Nicola Roberts turned to therapy when her ex started stalking her.
Nicola Roberts' therapy after stalking hell
In 2017, the Girls Aloud star's former boyfriend Carl Davies was given a suspended 15-month sentence and lifetime restraining order after being found guilty of stalking her for five years and Nicola, 36, turned to therapy to help her cope.
She told The Sun on Sunday's Fabulous magazine: "Therapy was the best gift I ever gave myself, and now I tell all my friends to do it.
"I started in 2018, when I was 33, because of the trauma I’d faced with a stalker.
"As a young woman, loving yourself is top priority. If you completely love yourself and you have high self-respect, you won’t tolerate negative things.
"But when you’re operating from a place that isn’t entirely full of self-love, bad things get through the cracks."
Nicola dated former soldier Carl for 18 months before splitting from him in 2008 and after they broke up he embarked on a campaign of harassment which included sending her 3,000 offensive and threatening messages, some of which stated he was going to stab and burn her.
The star previously admitted the five years of abuse she received from Davies took a "massive toll" on her mental health but after having 12 months of trauma therapy she felt reborn.
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, she said: "Prior to this year, I'd say I had five of the unhappiest years of my life. Just really tough emotionally. It took a massive toll on my life. I had a few heartbreaks along the way. I was kind of ground down ... I was like, 'I don't want this to affect me any more' - it is my responsibility to make me happy ... We opened all the boxes. I feel like it's just changed me in the most amazing way, forever."
Although she is now in a great place in her life, Nicola wishes that she never had to live in such fear in the past.
She added: "I feel sad that it happened to me. But I feel like it led me to do therapy and the therapy has been the best thing I could ever have done for myself. It's honestly just changed me so much, and I'm so thankful for that.
"Equally, you know, I don't want this to read that I'm thankful for that period of time, because I'm definitely not. [But without therapy] I wouldn't have got to this place, who I am now. I'm calm. I'm confident again. I'm excited."
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