Emotional support through the end of an unhealthy relationship

Spending time with Chris has been a genuinely meaningful experience and I always leave feeling like a better version of myself. He offers a calm, supportive presence and shows a sincere interest in understanding what I’m going through.

Chris genuinely cares, listens deeply and has a remarkable ability to broaden perspective by helping me consider how others might think or feel, without ever discounting my own emotions. I’ve felt completely safe sharing vulnerable parts of my life with him and each conversation leaves me more grounded, more confident, lighter, clearer and genuinely better both in mind and body.

The hardest thing to do when you’re broken is admit that you’re broken and try to change your situation.

I met Chris 10 months ago and was already open to the idea of making some changes in my life. But part of making those changes involved becoming more confident in being able to see the truth, rather than just what I believed to be true, and being confident that the decisions I made weren’t knee-jerk reactions or decisions made out of spite.

Chris became a really trusted right-hand man, kind of like a friend and a mentor. Someone you could run ideas by who would challenge your thinking and help you make good decisions.

He was on a bit of a journey himself and has transformed his life after going through some really tough times. Actually seeing that transformation gave me the confidence to know that if he can transform his life, then I can transform mine too.

I wasn’t in a good place. It’s taken a long time to get to a place where I value myself, and that wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for Chris.

I have the pleasure of knowing Chris personally, and I can honestly say that he is one of the most emotionally supportive, grounded and thoughtful people I’ve met.

Chris has a remarkable ability to listen without judgement and help me make sense of my thoughts when I’m overthinking or feeling overwhelmed. He has a very calming presence and a natural way of helping me step back from a situation, see it from a different perspective and approach it more rationally.

What I particularly value is that Chris never simply tells me what I want to hear. He is honest, thoughtful and will gently challenge my thinking when he feels I’m looking at something from an unhelpful perspective, he does this with genuine compassion, never making me feel judged or dismissed.

His emotional intelligence, patience and ability to make people feel heard are qualities I really admire. Knowing Chris has genuinely helped me to look at situations differently and, at times, to find clarity when I’ve struggled to find it myself.

I have a huge amount of respect for Chris, both as a person and for the way he supports others. He is someone I would wholeheartedly recommend.

Having the same person to come back to over time made a real difference.

I’ve known Chris as a friend for a long time, and over the period when my marriage was breaking down we would speak about what was going on in both of our lives.

For me, one of the most valuable things was simply having someone I could talk to out loud, without judgement and without being told what I should do. Family and friends can care deeply about you, but they also have their own feelings and opinions about your situation. With Chris, I could talk things through, hear another perspective and ultimately reach my own conclusions.

My separation wasn’t one big decision made in a single moment. There were three children involved, a lot of moving parts, and I was trying to understand what I actually wanted while dealing with everything that came with changing the life we had built. Later, I went through an extremely difficult family situation after the separation as well.

What mattered was being able to come back to the same person over that whole period. Chris already understood the history and the people involved, so I didn’t have to start again every time something changed. I could pick the conversation back up, work through whatever had happened next, and gradually make sense of things.

A significant turning point for me actually came through ANDYSMANCLUB. After DJing at a gig in Halifax, I spoke to one of the men there and came away realising something very simple but important: I had a right to be happy too. I later recommended ANDYSMANCLUB to Chris, and he went himself.

That experience and my conversations with Chris were different things, but both mattered. The realisation that something needed to change can happen in a moment; actually working out what that change means, making difficult decisions and living through the consequences takes much longer.

Having someone consistent, calm and non-judgemental to talk to through that process was enormously valuable to me. Based on the support I experienced from Chris as a friend, I would have no hesitation recommending him to someone going through a separation or another major change in their life.