Carmel Catanuto Psychotherapy

28/05/2026

Do you feel sensitive and judge yourself for it?

When you sense something, it’s your body’s way of giving you information.

Information about the situation or something from your past that you remember.
It’s not a weakness.

You might then override the sensitivity, moving into overthinking.

Then the internal talk starts like,
“I shouldn’t be like this”
“I should know better than to feel this way”
“I’ll just do it anyway, even though I don’t want to”

The shoulds are judgments from others. Reframing might help you support yourself.

Like, what do I need right now to support myself?
How could I do something different here?

You allow your body to feel the sensitivity and don’t move to fix it.

You are already doing something different to interrupt a default reaction and give yourself the opportunity to feel your own sensitivity and feelings that may come up.

In therapy, we don’t fight against it. We gently appreciate the information that emerges.
That’s what builds strength and confidence in yourself.

28/05/2026

What’s underneath Overthinking.

If you find yourself overthinking everything, there is usually a reason for it. Often, overthinking is your mind’s way of trying to keep you safe.

It tries to protect you from things like:
getting hurt
making mistakes
conflict
rejection
feeling out of control

That’s why your mind stays busy, replaying conversations, reading between the lines, and trying to predict what might go wrong.

But underneath all the overthinking, there is often anxiety and a struggle to trust yourself.

You might have learned to:
to prioritise others first
that mistakes weren’t safe
or that you needed to stay alert to keep your connections with others.

Over time, your nervous system can become extra alert. Even when everything around you is quiet, your body still feels like it is on high alert.
What helps is not trying to force yourself to stop thinking.

Instead, try to:
pause
Notice your breath
feel your feet on the ground
and notice your body sensations without judging them.

Ask yourself:
What am I aware of right now?
What needs my attention?
What helps me feel safe in this moment?

Healing from overthinking begins when you start to move away from fear and the need to control, and move toward awareness, being present, and supporting yourself.

Overthinking is often connected to anxiety, hypervigilance, and self-protection. The goal isn’t to “switch your thoughts off.” It is about learning how to return to the present moment and reconnect with yourself.

You do not need to have everything figured out to feel safe.

26/05/2026

What Overthinking actually does.

Overthinking does not actually make you feel safer. Instead, it wears out your nervous system.
You keep replaying conversations in your mind.
You imagine the worst-case scenarios.

You find yourself second-guessing your decisions all the time.

Your mind tries to protect you from things like:

rejection
mistakes
criticism
emotional pain

But the more you overthink, the more anxious and disconnected you may start to feel.

Healing does not start by thinking more. It starts when you reconnect with yourself in the present moment.

Often, overthinking begins as a way to protect yourself. Your mind wants to keep you safe from pain, rejection, or uncertainty.

But when you are always in your head, you can lose touch with your body, your feelings,
and your self-trust.

Becoming aware of this is the first step toward making a change.

22/05/2026

What To Do About Low Self-Esteem.

If you find yourself struggling with low self-esteem, you are not alone.

You don’t have to change who you are to start healing.

If low self-esteem is something you deal with,
You don’t need to become someone else.
Self-esteem often comes from life experiences such as:
Your feelings were ignored.
You were criticised.
You felt invisible.

Other people’s needs always seemed more important than yours. Over time, these experiences can make you doubt yourself.
You start to question yourself.

You question your decisions and even your self-worth.

So, what can actually help?

It starts with how you talk to yourself. Notice when you put yourself down or judge yourself harshly. Often, we say things to ourselves that we would never say to a friend.

Try taking small steps to support yourself.
Pause before you automatically say yes.

Recognise your feelings and remind yourself that they matter.

Set one small boundary for yourself.
Allow yourself to take up space and share your thoughts.

Self-esteem isn’t about being perfect. It’s about your intention to care for yourself.

As you learn to trust yourself, you build more self-respect and a stronger connection
with who you are.

As your self-esteem grows, you stop accepting things that don’t feel right for you.

Remember, healing your self-esteem comes from within. It’s not about seeking approval from others. Believing in yourself is something only you can do; it isn’t something others can give you.
Healing starts when you stop leaving yourself behind just to be accepted by other.

