Carmel Catanuto Psychotherapy

10/02/2026

When overwhelm overtakes your body.

Your body reacts, and your mind catches up.

You feel tense, your breathing is shallow, and your throat tightens. You feel frozen, want to run or hide.

It’s a reaction, not weakness; your nervous system is sending you messages.

Slow down, pause, and focus your mind on your feet to feel the ground. Name one thing
you can see, hear or touch.

You don’t need to fix yourself; you need to support yourself and your experience.

Wonderful, you’re now in the present with awareness, which brings choice.

And you know what safety feels like.

05/02/2026

You feel that something is something’s off. But you don’t know what to do or how to say it.

Have you ever had that feeling inside that something isn’t right, but you can’t quite
name it until something happens?

You go into your head and question yourself, talk yourself out of it, doubt yourself.

Often, your body feels something before the mind or the words catch up or make sense of it.

You don’t need to work it out with the perfect words; get curious about your body sensations, the tightness, the pull to hold back.

Clarity is about listening and not rushing; it’s getting curious with your feelings as they
deserve space to be felt.

If you’d like support with the mind and body connection. Reach out for a free 15-minute
consultation, and we can talk about what working together might look like.

04/02/2026

Self-connection can be confusing and scary as the ‘performing’ is dropped, you start feeling. Survival mode was a way to cope with and adapt to situations.

It doesn’t mean it’s wrong; it means a new way of being is emerging as the outdated method is no longer needed. With a new language and connection to your body, this is an opportunity to create what feels right for you.

Your deepening a relationship with yourself and understanding what true self-connection is, part of this new way is to feel awkward, vulnerable, and confused.

As you take a breath in, allow space for insight and intuition to come up with the answers. Support this new way with kind and compassionate inner talk.

Be patient with yourself as you learn to understand more about your nervous system.

If you’d like support with the mind-body connection. Reach out for a free 15-minute consultation, and we can talk about what working together might look like.

03/02/2026

I understand, so Why Am I still Stuck?

You have awareness
You have insight
So Why are you still stuck?

Understanding with your mind isn’t the same as working it through.

What’s in the way is often held in the body, in old programming in old nervous system responses.

Not a lack of insight on your behalf.

Therapy helps connect with thoughts and embodiment and you don’t have to do it alone.

30/01/2026

Have you noticed how your thoughts move into anticipation?

Thinking about scenarios and the What-ifs
Or go over and replay what might happen
Your mind fills with thoughts, and your body tenses up.

When your mind is future-focused, your body reacts too; you might experience tension,
restlessness, tightness, and an increased heart rate.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, or believe it or not, your thoughts will create sensations in the body and nervous system. Everything is connected. Your nervous system is giving you information and is in protection mode.

There’s nothing wrong with future planning and focus, including your body; perhaps it’s
seeking safety.

Come back to the here and now by bringing your awareness to the present moment, starting with your breath.

When you think about what’s coming up, how does your body respond in the present moment?

Make a decision from embodied presence.

Ask yourself: What do I need for this upcoming situation?

You’re doing a lot with this action: teaching yourself about your needs, attending to your
nervous system, and staying connected to yourself.

Gestalt therapy helps you return to yourself.
If anticipation turns into worry, remember it could be your nervous system looking for
safety.

If this resonates with you, follow along for more relational tips.

28/01/2026

Sometimes the glimmer of joy is a quiet arrival

Hi, I’m Carmel, a counsellor helping empathic women reduce emotional discomfort and find their voice.

A small amount of energy of aliveness
A sense of groundedness when you speak up
An ease in your body

That’s not random that’s the work you’ve done on yourself, a reclaimed part of yourself that’s home.

The familiarity of glimmer is an insight, your body remembers.

Insight is inclusive of the body not just the mind.

The felt sense is your true experience, a part of you that remembers and now has the opportunity to be fully expressed and experienced.

Welcome the insight and the aliveness, it’s reaffirming to your being.

If this resonates with you follow along for more relational tips.

