now I'm feeling better. I'm thinking about a bright future. I want to feel like doing something productive. I have a positive mindset to do something with my life, I can't let it go to waste. My mental and physical health are ok and getting better gradually. 

So many things changed, before I would get anxiety and fear. Now I'm replacing them with positive thoughts. I started seeing possible opportunities whereas few months back I felt like I'm trapped in a dark place. The experience is making me more strong, giving me strength to do something for fellow people like me. 

​Updated: May 25, 2021

I heard about FHFM from a YouTuber when I was searching for LGBT comforting videos.  I was feeling extremely tired and severely depressed. I even had dark thoughts and suicidal ideation  (I wanted to end my life at 35). To make it brief, my mental state was significantly going downhill. Physically I was fine. 

I honestly feel like I was reborn again with a new perspective of life. My depression has got much better and I view life in a more optimistic lens, even though I'm still in a place that would ruin my life or kill me for just being LGBT. Overall, my mental health has improved dramatically. 

I had issues with regard to asking for help and reconciling my sexual identity. Those are no longer the case, I have fully accepted myself and I gained a new understanding of a couple of things which I had a very bad experience with them. 

I really liked my experience [in therapy w FHFM] as a whole and I had no problem with it. I only wish I done it earlier in my life. I liked that I didn't feel judged and crazy for voicing my thoughts. I had someone who gave me guidance and encouraged to do better and to be easy on myself when I make any mistake. 

[The most challenging part of therapy was] talking about my family and my relationship with them. It's hard to think that the people who we call family could kill without a thought or care for the simple fact that you are not straight. It's heartbreaking to realize that fact. 

Thank you Free Hearts Free Minds, Yasmine, and everyone involved. I'm forever grateful ♥️. 

I was at my lowest having mental breakdowns almost every night for the last 2 years, I was constantly thinking of death and how I am useless and not worth living. I was very harsh on myself, blaming myself for other people's actions.

I was abused and sexually assaulted and I thought it was my fault and I deserved it. I had so much pain from traumas that I was not aware of. I was deeply hurt and I couldn't, with all my strength, lift myself up.

After the sessions w FHFM I am much better, I can comfort myself and navigate my feelings better, I amended a lot of the harsh words that I used to label myself with. I am much kinder now to myself, I can recognize that so many things happened or still happening that are out of my control I don't have to take its heavy weight on my shoulders.

I am working on building my self-esteem and for the first time in my life I am working on establishing a healthily daily routine.

my mental health is a work in progress and now I have the main keys/skills to keep myself in relatively good state. 

I actually made goals in the future that I am looking forward to achieve! 

The most rewarding moment was when I recognized that my abuse and sexual assault was not my fault, all the hatred towards myself is gone. 

And the most challenging was to be kinder, be less critical to myself and put my needs first. 

I would like to add that my therapist made me feel safe and they made sure to make me feel heard and understood, they were supportive and kind, I am truly thankful that I had the chance.

When I first started my sessions I had panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, nightmares, and felt emotional pain.

My feeling about life was too confused, I was blaming myself for being raped, and that I faced sexual assault. My mental health was so bad, I was having nightmares about my rapist, and my friends assaulting me, that nightmare was repeating several times a day, and I was so afraid of everyone.

Now I feel that I'm more confident, and stopped blaming myself, as I know it wasn't my fault for being raped or abused.

I feel that life is so much worthy to live and have fun of each part, and moment of it.. as I feel that I have to fight for my life. My therapist sessions helped me to replace suicidal thoughts with surviving thoughts. So instead of thinking about killing myself, now I know that I have to own my life and fight for it, I MUST LIVE, and STOP BLAMING MYSELF for being raped, or for being a lesbian, now I feel that I'm comfortable than ever, and I have that image in my head "that I live in a safe place and feel peaceful;", that helps me to keep going and stay positive, and never give up on my life.

The most challenging part, when my therapist told me that "You won't live like that forever" I thought she just saying motivating words, I was depressed back then, but I realized that she was right already because  now I'm trying to get away out of my country, and applied for a visa, job, life out there.... etc. She was right, I won't live in that situation forever and I hope when I get a job with a good salary, so I can continue my sessions with her, because she was really good, and helped me a lot.

Shaimaa, Egypt