Feelings affect us
Positive or negative feelings affect what happen to us. For example, if we are given a birthday present, we feel elated and happy, but if our child breaks our birthday present, we feel angry and upset. In other words, the situation we are in has a direct effect on our feelings.
Thoughts control our feelings
However, it can be more complicated. Continue reading
As your alarm goes off in the morning and you stir into consciousness, do thoughts of work start to feel you with dread? Do you find it difficult to get up? When you think of work do you get a pain in the chest? Have you lost interest in your work, feel you have no motivation and constantly feel exhausted?
Sounds like you?
It could mean you Continue reading
I recently put up on my Facebook page a quote from JK Rowling ‘ I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never. What’s to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that’. It was very popular and I expect it got many likes as many people like myself, can relate to it. Continue reading
Wrapping Christmas presents early, putting up decorations and being actively involved in Christmas has only become part of my life since I have had children. This year as I prepared for my children’s advent countdown activities, I noticed that I was becoming swept along with all the excitement and the commercialism. This made me stop and reflect upon Christmas. Christmas is not a happy occasion for many people. Many people are depressed at Christmas. People who have been recently bereaved or tackling terminal illness or are single or in an abusive relationship or in debt. You may be surprised on how many people are suffering from depression and dreading the isolation and stress of Christmas. Continue reading
Help! I’m feeling lonely.
We all feel lonely from time to time. Loneliness can happen when you have no contact with people. You feel you have little importance or no value in other people’s life. You are excluded from events or you may feel you have little in common with people. However, if you feel lonely for long periods of time it can bring depression and deep feelings of isolation. Continue reading
What causes depression? There is no single cause of depression. You can develop it for different reasons and it has many different triggers. For some, an upsetting or stressful life event can be the cause. For example, bereavement, divorce, illness, redundancy and job or money worries. Continue reading
Stigma around depressionDepression is a serious illness which my clients are often ashamed about. They feel there is a stigma attached to depression. This means they become secretive about it, ashamed and embarrassed that it is affecting them. Some even find that their partner will be too embarrassed to talk about their depression to their friends. Continue reading
what is counselling?
Help! I’m feeling low.
Mental ill-health can happen to anyone. Perhaps you are faced with a difficult situation that you feel unable to resolve yourself. You might have had opportunities to talk with friends, but somehow it hasn’t quite worked. Or maybe it’s just too personal. Sometimes friends or family are unable to help us Continue reading
Miscarriage can be devastating
Miscarriage is often an uncomfortable word and one that people do not like to hear or talk about. Yet it happens to every 1 in 4 women. Almost no-one sees a miscarriage coming and it can come as a terrible blow to women, especially as there is often an unexplained reason for it. Women not only have to deal with the physical symptoms of a miscarriage but also the emotional loss of their baby. Coping with miscarriage is a difficult process and it takes time for women to deal with it and come to terms with it.
One day you are looking forward to your pregnancy and then suddenly that is all taken away from you and you are left with an empty body. Often the miscarriage is not detected until the woman’s first scan. She is expecting to see a foetus on the scan and just hears the words ‘we can find no heart beat’. Faced with a silent miscarriage is shocking and totally unexpected. Having the strength to walk out and seeing other Mum’s to be is just the beginning of your heart breaking journey. However, dealing with your emotional impact of pregnancy loss is important for both you and your partner. Continue reading
What is insomnia?
Do you toss and turn at night? Do you have a worry that stops you sleeping? Do 
you have anxiety about an event the next day that stops you from sleeping? Does that sound familiar to you? Most of us, at some time in our lives, will have problems with insomina. Lack of sleep can slowly become a problem if it happens night after night.
We need our sleep. It is important for both physical and psychological reasons and sleep deprivation can lead to fatigue, slower reaction times, irritability and other mood problems, and poor concentration. These in turn can affect our work, our relationships and the quality of lives. Continue reading