Highland Well-Ness Collective

01/04/2026

22/03/2026

We’ve been sitting on this news for a little while, and it feels like the perfect moment to finally share it.

As Neurodiversity Celebration Week draws to a close, we’re so proud and grateful to announce that Highland Well-Ness Collective has received funding through the HTSI Intensive Capacity Building Fund.

From April 2026, we’ll be able to offer free, neuro-affirming counselling for adults in Highland who are on the ADHD waiting list, have been excluded from a diagnosis pathway, or are simply living without support and struggling emotionally as a result.

Up to 12 free sessions. No diagnosis needed. Just a safe, consistent space to be heard.

We want to be clear: this is not clinical assessment. We’re a counselling service and that is not within our scope. This is for the emotional weight of the limbo. The exhaustion, the self-doubt, the frustration of a system that doesn’t currently have space for you.

This service is for adults 18+ living in Highland who are experiencing emotional distress as a result of being without an ADHD support pathway - and who are unable to access private counselling due to financial barriers. Financial pressure looks different for everyone and we won’t ask you to justify it.

Places are limited and there will be a waiting list — this is a one-year pilot. The sooner you add your name, the better.
👉 Full details + a short form to join the waiting list are now live at:
highlandwellnesscollective.co.uk/adhd
Please share this - you never know who needs to see it.

Huge thanks to HTSI for making this possible

08/03/2026

Still matters. Here’s why. 🤍

Every year IWD comes around and I feel two things at once, genuine gratitude for how far things have come, and a kind of quiet frustration that we’re still here. Still having the same conversations. Still watching women shrink, struggle, wait, manage, cope, carry.

I work with women. In counselling rooms, in dance classes, in community spaces, in business. And what I see - consistently, across all of it - is women who are doing an enormous amount, often with very little recognition, very little support, and a whole lot of things they’ve just learned to get on with.

So this carousel isn’t a celebration in the confetti-and-champagne sense. It’s more of a witnessing. A small attempt to name some of what’s still being carried: the diagnoses that took a decade, the grief nobody made space for, the mental load that never switches off, the support that wasn’t there when it was needed, the violence that doesn’t always look like what people imagine violence looks like.

Some of these slides will land differently for different people. Some might feel familiar in ways that are uncomfortable. That’s okay. You don’t have to have words for it.

If something resonates - share it. Send it to a woman in your life who might need to feel a bit less alone today. Because that’s actually what changes things, isn’t it? Not grand gestures. Just women noticing each other. Believing each other. Showing up.

Happy International Women’s Day to every woman doing something quiet and extraordinary today. Which is most of you 🤍

(and a wee note - this carousel was inspired by a post from - the ultimate gals gal)

28/02/2026

Important project happening in Moray - please share far and wider for anyone that may need this space 🧡

MADE is thankful to have been awarded funding from the Third Sector Interface Moray Health & Wellbeing Fund to pilot an initiative for those who have or are experiencing domestic abuse, with a particular focus on coercive control and local women.

Why? Because this issue is still widely misunderstood, even by those experiencing it, and services are forever stretched. Although we recognise abuse isn't gender specific, our approach reflects the reality that women are far more likely to experience this form of abuse.

Coercive control can be quiet; it is a pattern of ongoing, intentional behaviors used to manipulate and restrict, which often causes significant overwhelm, confusion and self-doubt.

Over a period of around 10 months, we hope to work with a group of self-referring women who will benefit from connecting with others whilst accessing practical methods that support coping, recovery and thriving - from EFT tapping to creative outlets.

Greenbrae Steading will be our partner venue for the duration of the project - the perfect location - small, warm and with a sea view.

If you or someone you know would like to know more, please do get in touch - confidentiality goes without saying. Stacey can be reached on 07495581961.

21/02/2026

18/02/2026

You might have heard of Attachment Styles - but what does that actually mean?

Well - I think this infographic is a great starting point - a brilliant resource created by Mike Cooper in collaboration with Xabier Lopez (shared here with permission). Originally posted in the Counselling Tutor Facebook group, and I’m so glad he did.

Attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby and expanded by Mary Ainsworth, explores how our earliest relationships, particularly with caregivers, shape the way we relate to others throughout our lives. Those patterns don’t just disappear; they quietly influence how we show up in friendships, romantic relationships, and our relationship with ourselves.

