Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depressive disorder that many people struggle with. Most commonly, it is an increase in depressive symptoms in the autumn or winter. As nights start to get longer, the weather gets cloudier, and there is less bright weather, people can struggle to manage these symptoms. This is the type of SAD I will be referring to. The pattern of low mood is one of the most important aspects of identifying if something is SAD. Then you can star

This is a concern that a lot of clients have. When will my therapist make a disclosure, and to whom? Well, the answer to this question will depend. If you have any questions then your therapist will be able to answer them, but here is some general information that may be useful. The first thing to note is that your therapist can't just tell whoever they want about your sessions. For example, we can talk to mental health services about a specific challenge that they would need

People have what we call a window of tolerance, which is basically how much they can tolerate. I explain it like a number line. The blue numbers are where you are happy to operate in your daily life. The red numbers are where your response is out of your control. At the lower numbers, people begin to pull back emotionally. This can be what we call hypoarousal. Think of this like a shutting down of your mind and body. It is linked to the still trauma responses (e.g., freeze an

As queer people it can be hard to know if a space will be safe. Counselling for people within the LGBTQ+ community can present different...

What's a trauma response? When a person undergoes a traumatic event, their body and brain do something very specific, this is called the sympathetic nervous system and is what our body does in stressful moments to keep ourselves safe. This response is what people often call the 'Flight or Flight response'. When we perceive ourselves to be in danger our brain starts this response (It can actually happen before our eyes process the threat 1 ). When this response happens you hav

This can change depending on who you ask. Most people use psychotherapist and counsellor to refer to someone who delivers talking...

Therapy can be confusing when you don't have an experience with it. Hopefully, this blog post can make it feel a little less daunting. Sometimes therapy and counselling are used interchangeably because they cover a lot of the same things. Why choose therapy? Therapy can help, it is as simple as that. People's struggles can feel like they wouldn't be suitable for therapy, but for the most part they are. For example, even chronic pain can be reduced through therapy. The common

Exploring your sexuality can be difficult and scary. There is no right way to figure it out. Some people need to talk it out and some...

Often money can feel uncomfortable to talk about. Cost is a big part of therapy, it can feel that therapy is expensive and unaffordable....

Something I notice is that people apologies for how they behave in therapy. I want you all to know that its ok to swear, to cry, to shout and to scream and anything in between. If you sneeze try not to aim it at me, but as a therapist I want to see your true self. If your true self swears like a sailor in sessions that's ok. The exception is slurs and abuse. I still need to know we are both safe. Anything short of that is your business, the sessions are yours and if you want

It can be a hard line to draw with your therapist. Are you friends, colleagues, acquaintances, or something else? Personally I think it...

Starting therapy can feel daunting, and it might be hard to know where to start. I hope this can help answer some questions. Where to...