Welcome to my Blog
Why we need to be honest about suicide
The fact that I had to think long and hard before I decided to write about suicide in this blog, makes me fully aware that there is still a huge stigma around suicidal thoughts and ideation. Yet I have had a large number of clients over the years, who have suicidal...
Finding Hope in these Difficult Times
Hope is hard to find these days, it seems like many of the everyday things that brought us joy; a coffee with friends, cinema trip or weekend away have been taken away by Covid restrictions. So how do we find hope in these dark days? In Psychotherapy we are often...
Learning to embrace the seasons
As the days get shorter and the days colder, we start to feel the Winter approaching. I am someone who loves the sun and as soon as it starts to loose its warmth I start to feel such loss and wish it had been a longer Summer (its never long enough for me!) This year...
‘Walk and Talk’ Therapy
One of the ways I am working with clients during these difficult Covid 19 times is to adapt my work to encompass more outdoor work. Clients seem to love this way of working, the movement of the body can help to move energy/emotion, the regular motion can be soothing...
Facing your demons and overcoming extreme anxiety situations
We all have to face situations in our lives that we know are going to cause us a lot of anxiety. It might be an exam, travelling, operation, a family party or difficult work meeting. For those who already suffer from anxiety it can be very daunting to know that these...
A Time to Dream
I often get clients in therapy who seem disturbed and upset by their dreams. I really enjoy introducing them to the ways in which we can gain wisdom and even comfort from our dreams, they can be truly transformational. I remember having a little book when I was a...
Heart Centred Living
Many people feel that when they come in to therapy they will be using their mind a lot. In some ways that is exactly what we do, we learn to look at and manage difficult thoughts, especially if they cause us anxiety. We become aware that the mind and our thoughts are...
Feeling fearful and why we need to learn to ‘lean in’
Anxiety has this way of bleeding in to every part of our lives and before we know it we are avoiding things that might trigger our anxiety. It feels counter intuitive, but gently 'leaning in' to those things that may make us anxious is the best way to work through...
Why do I need to talk about my childhood?
This is a question I get asked constantly by clients first entering counselling. "I survived" a client once said to me with a big shrug "why does it matter, let's move on". The reason therapists are so interested in childhood is because it is where we develop our...
Why we need to talk about suicidal thoughts
The fact that I had to think long and hard before I decided to write about suicide in this blog, makes me fully aware that there is still a huge stigma around suicidal thoughts and ideation. Yet I have had a large number of clients over the years, who have suicidal...
Being connected and why it matters to mental health
One of the first things I notice about clients who suffer from depression or anxiety is that they often avoid being around other people. For some they find others needs exhausting, for some they feel they might bring people down with their low mood. However as we...
Bereavement and Anxiety
A past client once said the me that bereavement was like being on a rollercoaster, you never knew what was coming next. She had developed anxiety for the first time in her life, which sadly isn't unusual. Anxiety is not necessarily a feeling we might associate with...