DESSIE'S BLOG

Karen

I found Dessie to be very approachable and extremely easy to talk to. I think he really taught me to stop looking back on the past and to focus on the now. I can’t change the bad things that happened …

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Margaret

Mind health coaching has really helped me, I feel better able to cope with negative thoughts and feelings. My Self Esteem and confidence was very low when I first started coaching with Dessie. I now find that I am valuing …

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Domonic

Through working with Dessie I gained a deep insight into what was happening when I wasn’t performing at my best, both professionally and personally. Dessie supported me in understanding why I felt as I did when “things weren’t going my …

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John

I was struggling to cope with a Spinal Cord Injury and accompanying Neuropathic pain when I first met Dessie. During my time with him l learned some very valuable coping skills which helped me to help myself. Dessie has a …

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Jane

I 100% recommend Dessie. He has helped me in ways I could never have imagined. His style of support is empowering, insightful and progressive. He makes you feel really comfortable and I felt I could really open up and tell …

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Donal

We invited Dessie Fitzgerald to be the guest of honour and keynote speaker at our annual student awards night in Coláiste Mhuire, Buttevant. There, Dessie addressed an audience of over 400 students, parents, teachers and guests. The response was quite …

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Denis

Dessie FitzGerald was an exceptional guest speaker at our end of year Sports Awards in May 2019 at Blackwater Community School. His honest presentation to our 785 students was outstanding and hugely moving and motivational . I have since recommended …

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Brian – Testimonial

My name is Brian and I attended Life Coaching sessions with Dessie. I suffered a spinal cord injury in 2014. Some 12 months later I was put in touch with Dessie as I felt I needed some direction in my life after such a life changing accident.

As Dessie endured a similar type of injury he knew and understood exactly my problems and worries in life. As anyone that has had a spinal cord injury knows, there are some very personal issues you are left with to face for the rest of your days. I found it difficult to discuss these problems with family or friends, but Dessie told me to be as open in discussion with him as I wanted to be. It felt great to be able express myself openly with him with the most private of issues.

For me, returning to work was a big thing. To return to the type of work I was in pre-accident was not suitable for me. This worried me a lot as I spent 20 years at this type of work and had no idea what would suit me now. Dessie asked questions and gave me some ideas which left me with options to take. I took a few computer and educational courses and these really made me feel I was achieving something. I am now in full time employment in what I can describe as probably the best and most enjoyable employment I have worked in.

At my meetings with Dessie what really stuck in my mind was how he told me to write down five or six things I had done each day that made me feel good about myself. When I felt a bit down and out I would think of the good things I achieved that day and this helped clear my mind.

Dessie can’t wave a magic wand and make everything what it was, but he most certainly helped me mentally and emotionally to overcome barriers in my life. A great guy with a huge positive attitude to life.

Brian

Climbing Mountains

I firmly believed the challenges I faced at various times in my life were too big to overcome. Sustaining the spinal cord injury was one of those times. I felt lost, ashamed, angry and sad but I did my best to hide those feelings from those around me. My mind tricked me into thinking that sharing them was a sign of weakness. Burying them ‘under the carpet’ did nothing but amplify how bad I felt internally. It turned the mountain I had to climb into an infinite wall I would never overcome.

Thankfully I made the decision to be honest about what was going on for me and things started to shift. My mental and emotional well-being improved and my physical body started to heal as a result. The infinite wall I had to climb turned into a mountain that I wanted to climb.

Being honest about how we truly feel is not easy – especially in our society today. Social media encourages us to post about how perfect our lives are which can be stressful to put it mildly.

Sometimes doing what is difficult is extremely important!

If you have been holding onto feelings such as sadness, guilt, shame or anxiety, make the brave decision to share them with someone in order to let them go.

Your life is way too precious to waste even a second – be brave and express yourself.

Dessie

Dominic – Testimonial

Through working with Dessie, I gained a deep insight into what was happening when I wasn’t performing at my best, both professionally and personally. Dessie supported me in understanding why I felt as I did when “things weren’t going my way”. We spent time identifying an underlying fear of failure and a personal feeling of “not being good enough” and how these feelings were holding me back and affecting how I behaved and approached situations. I found that it was only by understanding why, that I was truly able to change and make real progress. Through working with Dessie, I gained a new perspective on life, leading to a happier & healthier self and in turn this has supported and enabled my career progression as a people manager

Dominic