anxiety

In this, her latest post, Counsellor and Therapist Penni shares with us some thoughts about where denied emotional needs may reside and how we can reconnect – and respond effectively – to them.

Unconscious Self-Sabotage

Many are familiar with the term “self-sabotage” – meaning to get in our own way and prevent ourselves from achieving our goals and fulfilling our hopes and dreams. Not always a conscious choice, self-sabotage is often driven instead by the unconscious – the part of our psyche that operates outside of conscious awareness – that can leave us confused as to why we have said or done something that is completely opposed to our conscious choices, wishes and perhaps, our best interests. [Read more…]

Counselling is a talking therapy that can help people to deal with a wide range of problems, including anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, relationship issues, and trauma. It can also help people to improve their communication and interpersonal skills, develop coping mechanisms, and make positive changes in their life.

Engaging one of our fee-for-a-service private counsellors means access in the shortest time to high-quality services that are unique and bespoke to you and yours. [Read more…]

In this post, Penni gives us some examples of Cognitive Distortions – unhelpful thinking styles that can cause us emotional distress and get in the way of taking positive action towards a happier and more balanced way of being.

Fact or Fiction?

Our thoughts can be very convincing. They can make us believe certain things are fact, when perhaps, the reality is quite different. Whilst our thoughts may not always be telling us the truth, they feel true and so we buy into them. We judge them to be rational and our subsequent behaviours are therefore deemed perfectly reasonable. For instance, we may think a friend is upset with us when they ignore us at a party and so we delete them as a contact or we may think, as we didn’t pass something first time, we’re bound to fail again, so we don’t bother trying. [Read more…]

Unlike fear, anxiety is all about perceived future based threats – the ‘what-ifs’ that we all experience from time to time. Anxiety tells us to fight or run (which, if we are under threat, would be the right thing to do!) however, paradoxically, if the anxiety alarm rings when it doesn’t need to and we respond, we actually reinforce it. [Read more…]

Suppressed emotions can have a significant impact on both the mind and the body. When we suppress our emotions, we are effectively bottling them up inside us, preventing them from being expressed in a healthy and natural way. This can lead to a range of negative consequences such as: [Read more…]

A short guide to understanding some causes and solutions for emotional eating, which refers to the habit of consuming food in response to emotional states, such as stress, boredom, sadness, or happiness, rather than hunger.

It is a common behaviour that many people struggle with, but it can have negative effects on both physical and mental health. It has recently been cited that as many as 75 % of the population may exhibit behaviours associated with emotional eating. [1] [Read more…]

We welcome guest author Gabie Lazareff, a certified health coach, yoga teacher and freelance nutrition & wellness writer. After years of navigating the messy waters of mental health, her mission is to share her experiences and advice with others.

Through breathing, the simple practice of breathing, with intent on a regular basis can help to decrease anxiety. But how does breathing decrease anxiety? And what does breathing have to do with yoga?

[Read more…]

At the time of writing, much of the planet is facing a ‘second-wave’ of COVID-19. The global economy is being challenged, the poor are getting poorer, the sick, sicker, and all our perceptions of thinking we have any level of ‘control’ are being fractured. But, is the outlook really all doom and gloom?

[Read more…]

In this powerful piece, our in-house therapist, Penni Osborn shines a light on the origins of anxiety, highlights ways in which anxiety can manifest and offers suggestions on how symptoms can be managed.

Now, more than ever, anxiety is making its stomach-churning self known. In these times of such uncertainty, it has latched onto our fear receptors and is making even those with the strongest of constitutions struggle with its message of impending doom. So, what can be done? How can we manage something that makes us feel, at times, so helpless and afraid? [Read more…]

Another wonderful piece by Tim, our resident guest author. This time we are looking at guilt; something many of us live with or have lived with for years.

I’ve been thinking a lot about guilt.

I don’t mean real guilt; guilt that is the guilt caused by a foul act such as a hurting another person or creature or committing a crime. I mean the guilt that we have had forced upon us by society, by, in prior days, religion, by those who seek to control us.

Guilt makes us secretive, drives us in on ourselves, can cause a multitude of unpleasantness for us and for those around us.

[Read more…]