The Garden Rooms Therapy

20/04/2026

Wishing a smile this Monday morning 💚

13/04/2026

Men’s local Walk & Talk group coming up this week…💚

Men’s Wellbeing Walk & Talk

Sometimes the best conversations happen side by side, not face to face.

Join us for a relaxed evening of fresh air, good company, and real conversation.

📅 Wednesday 15th April
⏰ 6:00 – 8:30pm
📍 Meet at Lyona Café

No pressure, no expectations...just a chance to clear your head, connect with others, and take a breather midweek.

Come for the walk, stay for the chat.

👉 All welcome – bring a mate if you like.

11/04/2026

10/04/2026

What I’ve learned in my first four years as a counsellor...

Four years in, and I can confidently say, this work is everything I hoped for, and in ways I couldn’t have predicted.

When I started, I thought therapy was about having the right answers. The right questions. The right interventions at the right time. I thought competence looked like certainty.

It doesn’t.

If anything, these past four years have taught me to get more comfortable with not knowing. To sit in the grey. To trust that something meaningful can still happen in the space between confusion and clarity.

1. People don’t need fixing - they need understanding

This one took me a while.

I came into the profession wanting to help, to ease pain, to make things better. But I’ve learned that jumping too quickly into “fixing mode” can actually get in the way. Most people already feel like they’re a problem to be solved.

What’s more powerful is being with someone as they are. Really hearing them. Letting their experience make sense without rushing to change it.

Ironically, that’s often when change begins.

2. The relationship is the work

I used to put so much pressure on techniques - am I using the right model? Am I doing this “correctly”?

Now I know: the relationship matters more than anything else.

It’s the consistency. The safety. The feeling of being seen without judgment. That’s what people remember. That’s what creates movement.

The theory helps. But the human connection is what heals.

3. Silence isn’t something to fear

Early on, silence felt unbearable. I’d rush to fill it, worried I was doing something wrong.

Now, I’ve learned to respect it.

Silence can mean thinking, feeling, processing. It can be the moment something lands. It doesn’t need to be interrupted. Some of the most important shifts happen in those quiet spaces.

4. Progress rarely looks how you expect

Change is messy. Non-linear. Sometimes frustratingly slow.

There are sessions that feel like breakthroughs - and others that feel like you’ve gone backwards. But even that “going backwards” often has meaning. It’s part of the process.

I’ve learned to zoom out. To trust that small shifts matter. That showing up, again and again, is progress in itself.

5. You bring yourself into the room—whether you like it or not

This work is personal.

Your own experiences, biases, and emotions don’t just disappear when you become a therapist. They come with you. And ignoring them doesn’t make them go away - it just makes them harder to notice.

Learning to reflect on myself has been just as important as learning any theory. Probably more.

6. Boundaries are an act of care, not distance

I used to worry that boundaries would make me seem cold or detached.

Now I see them differently.

Clear boundaries create safety - for both therapist and client. They allow the work to stay focused, ethical, and sustainable. Without them, things get blurred quickly.

They’re not a barrier to connection. They make real connection possible. But we are human too, and boundaries can move and change based on the circumstance.

7. You can’t do this work perfectly - and you don’t need to

There is no perfect session. No perfect response.

You will get things wrong. You’ll miss things. You’ll have moments where you wish you’d said something differently.

And that’s okay.

Repair matters more than perfection. Being real matters more than being flawless.

8. It’s a privilege - every single time

This is the one that still hits me.

People let you into parts of their lives they don’t show anyone else. They trust you with their pain, their fears, their stories.

That’s not something to take lightly.

Even on the hard days, even when I doubt myself, I come back to this: it’s a privilege to sit with someone in that space.

Four years in, I have fewer answers than I thought I would - but a much deeper respect for the complexity of being human.

And maybe that’s the point.

I’m still learning. I hope I always will be.

10/04/2026

Liked this today.

Wishing you a gentle Friday 💚

30/03/2026

💚 When the world feels like too much, find steady ground in small signs of change. 💚

If you’ve been feeling anxious about the state of the world lately, you are not alone.

Many people are carrying a quiet, constant sense of unease - and the news cycle doesn’t help. It moves fast, focuses on crisis, and rarely pauses to acknowledge progress.

But the anxiety that comes, whilst valid, does not always take in the whole picture.
Sometimes it narrows our focus so much that we lose sight of something essential: change is still happening. Healing is still happening. Even now.

This past week offers us a few gentle reminders:

🐋 Chile has recently created one of the largest marine reserves in the world. That means vast areas of ocean are now protected.
When anxiety is high, it’s easy to believe that destruction is inevitable. That nothing is being done. That no one is paying attention.
This is evidence of the opposite. Protection is happening. Recovery is being made possible.
In therapy, we often talk about how healing begins with creating a safe space. The same is true here. Even on a global scale, the world is still choosing to care for itself.

🚬 Smoking rates have continued to fall, reaching historically low levels. That kind of shift doesn’t come from one big moment. It comes from millions of small decisions, repeated over time. People choosing differently. Systems adapting. Support becoming more available.
Anxiety can tell us people don’t change - that we are stuck. But this is proof that change does happen. Slowly, quietly, and then maybe all at once.
If you’re feeling stuck in your own patterns, this can matter more than it might seem.

📱 There’s also increasing focus on social media responsibility - on how platforms shape mental health, spread information and influence how we see the world.
Awareness is growing. Conversations are happening. People are questioning what they consume and how it affects them.
And it’s there where change always begins - in the noticing.
If the online world has been fuelling your anxiety, this is your permission slip to step back, to unfollow, to mute, to rest.
You are allowed to protect your mind.

In summary, when the world feels overwhelming, it’s natural to look for certainty or quick comfort. But what actually often helps is something steadier: context.

The full picture.

Yes, there are real challenges. But alongside them, there are also efforts to protect the planet, improvements in public health and growing awareness around mental wellbeing.

Two things can be true at once. The world can be struggling, and still be moving forward.

We are living in a complicated world, but not a hopeless one.

If you are wondering if a space to work though your thoughts and feelings could be useful, please do reach out for a 1/2 hour initial meet up, for which there is no charge.

💚 Www.thegardenroomshassocks.co.uk

02/03/2026

Another uplifting and beautifully drawn message from lucyclaireillustration - particularly poignant when our current world news can feel difficult to read and digest…

20/02/2026

Welcome 💚

30/01/2026

The importance of day dreaming has come up a lot in sessions recently.

It can often get a bad reputation as ‘zoning out’, but it can actually be one of the healthiest things your brain does.

When you daydream, your mind gets a chance to wander beyond the pressure of the moment. That mental space can spark creativity, helping you to come up with fresh ideas, solve problems in unexpected ways, and imagine possibilities you might not consider when you’re focused on tasks.

It’s also a natural way to process your emotions - your brain quietly sorts through experiences, worries, and hopes, which can bring clarity and calm.

In a world that constantly demands attention, letting your mind drift now and then isn’t laziness. It’s a reset, a creative recharge, and sometimes absolutely necessary.

Wishing you a daydreamy weekend ahead 💚

23/01/2026

I love lucyclaireillustration

She captures moments and thoughts beautifully…

…wishing you a gentle Friday and weekend, filling up your cup 💚

05/01/2026

We all go around in circles sometimes!

Saw this lovely bird footprint this morning - looks like they were unsure of which direction to take…

If you’d like support in 2026, please do make contact.

Www.thegardenroomshassocks.co.uk

21/12/2025

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