Tracy Smithers. Step By Step Counselling.

11/05/2026

ANDYS MANS CLUB.. Every Monday Night between 7 and 9 Andys Man's Clubs are available for men to go and talk about whatever they wish.

Although there is no pressure to talk. You can simply go along for a cuppa. https://andysmanclub.co.uk/

Being a lady, I am unable to go but I have heard great things about this wonderful group. It's free to go and you can just turn up. 🙂

Locally there are 2-3 in Carlisle, 1 in Brampton and Penrith. Even if its not for you please share this and spread the word. It might just help somebody. Thank you. 🙂

ANDYSMANCLUB are a men’s su***de prevention charity offering free to attend peer-to-peer support groups across the United Kingdom and online.

11/05/2026

MINDFUL MONDAY..

An invitation this Monday morning to take some moments to be mindful this week. 🙂

Become aware of the SIGHTS, SOUNDS, SMELLS, TEXTURES, and the world around you. How does it leave you FEELING? 🤔

Sharing a video of some beautiful Bluebells taken a few weeks ago. If you saw my LET'S TALK post last week, this isn't the video I mentioned. This video was taken the week before in a different location.

08/05/2026

DO YOU HAVE A CHILD MOVING FROM YEAR 6 TO YEAR 7 THIS YEAR? 🤔If so you. might be interested in this BRAND NEW FREE PDF DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE ON MY WEBSITE NOW!!!😍 It's a 19 page workbook which is designed to help and support your child make the important move from Primary to Secondary School.

Some of you will be aware I am a Youth Worker and Nursery Nurse as well as being a Counsellor.

As part of my work as a Youth Worker, I helped run and deliver successful School Transition Projects where I supported children through the transition from Year 6 to Year 7.

20 years, I created a School Transition Booklet as part of this. I am both delighted and excited to share with you that I have updated, edited it, and made some alterations to share with you in 2026!!

It's now LIVE and available as a FREE PDF on my website. 🙂

08/05/2026

Word of the Week..
Rewarding. 🙂💖

07/05/2026

LET'S TALK!! Fear of falling. Getting up when you fall down. Carrying too much stuff. Doing too many things at once. Mindfulness. Reactions. 🤔🤔🙂🙂

This post is inspired by something that happened to me on Tuesday. 😉

How many people enjoy Bluebells at this time of year? I love Bluebells.. They are my favourite flowers I think. 💖

So what has this got to do with the title of this post?? I have been on a bit of a mission over the last few weeks to take photographs of Bluebells. For anyone who has missed previous posts, I joined a camera club last year, and I have a renewed enthusiasm for photography. 🙂

On Tuesday I was out taking photographs in a beautiful location. Aware that due to mobility issues this year my Mum couldn't enjoy the magical location, I decided to take a video for her so she could see it.

So with my camera case, and camera in one hand, and videoing with my phone in the other I continued. My focus was on getting a nice little video for Mum to see. This distracted me and what I didn't notice was a small branch stump coming out of the ground. I could feel myself wobbling and knew what was going to come next. 😉

I fell knee into some brambles, hand in brambles. A few years ago I might have cried and had a wobble. (One of my biggest fears is falling down). Instead I smiled to myself, laughed and thought how do I get out of this one!! Grateful that for the last year of the occasional You Tube Pilates video I have been doing, which made me a lot more agile than I might have been. 🙂

I got up and continued. Whilst my knee is still somewhat sore, I had a wonderful morning, and I'm okay.

It was a reminder to me that no matter how often we fall in life..

We always have the option to get up again and continue. 🙂

No matter what we fear we will be okay if the worst happens. 🙂

The importance of putting down the load we carry if it gets too much.🙂

Taking a moment. 🙂

Being mindful. 🙂

How we react to situations. 🙂

I hope this post might bring a smile if you are having a wobble today, hopefully not in the way I did. Or encourage you to pause and reflect. 🙂

©Tracy Smithers. 2026

06/05/2026

IS YOUR CHILD PREPARING FOR THE MOVE TO BIG SCHOOL IN SEPTEMBER? Could they do with a space to talk through emotions? Or an opportunity to develop some coping strategies for managing the transition?

As well as being an experienced Counsellor, I am an experienced Youth Worker and Nursery Nurse who has run School Transition Projects supporting children through the move from Year 6 to Year 7.

I offer one to one support to enable your child to work through emotions, develop some valuable coping strategies, and talk through the more practical aspects.

If you would like to know more, you can contact me via my website. Thank you. Website links in the comments.

06/05/2026

BRAND NEW BLOG POST!!🙂

In addition to being a Counsellor, I am also a Youth Worker and Nursery Nurse, and I have many years experience of working in both Primary and Secondary Schools. I have previously run School Transition Projects supporting children moving from Primary to Secondary School.

I am aware that at this time of year, many children and families will be starting to prepare for the transition to big school. This week's blog post offers some top tips to help support children with this. I hope you find this helpful.

The school transition from Primary school to Secondary school can be a big change for many children. Although for some it might be a time of great excitement, with children looking forward to making new friends, learning new things, and becoming more independent. It can also raise worries, concerns,...

05/05/2026

01/05/2026

Word of the Week..

Trust.🙂💖

30/04/2026

SLEEP!! How many of you struggle with not being able to sleep? In yesterday's blog post, I referred to sleep being helpful when struggling with anxiety. However, I am aware that sometimes anxiety can disrupt our sleep patterns.

Tracking our sleep patterns and what impacts them can really help us IDENTIFY why we aren't sleeping and help put some COPING STRATEGIES in place to help us gain a better night's sleep, and enable us to wake up feeling REFRESHED. Keeping a SLEEP DIARY can help with this.

Today I am sharing the link to a SLEEP DIARY I created, which is available as a FREE PDF DOWNLOAD on my website.