ZAR Wellness Counselling

ZAR Wellness Counselling At ZAR Wellness, I offer a caring, non-judgmental space where you feel heard and supported. In Maroochydore or online. NDIS counselling available.

Counselling for men’s mental health, anger management, relationships, trauma, anxiety & depression.

Mr Ted at work - bringing a smile to his clients 😍
25/09/2025

Mr Ted at work - bringing a smile to his clients 😍

🌬️ Breathwork, the Vagus Nerve & Why Your Exhale Matters 🌬️Did you know your breath is one of the simplest—and most powe...
22/08/2025

🌬️ Breathwork, the Vagus Nerve & Why Your Exhale Matters 🌬️

Did you know your breath is one of the simplest—and most powerful—tools to calm your body and mind?

It all comes down to the vagus nerve, which connects your brain to your body and plays a big role in your stress response. When the vagus nerve is activated, it signals your body to move from fight-or-flight into rest-and-digest.

✨ Why the exhale matters:
When you slow and lengthen your exhale, you’re directly stimulating the vagus nerve. This lowers your heart rate, calms your nervous system, and helps reduce anxiety.

🌱 Benefits of breathwork:
- Lowers stress and tension
- Improves focus and clarity
- Helps regulate emotions
- Promotes better sleep
- Supports overall resilience

💡 Try this simple exercise (Box Breathing):
- Inhale through your nose for 4 counts
- Hold for 4 counts
- Exhale slowly for 4 counts
- Repeat 4–5 times and notice how your body feels.

Breath is your built-in reset button. The more you practice, the easier it becomes to calm your body whenever life feels overwhelming. 💙

👉 Will you give it a try today?

💙 What is Emotional Safety in a Relationship? 💙Emotional safety is the foundation of a healthy relationship. 🌿 It means ...
21/08/2025

💙 What is Emotional Safety in a Relationship? 💙

Emotional safety is the foundation of a healthy relationship. 🌿 It means feeling secure enough to express your thoughts, feelings, and needs without fear of being judged, dismissed, or attacked.

When emotional safety is present, partners can:
✨ Be vulnerable without worrying about rejection
✨ Share openly and honestly, even about tough topics
✨ Disagree without fear of punishment or withdrawal
✨ Trust that their feelings will be respected

Why is it important?
Because without emotional safety, trust begins to erode. Couples may avoid hard conversations, bottle up emotions, or drift apart. With it, connection grows stronger—conflict becomes easier to manage, and intimacy deepens.

How do you create emotional safety?
🌱 Practice listening without interrupting or judging
🌱 Validate your partner’s feelings (even if you don’t fully agree)
🌱 Keep promises and follow through
🌱 Show empathy—be curious instead of critical
🌱 Repair quickly after conflict instead of letting distance grow

💭 Emotional safety doesn’t mean never disagreeing—it means knowing that no matter what, the relationship is a safe place to land.

👉 What helps you feel emotionally safe with someone?

💙 The Best Apology is Changed Behaviour 💙In relationships, apologising isn’t just about saying “I’m sorry.”It’s about sh...
21/08/2025

💙 The Best Apology is Changed Behaviour 💙

In relationships, apologising isn’t just about saying “I’m sorry.”
It’s about showing that you understand your partner’s feelings and taking steps to repair the hurt.

Too often, couples get caught in a cycle of repeating the same apologies without changing what caused the pain in the first place. Over time, “sorry” can start to feel empty.

✨ A genuine apology looks like this:

Acknowledge – “I can see that what I said hurt you.”

Understand – “I get why that made you feel dismissed.”

Repair – “Here’s what I’ll do differently moving forward.”

When we follow through with action, we show our partner that their feelings matter—and we rebuild trust and connection. 🌿

💭 Next time you find yourself apologising, try asking:
👉 “What can I do differently so I don’t have to keep apologising for the same thing?”

Because in love, the strongest apology is not the words—it’s the change. 💙

💙 The Importance of Reconnecting After Conflict 💙All couples experience conflict—it’s a normal part of being in a relati...
19/08/2025

💙 The Importance of Reconnecting After Conflict 💙

All couples experience conflict—it’s a normal part of being in a relationship. What truly matters is what happens after the disagreement.

