Cara Hitchcock Counselling

18/12/2025

I'll be shortly going on a break from social media however before I go here are some further ideas on coping with loss around this time of year.

Grief can feel heavier during the festive period especially when routines have changed, traditions have been lost, there is a societal expectation to be joyful and there are constant reminders of past celebrations.

If you are currently struggling with the thought of Christmas and going into a New Year the following suggestions may give you some ideas and coping strategies for your grief.

However, you may want to reach out for extra support this year, useful contacts and links below.

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

https://www.cruse.org.uk/get-support/

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/christmas-and-mental-health/useful-contacts/

11/12/2025

As we approach the end of the year, similar to experiences around birthdays, anniversaries and significant dates, it can for many be a period of time when feelings of loss can be amplified.

Along with the well known advice of planning ahead, setting personal boundaries and seeking support, below are some additional gentle ways to think about and remember loved ones throughout this period.

Please also be mindful that each loss is unique and everyone grieves differently so what may be the right approach and expression of grief for one person may look very differently to another.

10/12/2025

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

🌊 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 🌊

Carl Rogers, in A Way of Being (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1980, p.12), shares a captivating truth: "It is astonishing how elements that seem insoluble become soluble when someone listens, how confusions that seem irremediable turn into relatively clear flowing streams when one is heard."

This quote beautifully illustrates the magic that unfolds when we genuinely listen to each other. Problems that once seemed impossible to overcome start to find their solutions, and the tangled webs of our thoughts and feelings begin to untangle, all because someone took the time to truly listen.

💡 Key Significance to Counselling: Rogers' insight underscores the therapeutic value of listening—a cornerstone of counselling. It's through deep, empathetic listening that counsellors help individuals navigate their complex emotions and thoughts, leading them from confusion to clarity.

👂 Takeaway: Let's embrace the art of listening in our daily lives. By offering our full attention and presence, we can be the catalyst for change in someone's life, transforming their "insoluble elements" into "clear flowing streams."

Share this post to encourage more meaningful conversations and connections. Let's remind each other of the power we hold simply by listening. 💙

27/11/2025

04/11/2025

Continuing what "Grief can be series...."

27/10/2025

Words from Julia Samuel's MBE post -
"Monday Top Tips

Monday Top Tips
My first model of therapy and still the place I feel most at home was Carl Rogers Person Centred therapy.

He taught us about trusting our inner compass, called it having an internal locus of evaluation — building your sense of worth from within, not from what others think of you—external locus of evaluation.

When you live from that place, you move from doing to being.
You stop chasing approval and start trusting your own instincts, feelings, and senses.

This week, practise noticing:
When am I seeking validation?
And when am I grounded in what feels true for me?

That’s where self-trust begins."

26/10/2025

24/10/2025

Emotion & Feeling Wheel -
How you use the emotion and feeling wheel will be unique to you however, you can use this visual tool during reflecting, identifying strong feelings & emotions, increasing self-awareness, for communicating with family and friends, teaching children, journaling or perhaps in some other creative way which is unique to you!

18/10/2025

The Power of Imagination - The Creative Ability of the Mind - "Over time, these imagined experiences activate neuroplasticity—carving new neural pathways that anchor safety, power, and connection."

Your imagination can help heal your trauma.
Not by escaping reality—but by rewiring it.

Most people think healing only happens through what’s real—what we do, say, or experience in the outside world.

But neuroscience shows something extraordinary: your brain responds to vividly imagined experiences in many of the same ways it does to real ones.

That means you can start forming new neural pathways of safety and connection even before those experiences happen in real life.

✨ Imagining being held by a caring figure can calm the amygdala and activate oxytocin pathways.
✨ Visualizing yourself setting a boundary or speaking up can strengthen prefrontal circuits involved in self-agency.

While imagination doesn’t fully replicate lived experience, research shows it can activate enough of the same neural pathways to begin changing how the brain encodes safety and connection.

This is what makes imagination one of the most powerful ways to create corrective experiences in trauma healing—moments where your brain and body get to feel, even symbolically, what should have happened but didn’t.

Because trauma locks the brain into rigid patterns—hypervigilance, shutdown, shame loops. Imagination reintroduces flexibility.

Even something as simple as imagining yourself moving, running, or being protected can begin to complete the defensive cycle your body never got to finish.

In that imagined movement, your brain begins to relearn: I can act. I can choose. I’m not frozen anymore. And as those images become felt in the body—not just seen in the mind—they begin to anchor a new sense of safety.

Over time, these imagined experiences activate neuroplasticity—carving new neural pathways that anchor safety, power, and connection where fear once lived.

So when you close your eyes and picture a new ending, don’t dismiss it as “just imagination.”

That’s your brain—and your body—practicing healing in real time.