Understanding your attachment style can offer a moment of “oh, that’s why I do that.” It can bring compassion where there’s been self-criticism, and curiosity where there’s been confusion. It can help make sense of why closeness feels easy for some and terrifying for others, or why certain dynamics keep repeating.

But here’s where I want to be honest with you : please don’t just file yourself under a category and move on. That would be doing yourself a disservice.

Attachment styles exist on a spectrum. Most of us hold more than one depending on the relationship, the context, even the day. They’re not fixed identities, they’re patterns, and patterns can shift with awareness, time, and the right support.

This infographic is a door. What’s behind it is a much richer, more personal conversation, one worth having properly.

If something here resonates - or unsettles - sit with that feeling. Ideally with a good therapist, a trusted person, or your own quiet curiosity.

Use this as a spark, not a label. 🤍

Credit: Mike Cooper & Xabier Lopez - shared with permission.

16/02/2026

Gentle reminder: Your capacity today doesn’t define your capacity forever.

Capacity isn’t fixed - it shifts based on sleep, stress, health, relational safety, systemic pressures, grief, medication changes, life transitions, and a hundred other variables most of us aren’t taught to track.

Some seasons you have more internal and external resources.

Some seasons those resources are depleted or redirected toward survival, caregiving, or managing things outside your control.

Both states are real.
Both are allowed.

Neither one is a character flaw or personal failing.

What we often call “productivity” or “motivation” is frequently just nervous system capacity meeting relatively stable conditions. When conditions destabilise - whether that’s through trauma, oppression, chronic stress, illness, or loss - capacity contracts. That’s adaptive, not broken.

You’re not doing something wrong when you can’t hold what you used to hold.
You’re responding to real conditions in real time.

And when people tell you to “just push through” or “stay disciplined,” they’re often ignoring the reality that your system is already working hard to keep you functional.

Low capacity isn’t permanent.

It’s also not a reflection of your worth, your potential, or what you’re capable of when conditions change.

The version of you that could do more isn’t the “real” you that you’ve lost, it was you under different circumstances. And those circumstances can shift again. Not because you forced them to, but because conditions change, resources return, and nervous systems can recover when given what they actually need.

You haven’t broken yourself by being in survival mode.
You’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to do - adapting to what’s real.

And when things stabilise, your capacity can too.

💬 So tell us - What’s one thing that affects your capacity that you wish more people understood? 🤍

18/01/2026

A full day-into-night community festival creating sober social spaces is set to take place in Inverness.

More below.

19/12/2025

✨ Festive pause ✨

We’ll be taking a proper break from emails and enquiries from 19th December - 5th January to rest, recharge, and step back for a little while.

During this time, we’ll also be offline on social media, aside from a few posts that have already been scheduled. Messages and DMs won’t be monitored, but we’ll respond as soon as we’re back in the new year.

This time of year can feel very different for everyone. We hope you’re able to take care of yourself in ways that feel right for you - gently, and without pressure.

Thank you for your patience, understanding, and continued support 💚

Wishing you a peaceful and steady end to the year x

17/12/2025

Therapy is often misunderstood because so much of the work is invisible.

What looks like “just listening” is actually skilled, intentional, emotionally demanding work - held with care, ethics, and years of training behind it.

Therapists hold stories that are heavy, complex and deeply human. We track nervous systems, pace safety, manage risk, reflect patterns, and stay regulated while sitting with pain that many people have never spoken out loud before.

This work requires extensive training, supervision, continuous learning and ongoing personal reflection.
It asks a lot - emotionally, mentally and ethically.

And yet, it’s still often undervalued.
Not because it isn’t skilled…
but because the skill looks quiet.

Therapy isn’t “just listening.”
And it certainly isn’t something anyone can do simply because they’re empathetic or have picked up a few counselling skills.

This work involves years of professional training, ongoing supervision, continuous CPD, and the ability to safely hold trauma, grief, identity ruptures and deep emotional pain, week after week.

Because counselling in the UK isn’t legally regulated, it matters who you work with. Ethical practice, professional membership, trauma-informed training and accountability aren’t optional extras, they’re essential.

The work is quiet.
The responsibility is huge.
And the impact is real.

These are just some of the things happening in the room when you’re working with a trained therapist - even when it looks like we’re “just listening.”