Shine Psychology U.K.

18/12/2022

Maternity leave has begun. Although it actually started quite early due to a sicky pregnancy. I will continue to be absent from social media whilst I make the most of this time away from work 🤍

09/07/2022

This book is partly painful and partly validating to read. I’m on chapter five and have felt waves of hope, hopelessness and gratitude that someone has taken the time to so thoroughly analyse the problem.

I can’t recommend this book enough.

02/07/2022

This is a common focus of psychological therapy in the perinatal period. It makes sense that you may review your own experience of being parented when you begin your parenting journey. For some this can be a painful time. Fortunately, therapy can help make sense of these experiences and support in moving forward with your parenting journey.

25/06/2022

Bonding with your baby can take time. The good news is there are things that you can do to grow your bond. The important thing is that you don’t have unrealistic expectations, such as thinking that everyone experiences a ‘rush of love’ when they see their baby. Many people don’t experience this and still go onto develop strong bonds with their baby.

02/06/2022

I’m back! I’ve been suffering with hyperemesis gravidarum. In my experience, it’s awful. It’s left me wondering about how other people experience it. I can see how it can effect your relationship with your baby and your own body.

Let’s share our top tips for coping with hyperemesis and pregnancy sickness in general. What worked for you?

Top points will go to those who don’t minimise their own experiences by saying things like “I know I didn’t have it as bad as others”.

29/03/2022

27/03/2022

Happy Mother’s Day to every one at any point on their journey, baby or not, you deserve to be celebrated.

25/03/2022

Reminder to all nesters!

I often hear from my lovely clients about the final stages of pregnancy being exhausting. Some of this is unavoidable. Sleep is a challenge as your baby grows. The frequent toilet trips. The wriggling baby. The list goes on. But rather than take this as a sign to retreat inwards and take care of your growing needs, many are consumed with the urge to nest. Although this can be a useful urge, it often translates to a huge pressure to make your house perfect. Despite knowing that the baby won’t go in the nursery for many months and won’t care about your freshly painted kitchen, it can feel hard to resist the urge to nest. So instead transfer that energy to taking care of what the baby will notice, you! You are one of the most important things in the baby’s life. Your wellbeing will be noticed and will benefit the baby. You are the nest!

24/03/2022

Here is a reminder of the ways that you can manage a flash back. Or, here is a prompt to raise this in therapy if you would like your therapist to teach you these techniques.

The aim of all these techniques is to get your amygdala (your brain’s alarm system) to stand down and realise that in this moment you are safe and that the trauma is in the past.

More trauma focussed content to come.

shinepsychologyuk • Original Audio

22/03/2022

This 2 step guide is useful in all situations but especially with teenagers whose lives, bodies and emotions are rapidly changing, often leaving them feeling overwhelmed in a way that adults or more dependent little ones do not experience.

It can be really helpful to look into ways to validate emotions more. It’s an important skill and thankfully there’s some good psychological literature out there on the topic.

21/03/2022

What’s the evidence for the so called ‘baby brain’, a phenomena that is argued to result in pregnant people having memory problems and other difficulties.

I’d really encourage you to read Pownall’s paper (references in the comments).

What do you think? Did you experience a change during pregnancy and early motherhood. Would you call it ‘baby brain’.

19/03/2022

Attunement is connecting to someone else’s internal emotional state. ❤️

Attunement is the building block of humanity. It allows you to know what your child or loved one is experiencing and helps you to know how to help them. As the world gets closer via social media it allows you to connect to suffering on the other side of the planet and urges you to help. Can you imagine what the world would be like without attunement?

There are clear benefits to attunement but it can be hard in some situations. When you are feeling overwhelmed with your own emotions, the prospect of connecting to someone else’s can be daunting. This is why I recommend that you connect and attune to yourself first. Ask yourself “what emotions am I experiencing?”, “am I okay?”, “do I have the capacity to connect to more emotions, or do I need to take care of myself first?”.

Remember, you’re no good to anyone if you’re burnt out.

blayrjolene • someone to looove me