Helen Kewell Counselling and Well-Being

03/03/2025

Tune in to Meridian tomorrow to hear me talking to Alyson about all things midlife growth and empowerment 🙌

📅 T U E S D A Y 4️⃣ M A R C H
🕕 2pm
📻 107 Meridian FM
🔊 meridianfm.com
▶️ Your Health Matters
🎙️ Alyson Bowcott

Alyson will be joined by Helen Kewell, a counsellor and counselling supervisor with a private practice in Sussex. She is an author and educator in counselling and wellbeing. Also celebrating International Women's Day, we shall be discussing growth and empowerment in midlife.

07/12/2024

This little film is such a wonderful manifestation of what it means to live well whilst knowing death is approaching. Granted not everyone has the luxury of a healthy life and a large family around them but for a 99 year old to be so agile mentally and physically and delighting in life is inspiring to see.

All My Love is taken from Coldplay's tenth studio album Moon Music, available here: https://coldplay.lnk.to/MoonMusic 🌙FOLLOW AND LISTEN TO COLDPLAYhttps://...

23/10/2024

If you are free tomorrow evening and want to join my online book launch for ‘MidLife’ I’d be delighted to welcome you. I’ll be talking about how, amidst the difficulties and crises, midlife can also be a period of growth and renewal. Join me?!

Tomorrow (24/10/24) at 6pm

Join us for… Helen Kewell Counselling and Well-Being in conversation with editor Catherine Jackson

Tickets at https://bit.ly/MidlifeEvent

CPDevents CPD

12/09/2024

My second book is out for publication today, am thrilled to share it with the world.

It is my hope that is reflects a little bit of all of us, not just the mainstream and received ideas about midlife being a time of crisis and decline.

It’s a story of growth, hope and creating our future.

Go and get yourself a copy!

Thank you to everyone I work with, those I interviewed for my research, those who supported and endorsed it. I’m so pleased it is now out in the world!

Out Today

MidLife: stories of crisis & growth from the counselling room
by Helen Kewell

‘Helen Kewell's book will take you on an adventurous journey through the wilderness of midlife transitions...’ Prof Emmy van Duerzen

Available from https://bit.ly/MidLifeBook


Helen Kewell Counselling and Well-Being

01/08/2024

I am thrilled that my new book is out in September and available for pre-order now. Midlife is a time of physical and emotional change but it doesn’t always have to always be a time of crisis, it’s a time of potential and growth, don’t you agree?

04/01/2024

First of all: thank you and welcome to new followers to my page 🤗

A quick message as we all start 2024 📣

If your Christmas wasn’t so picture perfect or didn’t go to plan…
If you were alone, lonely or grieving over the holiday period and found it difficult…
If you are struggling to find the energy to feel excited or make plans for this new year…
If you are low or worried about others who are struggling…

…please believe me when I say you are absolutely not alone and it’s completely normal to feel how you are feeling.

There is nothing like the Christmas break and the endless coverage on media of ‘new year new you’ messages to make us feel isolated when our reality doesn’t fit the narrative.

If you are feeling out of sorts there are some simple things you can try like:
1️⃣ Tell at least one person who you trust how you feel (it can be a huge relief to have just said out loud how you feel)
2️⃣ Even if you feel like hiding, get out and about at least once a day and go for a walk (even try and see the sun if it ever makes an appearance)
3️⃣ Make some gentle plans for tomorrow, next week or even next month that make you happy - coffee with a friend, a visit to the beach, seeing a film or reading a book. No need for pressure but it’s good to have something to aim for.
4️⃣ Breathe. Take 2-4 deep, slow belly breaths daily (or whenever you remember). It is scientifically proven to help wellbeing, even if you do it just once!
5️⃣ Do something nurturing for your physical body: a warm bath, a stretch, even just moisturising. It’s incredible how our mental health responds when we show our physical body some care.

I hope that helps. These things are not intended to patronise or give you a new ‘perfect’ to feel you can’t quite achieve, they are intended to be ideas of how you might be kind to yourself, there may be one there that resonates.

And, if it is all proving too much, it’s really ok to ask for help. We are all of us stumbling through life in some way, and having companions to help light the way for us when the path seems difficult can be a great comfort 🤗

(A picture of the sea, because for me this is one of the ways I start to feel better…being in or near water🌊).

15/11/2023

A new psychosis drug, why we forget 2021, and therapy in later life – it’s not too late.

15/11/2023

Please tune in or access on BBC Sounds if you are interested :-)

A new psychosis drug, why we forget 2021, and therapy in later life – it’s not too late.

02/08/2023

The death of Sinead O’Connor and narrative in the mass media about her ‘battling her demons’ have highlighted an important problem. When people speak out in rage against the system (in her case, famously, the Pope) they are often labelled hysterical or, worse, mentally unwell. Usually mental illness is a result of battling too long against something that can’t be resolved (in her case it was abuse).

Poor mental health mostly results from us experiencing events that have been traumatic or difficult. NOT because people themselves are fundamentally flawed.

And what those suffering need most is deep listening, understanding and compassion.

It’s not ‘them’ it is ‘all of us’. All that separates each of us from struggling is a series of events which we are unable to resolve.

Remember:
- Mental health is not ‘the problem’, the life events and abuses that happened to those of us who are struggling (often at the hands of others) are the problem.
- Medical diagnoses such as bipolar, PTSD, depression do not make someone broken or a problem, the events that have caused them to struggle are the problem.

When we act like the person is the problem, or only see their label, we stop seeing the real human inside. Ditto if we ignore or minimise or try to explain away what they are feeling.

Sharing this brilliant article on Sinead O’Connor which brings out some of these themes and reclaims her experience not as one where she is the problem but the problem is with the system around her.

In her tragic passing, I choose to honor her by raising up these words she said, by hearing and believing them.

19/07/2023

Global events (and goodness knows we have had enough of these in recent years) can create a sense of what I call ‘generalised overwhelm’.

This is where you feel overwhelmed by nothing in particular but everything at once, a low level and constant feeling of unease. You might find it harder to do daily tasks, you might have vivid dreams or struggle to sleep.

As the news rolls by about extreme weather events this week it brings harsh narratives about climate change and the future of the earth. If, like me, this creates unease and panic for you, please know you are not alone.

I resharing some simple strategies for grounding yourself when you feel this way. And remember to take each day as it comes, stay close to what is happening right now.

Finally, reach out and talk to someone else about how you feel, often this simple act can lighten the load.

Good morning.

If you are struggling this morning or feeling panic come over this is a good and fast way to ground yourself....

1. Look around you and name the things you see or hear, methodically and slowly. This will ground you in your surroundings.

2. Next place your hand on your tummy and the other on your heart. Close your eyes and breathe slowly in and out a few times. Make the out breath slightly longer than the in.

These two things will bring you back into now and into your body. They are quick and easy to do if you feel a wave of anxiety or panic.
👊🙌

21/06/2023

Local listening group to support men 👇 this is such a generous and wonderful idea. Do share widely or with anyone who might benefit.

06/05/2023

Carrie is a wonderful human being and also very wise. Her latest show features bereavement and she invited me in to talk a bit about my story and my work.

This week Carrie meets counsellor and author Helen Kewell who discusses the therapeutic space she offers to people to help deal with loss, ageing and bereavement. Plus a focus on how to support yourself, and others, if you are dealing with the death of someone close.