'I overcame anxiety to open my own driving school'

Just a few years ago Avryl Harvey could never have imagined she would overcome her anxiety attacks to become a driving instructor and then open her own driving school.

Harvey, who said she was always told she would never amount to anything, leading her to view everything she did as negative or incorrect, is now helping others like her to believe in themselves.

The support she offers comes after training as a driving instructor to prove people wrong - a process fraught with difficulties, including how the 37-year-old said her mind would go blank at the final stage of the advanced test and the anxiety would "eat her".

A year's worth of therapy with driving anxiety specialists later helped change her mindset and she fully qualified on her fifth attempt and now runs the driving school in Crewe.

It was during the approved driving instructor (ADI) part three test, where an examiner observes the instructor teaching a student, that Harvey would struggle with her thoughts.

She said she became convinced examiners were staring at her and she was going to fail, prompting her to spiral downwards.

"The teaching wasn't an issue, it was passing my part three, because someone was judging me, in my head it's like, 'You've got to do this, I'm going to get it wrong'."

Harvey said she would also worry that if a pupil crashed when she was not with them it was her fault, or if they passed their test, it could be a fluke, and she had not taught them properly.

"I'd be an absolute mess, sat next to them thinking, I just can't do it," she said.

The difficulties she faced mean that it took threes to fully qualify, a process she said would usually take around a year.

It was her friend and fellow driving instructor Chris Mackay, who taught her to become an instructor, who realised she needed more help and directed her to therapists L of a Way 2 Pass.

Harvey said those sessions taught her to switch from a negative to a positive mindset, and not to be so critical of herself.

"I literally couldn't have done it without them... the way they switched my mind was fantastic," she added.

Now she has her own driving school, she wants it to focus on teaching others with similar experiences to herself.

"Making sure that women like me will go far, they can do it, I need them to believe in themselves."

She said she wanted to use what she had learnt to take people from that "dark place" to how she is feeling now, at "the top of the world".

"Picking them up and helping them is definitely what I want from my school."

Mackay said the change in his friend was unbelievable, adding he shed a tear when she passed her final test, and was proud of her achievement.

He said: "Knowing her future plans, and what she intends to do with her time, and push herself to be not just a driving instructor, but somebody who can take what's she learnt and support other people.

"My proudest moment in 20 years of being a driving instructor was when Avy passed her part three."

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