👉 Research shows that to make a relationship last, couples must:
- Become better friends
- Learn to manage conflict
- Create ways to support each other’s hopes and dreams

Reconnection after conflict is how we build these foundations. 🌿

✨ It means:
- Letting your partner know the relationship matters more than the argument
- Repairing small breaks before they grow into bigger ones
- Showing care and empathy, even if you still see things differently
- Reminding each other: “We’re on the same team”

Conflict doesn’t have to push you apart. In fact, when couples choose to repair, understand, and reconnect—it often brings them closer than before.

💭 Next time tension rises, ask yourself: “How can I turn back towards my partner instead of away?”

🌿 “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer 🌿So often, it’s not the situ...
18/08/2025

🌿 “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer 🌿

So often, it’s not the situation itself that causes the most stress, but how we see it. Our perspective shapes our emotions, our choices, and even our relationships.

✨ The same challenge can feel like a roadblock or an opportunity—depending on how we frame it.
✨ A difficult conversation can feel like conflict or like a chance to understand each other better.
✨ Setbacks can feel like failures—or stepping stones toward growth.

Shifting perspective doesn’t mean ignoring pain or pretending everything is “fine.” It means opening ourselves to new ways of understanding and responding—ways that bring more calm, compassion, and clarity.

💭 Next time you feel stuck, try asking: “Is there another way I could look at this?”

You might be surprised at how much changes. 💙

🌿 Your Happiness Chemicals & Why They Matter 🌿Your brain is like a natural pharmacy—it produces powerful “happiness chem...
18/08/2025

🌿 Your Happiness Chemicals & Why They Matter 🌿
Your brain is like a natural pharmacy—it produces powerful “happiness chemicals” that influence your mood, motivation, connection, and even how you handle stress. When these are in balance, life feels lighter, calmer, and more meaningful. When they’re low, we may feel flat, unmotivated, or disconnected.
Here are the 4 key players—and how to boost them naturally:

✨ Dopamine (the reward chemical)
➡ Keeps you motivated and gives a sense of achievement.
🌱 Try: Celebrating small wins, ticking off a task, or working towards a goal step by step.

✨ Serotonin (the mood stabilizer)
➡ Helps regulate mood, sleep, and overall sense of wellbeing.
🌱 Try: Getting sunlight, practicing gratitude, or going for a mindful walk in nature.

✨ Oxytocin (the bonding hormone)
➡ Builds trust, connection, and feelings of safety with others.
🌱 Try: Hugs, quality time with loved ones, or simple acts of kindness.

✨ Endorphins (the natural pain relievers)
➡ Reduce stress, ease discomfort, and create joy.
🌱 Try: Exercise, laughter, dancing, or listening to your favourite music.

💡 These chemicals are essential because they remind us that happiness isn’t just about “thinking positively.” It’s biological. We can nurture our brain and body to create more balance and resilience in daily life.
👉 Which one do you think you need more of right now?

Some positive affirmations to remind you of all the things you are and are capable of being. 🥰Positive affirmations can ...
08/07/2025

Some positive affirmations to remind you of all the things you are and are capable of being. 🥰

Positive affirmations can help you to challenge and overcome negative thoughts. 🧠

When repeated often (and you genuinely believe in what you're repeating), you can start to make and feel positive changes in your life.

Anyone can create and use positive affirmations. Here are some ways to do it:
💗 make sure you resonate with the affirmation
💗 pick one affirmation or more and repeat them aloud or in your head whenever you need
💗 write them down a few dozen times while focusing on their meaning
💗 stick the affirmations around your home or workspace.

ℹ️ Sources:
Healthline. Positive Affirmations.
Psych Central. 46 positive affirmations for anxiety relief
Mayo Clinic (2022). Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress.

🌟 Embrace Gratitude & Savoring for a Happier Life! 🌟Life can get hectic, and it’s easy to get caught up in stress, worri...
01/07/2025

🌟 Embrace Gratitude & Savoring for a Happier Life! 🌟

Life can get hectic, and it’s easy to get caught up in stress, worries, or negative thoughts. But did you know that taking just a few moments each day to practice gratitude and savoring can make a huge difference?

