Echomind Counselling

22/08/2021

You're coming to the end of your third session of therapy and you are wondering why...

14/07/2021

A counsellor highlights the differences between talking to a friend and talking to a therapist.

08/07/2021

16/03/2021

One year ago yesterday I had suspected COVID (no testing available at that time) and yesterday, exactly a year to the day I got my second vaccine. There’s lots of talk of hope at the moment. But there’s also lots of anniversaries coming up... and these make us reflect and can bring up a range of emotions.
Despite there being glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel, there is still lots using our capacity and creating stress. In addition, don’t forgot we have been living with this threat for over a year and that can take it’s toll.

I talk about capacity a lot as stress is so extrinsically linked to your mental health that managing it is really important to looking after your mental health. I like to use the analogy of the capacity cup to visualise stress and the limits of your capacity so I’m sharing the capacity cup- one year on (completed with your responses) as so many of us are still juggling extra demands and stressors at the moment due to the current situation.

To help
☕️identify what’s filling your cup
☕️validate and don’t shame how you are feeling
☕️if you are at full capacity work out if there’s anything you can pause or chuck out of your cup
☕️Break things down into simple steps so they seem possible
☕️dont Forget the basics (eat, hydrate and sleep) and taking time out to relax and have fun
☕️ask for help and allow yourself to be helped

10/12/2020

20/10/2020

17/10/2020

Counselling changes lives. We've all heard this before, but how can it help? Here...

16/10/2020

If we had a graph of anxiety levels at the current time I suspect it would closely follow corona virus rate graphs... on the rise as cases rise. That’s why it’s more important thank everyone to find ways off your anxiety roundabout.

When you get on the anxiety roundabout your body’s sympathetic nervous system escalates.... adrenaline and cortisol are released to get your body ready to run, hide or fight. This sets off a huge range of physiological sensations... tightened muscles, rapid breathing, shaky extremities, sweaty skin, redness rising, stomachs emptying, bowels constricting, burning energy, blood flowing to your limbs. It doesn’t feel nice, but it’s just physiology... it’s your body using too much energy and directing this energy in an, possibly misguided, attempt to be helpful.

What you do at this point can push you further along anxiety roundabout, or it can help you find a route off. To get off the anxiety roundabout you need to find ways to deescalate the arousing sympathetic body system and try to engage the parasympathetic system instead, which helps calm things down.

It’s about doing something that changes your physiology.... exercise is great for this as it uses up that extra energy and automatically triggers different chemicals that helps calm your body down, but there are lots of different ways to do this too. Usually these involve a shift in what you are doing, moving, shifting your attention or doing something to calm your body. What works for you will be unique to you... these are the ways you told me you got of the anxiety roundabout and some of the most common ways people find they can de-escalate their sympathetic nervous systems and ramp their rest and digest, parasympathetic, system up to help change the physiological reactions that are creating anxiety.

These are anxious times: we can’t stop being anxious (it’s human) and we need to recognise how we are feelings (and not shame ourselves for this). But we can also do lots of things to respond helpfully to our anxiety and find routes off the anxiety roundabout instead of circling further and further around it.

I hope some of these help you.

19/09/2020

It's a journey and one that a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) can be your companion on.

Find an RCC offering in-person or virtual services here:

https://bc-counsellors.org/counsellors/

Image via

09/09/2020

Tomorrow is world su***de prevention day. Su***de can still be a taboo subject but nearly everyone had been affected or knows someone who has been affected by su***de. It very important that we talk about this and have as much knowledge about this as we can, through evidence based information based on good quality research and through the stories of people with experience.

I’m proud to have contributed this drawing for last year for their real convo campaign which aimed to open up conversation about mental health so that people feel supported and to reduce isolation and hopelessness.

We can often be scared to ask about mental health in case it makes things worse, feels awkward or we just don’t know what to say. And we can often feel scared to talk about our own mental health as it seems shameful, we are worried it may affect the other Person or what they think of us (amongst other reasons). This drawing was part of the campaign and aimed to help give some tips and ideas to help people feel more confident in being able to open these conversations up and offer a safe space when people need it.

If you are affected by these issues then there is good information about what you can do and the help available on (USA) (UK) and which is available in most countries.

I would also advise reading words, for the hope that life will not always feel this way and that things can get better.