Alison Crow has a BA/Hons degree in Fashion Design from the University of Leeds. She has worked as a head designer for a wide selection of plays and dance performances.

"It was while I was in my second year at university that life became one very frightening panic attack. Over a period of months I stopped attending college, stopped shopping, socialising and eventually stopped leaving my home. I was severely depressed, unable to cope with life and took a year out of college. I was put on antidepressant drugs and had regular sessions with a Psychotherapist. I went back to college one year later. By the first week in my third year I became ill again. I was in a panic stricken hyper-active madness. I was put in touch with a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist at a Leeds Hospital, where I underwent intensive therapy. It was the hardest year attempting to cope with an illness as well as studying hard. I did manage to complete my degree, but mentally and physically I was exhausted. After several months of working for a department store I found myself once again depressed and panic stricken.

My brother suggested that I phone Sifu to ask for his help. I phoned Sifu one night while I was still living in Leeds. I can remember feeling that the presence of his voice was so strong, that for the length of time that we spoke I was being supported. This made me feel relaxed and it gave me hope. Everything that had been whirling around in my head now had order.

Within a minute on my first consultation with Sifu, my fears and apprehensions were banished for good. It was the most relaxed and safest I had felt in a long time. At some point, as we sat and talked, I realised that my head seemed lighter, as though a darkness had passed from it. Occasionally I felt a sharp rush of warmth go through me that made me shiver. It is hard to explain, it doesn't feel like excitement, relief or happiness, but at the same time it does! Sifu was sat with his back to a bookshelf, when the spines on the books seemed to become incredibly colourful. I remember feeling a little puzzled by this and as I continued to look around Sifu's room I saw everything had colour and was sharper, more in focus. It was as though I had been living in a grey and bleak world. This new found colour began to excite and amuse me, and even those were feelings that had become a stranger to me for many years. I couldn't stop shaking, although I was not cold, this continued for several hours after leaving Sifu's. There was an inner warmth in me that made me feel softer and less aggressive. When my brother picked me up from Sifu's he was in complete bewilderment at my behaviour and mood. Within several hours Sifu had managed to breathe life back into me, and show me that life is full of excitement and growth."