By noticing and appreciating the small joys—like a warm cup of coffee, a kind smile, or the sound of birds—you train your mind to focus on what’s good. This simple habit can boost your mood, reduce stress, and help you build emotional resilience.

Gratitude and savoring aren’t about ignoring life’s challenges—they’re about creating balance and finding hope even when things feel tough.

✨ Ready to invite more joy and peace into your everyday life? Start today by noticing three things you’re grateful for. You might be surprised how much brighter your day becomes! ✨

What’s one small thing you’re grateful for today? Share below! 👇💬
I'll start off: "Today I am grateful for my hot cup of coffee on this cold start to the day."

24/06/2025

I’m Maryanne, a Certified Anger Management Treatment Professional at ZAR Wellness Counselling.

🔥 Anger is what people often see — but underneath, it’s usually pain or fear.

Anger is often a secondary emotion. It shows up when what’s really going on — pain, fear, grief, shame, resentment, or feeling disrespected — hasn’t been acknowledged or felt safe enough to express.

Anger rumination intensifies and prolongs negative emotions.
When anger turns into aggression, outbursts, or shutting down, it’s not because you’re broken — it’s because something deeper is calling for attention.

In therapy, we work together to:
🌱 Understand the root of your anger
🌱 Recognise the fear or pain underneath it
🌱 Break patterns of explosive or avoidant reactions
🌱 Learn new tools to respond calmly and with confidence
🌱 Rebuild trust in yourself and your relationships

You don’t have to carry this alone.
Message me or visit www.zarwellnesscounselling.com to learn more or book a session.

✨ Your anger isn’t the problem — it’s the signal. Let’s work out what it’s pointing to.

✨ "Success begins with believing you can." ✨It sounds simple — but self-belief is often the missing piece when we’re fee...
20/06/2025

✨ "Success begins with believing you can." ✨

It sounds simple — but self-belief is often the missing piece when we’re feeling stuck, lost, or overwhelmed.

At ZAR Wellness Counselling, I see it every day:
People rediscovering their strength.
People daring to hope again.
People slowly starting to believe… “Maybe I can.”

You don’t need to have everything figured out. You don’t have to feel fearless or strong right now. But if you can begin to believe that change is possible… that healing is possible… that you are possible — you’re already on your way.

It starts with one quiet thought:
💭 “I’m worth trying for.”

We're here to walk beside you.

🌿

Why do I shut down, lash out, avoid, freeze, or people-please when I’m stressed?These are more than just “bad habits” — ...
19/06/2025

Why do I shut down, lash out, avoid, freeze, or people-please when I’m stressed?

These are more than just “bad habits” — they’re survival responses wired into your nervous system.

At ZAR Wellness Counselling, I help clients understand the five core trauma responses:

🔴 Fight – You might get defensive, angry, or controlling. Your body is ready to confront a threat.
🔵 Flight – You avoid or escape — maybe through distraction, busyness, or physically leaving the situation.
⚪ Freeze – You shut down, feel stuck, or numb out. It can feel like your body and mind go offline.
🟤 Flop – Also known as “faint,” Your body may collapse or give in. You might feel helpless, disconnected, or dissociated.
🟢 Fawn – You people-please, appease, or try to keep the peace to avoid conflict or rejection.

These are involuntary, protective responses — often shaped by early life experiences, trauma, or chronic stress.

They’re not flaws. They’re your nervous system trying to keep you safe.

At ZAR Wellness, I work with you to gently explore these patterns, increase your awareness, and develop new ways of feeling grounded, safe, and empowered.

💬 You don’t have to stay stuck in survival mode.
🌿 Healing begins when we understand what our body has been trying to tell us.

Reach out today if you’re ready to begin the journey back to yourself.
Appointments available in Maroochydore or via Telehealth.

Address

Level 1, Plaza Business Centre, 11b/27 Evans Street
Maroochydore, QLD
4558

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 3pm
Tuesday 10am - 2pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 2pm - 8pm
Friday 10am - 2pm
Saturday 9am - 12pm

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