22/05/2026

What To Do About Low Self-Esteem
If you find yourself struggling with low self-esteem, you are not alone.
You don’t have to change who you are to start healing.
If low self-esteem is something you deal with,
You don’t need to become someone else.
Self-esteem often comes from life experiences such as:
Your feelings were ignored.
You were criticised.
You felt invisible.
Other people’s needs always seemed more important than yours.
Over time, these experiences can make you doubt yourself.
You start to question yourself.
You question your decisions and even your self-worth.
So, what can actually help?
It starts with how you talk to yourself. Notice when you put yourself down or judge
yourself harshly. Often, we say things to ourselves that we would never say to a friend.
Try taking small steps to support yourself.
Pause before you automatically say yes.
Recognise your feelings and remind yourself that they matter.
Set one small boundary for yourself.
Allow yourself to take up space and share your thoughts.
Self-esteem isn’t about being perfect. It’s about your intention to care for yourself.
As you learn to trust yourself, you build more self-respect and a stronger connection
with who you are.
As your self-esteem grows, you stop accepting things that don’t feel right for you.
Remember, healing your self-esteem comes from within. It’s not about seeking approval
from others. Believing in yourself is something only you can do; it isn’t something others
can give you.
Healing starts when you stop leaving yourself behind just to be accepted by others.

21/05/2026

When you think of therapy, what comes to mind?

It might be along the lines of therapy is just about talking about your problems and what’s not working.

Therapy is more than talking. Healing happens in the therapeutic relationship.

Here’s what you don’t see and is essential for a strong therapeutic relationship;

🌼 Attunement to your experience, someone who is really with you, and you feel it.
🌼 Being seen, there’s no analysis or judgment; there’s an allowance.
🌼 A felt experience, you’re regulated, and feel calm in the interaction.

Your brain and nervous system process this unspoken information and assess if it’s safe.
If you’ve held it all together, are always the strong one, you get the opportunity to relax the hold, and you’re not alone.

If you’d like to experience therapy in this way, reach out for a free 15-minute consultation, and we can talk about what working together might look like.

19/05/2026

How Low Self-Esteem Shows Up.

Low self-esteem doesn’t always show up as insecurity.

Sometimes, it means overthinking and analysing everything you say.

You might find yourself apologising too much just for having needs.

You may often look to others for reassurance.
You might judge yourself by constantly second-guessing your choices.

It can feel uncomfortable to say no.
You might judge yourself by comparing yourself to others.

You may find yourself working hard to fit in with others.

Deep down, you might feel like you’re not quite good enough.

Healing starts with becoming aware and noticing how you talk to yourself.

Low self-esteem can feel familiar, almost like it’s your normal. When you keep doubting yourself, downplaying your needs, or looking for validation
from others, it slowly wears away at your sense of self.

Becoming more aware is the first step toward making a change.

14/05/2026

How to meet grief with compassion.

When grief pays a visit, it doesn’t mean you're going backwards.

It’s actually an invitation to stop, reflect, slow down and be with your experience.

When we push feelings away, especially grief, it doesn’t go away. Meeting grief with curiosity and compassion is key to healthy processing of feelings.

It’s your body's way of saying ‘please notice me’, it could be the heaviness, loneliness or pain. Tune into what you need and let yourself have it.

Meeting yourself where you are is true self-compassion. Grief then feels safe and has space to heal with your gentleness and self-compassion.

10/05/2026

The subtlety of burnout.

You feel tired all the time.

Your to-do list never seems to end, but you keep going anyway.

You notice your mood has changed, and the things you used to enjoy don’t make you
happy anymore.

You keep pushing yourself because you feel you have no choice, thinking, ‘If I can just get through this.’

Burnout can mean a lot of things, but most of all, it’s about feeling disconnected from yourself and your body. It’s not that you can’t stop; it’s that stopping feels like the hardest thing to do.

10/05/2026

07/05/2026

When Grief comes up and you don’t expect it.

Does this sound familiar?

You go about your day, and you're taken back to the past, a loss you’ve experienced, and it feels heavy.

It might feel confusing, and the thoughts might be, I thought I was over this.

Grief has its own time frame and doesn’t work to your own expectations. Grief, when met with kindness, compassion and safety, wants to be expressed because it’s safe.

It doesn’t mean you’ve gone backwards or there’s a problem; it’s possibly a deeper layer.

It's seeing it differently and reminding yourself that it’s okay to feel what you feel and to see it from a new perspective.