27/01/2026

It can feel comforting to control, to be one step ahead, to anticipate a move, thinking
that nothing can go wrong.

That’s a belief that helps you feel safe and stay alert, anticipating what other people
need.

There’s an outward focus and loss of connection to what you’re experiencing.

How can you know what you need if your focus is outward?

Often it’s a learned way from early childhood. Perhaps safety was compromised, and it
taught you to be on guard no matter how big or small.

Over time, the skill is refined, and it’s an ally but also keeps you on high alert, never fully
relaxing into yourself.

This impacts your health, leading to exhaustion and resentment toward others.

Safety is connected to your own experience; it’s about learning to trust yourself, your
thinking, and your emotions.

Internal harmony isn’t dependent on the outside its cultivated internally. Safety isn’t in control. You can unlearn what you’ve always known.

Therapy can untangle the patterns and align more with your true nature.

If you’d like support with exploring relational patterns. Reach out for a free 15-minute
consultation, and we can talk about what working together might look like.

22/01/2026

Does this sound familiar? I’ll start therapy when?

Things settle down
When life is less busy
When I feel more ready

Hi, I’m Carmel, a counsellor helping empathic women reduce emotional discomfort and find their voice.

There is no perfect time to start therapy. The present moment is always the right time to invest in yourself.

You have the awareness, this is where change begins. It’s not about the perfect time.

You don’t need to wait for the right time to start. To be ‘ready enough’.

What’s important is you notice and that, that something matters.

That’s the beginning.

If you’d like a safe space to explore. Reach out for a free 15-minute consultation, and we can talk about what working together might look like.

22/01/2026

Strong people take up space and there’s little left for you
Have you ever noticed or experienced how some people command the attention and fill
the room without trying hard?
Hi, I’m Carmel, a counsellor helping empathic women reduce emotional discomfort and
find their voice.
The focus is on
Their experience
Their needs
Their feelings
You notice yourself getting small, withdrawing and holding yourself back
Your attentive and listen, you’re now focussed outward toward the other person, and
adjust your experience feeling small because there isn’t any space for your experience.
You accommodate and your needs get moved to the side. It’s like your focus shifts to
the other person and you’re overridden yourself.
The default of moving your attention off yourself onto the other is at play. The thoughts
might follow perhaps not consciously like ‘my needs don’t matter’, ‘they’re more
interesting than me’. Your very existence is minimised.
Strength is about staying connected to your experience when you’re with another
person. This includes what you’re thinking, your body sensations, and your emotional
response.
Take a deep breath and bring yourself into the present moment using your breath,
notice body sensations, use your 5 senses, sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing to
connect with your experience. When you do this you’ve interrupted a belief.
This is a reminder to yourself that your needs matter and you can take up space and
you belong. Healthy connection is when both people can take up space.
If this resonates with you follow along for more relational tips.

20/01/2026

When you can’t get out of the rut and you start to give up hope
Do moments in your life weigh you down?
Does it feel like the heaviness is on replay?
Hi, I’m Carmel, a counsellor helping empathic women reduce emotional discomfort and
find their voice.
You recognise the familiar thoughts
You see the same patterns
You feel stuck
It’s hard when you’ve tried your best
You’ve put on a brave face and a positive mindset
You push through no matter what and feel exhausted
Only to get the same result
You start to feel shame, guilt or like your failing
What’s not spoken about is your nervous system and how overwhelmed feeling stuck is.
Sometimes when hope is lacking exhaustion follows, perhaps it’s your body’s way of
saying ‘I’m tired’.
Clarity comes when we slow down to understand your unique nervous system, what it
means to feel safe to connect with your experience. To make sense of the subtleties
that give you more information.
When there’s safety and space understanding and insight has the opportunity to come
to light. Let gentleness, acceptance and understanding be the foundation that allows
heaviness to lighten.
If this resonates with you follow along for more relational tips.

15/01/2026

15/01/2026

When grief feels like it never ends. Some ways to support yourself.