Dawn to Dusk counselling

30/03/2025

Happy Mother’s Day, regardless of the type of day it is for you.

Credit to Emily Pope for the picture

10/02/2025

How do you communicate with those around you?

Communication has been a recurring theme in my practice of late, especially in consideration of how someone can express their thoughts and feelings in a healthier way. Communication takes at least two people to go smoothly, with limitations on what we are able to control.

Words used, tone of voice, volume and facial expressions are among the things you can control when talking to someone, how someone interprets those words, or reacts to them are not. Which can lead to feeling misunderstood, and like the pathway to expressing yourself feel like a very thin, precarious path.

When on any communication journey you may waver between finding healthy and unhealthy ways to express your emotions. Sometimes we may need support from someone outside of our social circle to help us look at our communication style. If this is something you feel you could use some guidance with, please feel free to get in touch and schedule a free initial phone call to see if I could be the right counsellor for you.

[Image Description : a stick figure walks a tightrope with clouds either side, on the left hand side is a dark cloud with the word 'unhealthy' in. On the right hand side is a lighter cloud with the word 'healthy' in. Drawn by myself.]

15/01/2025

With it being Wednesday, aka 'Hump Day' I began thinking about slumps, and patterns.

When I worked in retail with varying shifts, I never understood the slump that those that Monday to Friday felt around midweek, this was because my week changed so much. Now I see clients every day, I am blessed to still not feel that slump, but do at other times. Such as after lunch, meaning I usually have a break in between lunch and my next client.

This pattern recognition has really helped me understand my Mental Health, and build in small coping mechanisms for me to try and improve my day to day wellbeing.

Have you ever considered whether you have unconscious patterns that affect you day by day? If so, what are they?

02/01/2025

Happy New Year! Hopefully by now any negative side effects from your celebrations will have worn off and you are ready to begin 2025.

Resolutions can be such a tricky subject for many, some people set them and follow through, some people set them and struggle to complete them, which can lead to negative connotations for resolutions.

I firmly disliked resolutions for years as I was always setting tasks that were too vast and impossible to maintain, leading to feelings of failure. As a result, one year I set the goal to be kinder to myself.
With this broad and vague goal in mind, I began noticing the amount of times I went to speak to myself from a negative place. This led to more self discovery and more self confidence, over the years I have adapted this resolution to what is fitting for me each New Years.

If one of your goals this New Years is to work on your self awareness please consider reaching out, I have a tiered pricing system to try and make counselling available to people regardless of their situation.

How do you feel about resolutions? Were you like me? Or do they always fill you with hope?

06/11/2024

Today I thought I would share this model demonstrating things we can and cannot control. I have found that anxiety can often lead us to believe that the circle of concern are things that because we are 'concerned' about the outer circle, we can control or impact the things that are there. All we can do is Influence them by focusing on the middle circle and the way we choose to act in that. The middle circle, which is by far the smallest represents the things we can directly control.

When the world is changing, we can feel like we have no say in what happens next, or that somehow we did not do enough. I implore you to try and refrain from punishing yourselves, and reframe those things by figuring out where they belong on this image. Each time we do this, we take back a little bit of power and give ourselves a bit more strength for the future.

{Content in image created and sold by thetherapycorner on Etsy.}

16/08/2024

I am off to see some Family in the states for 2 weeks, I will be checking this page regularly, but please be patient when it comes to me responding, especially over this weekend.

Take care of yourselves and I will post again soon

13/08/2024

A consistent theme of my conversations this week has been the idea of sharing yourself as openly as possible with the people who matter most. Especially when one is perhaps struggling with their physical or emotional wellbeing.

I know many who find it easier to open up in a counselling environment because one trusts that by sharing their struggles, no one else is being burdened by them. Yet it can feel risky to open up to others for fear of rejection, disapproval or doubt.

As someone with a chronic illness I know how hard it can be to share pain for fear of doubt, and know it can go much further than that.

So today, tonight, this week, I encourage you to share your truth with someone you trust. However, if you are unsure how to start this path, or even want someone to begin with, please send me a message and begin sharing, we all deserve to be seen and heard.

12/08/2024

With the heat in my area being due to reach 33 Celsius today I’m sharing this as my Monday message.
Take care of yourselves, take care of each other and hydrate as much as possible.

My feed is filled with reminders to look after yourself during the heatwave and they have a point.

As annoying as it is, there are certain medications that people (including me) take for depression. These can impact your bodies ability to handle heat, meaning that as annoying as it may be, hydration is helpful. If you or a loved one are on these, make sure you remain as cool as possible, drink regularly, especially water or squash, wear sunscreen and stay in the shade.

Vitamin D is so good for your physical and mental health, so the sun is good, being outside is good, just be cautious.

If you, or someone you know is experiencing depression, take extra care while we are warm and if you feel stuck in depression and want a way out. Give me a message and start building the steps to get out.

08/08/2024

A previous client got in touch to me to pass on the following testimonial of our sessions together.

"Thanks again for all your help, you really have made a difference in my outlook and mindset for the future, helped me build my confidence and taught me to be kind to myself. You really are great at what you do and I am so thankful for my support from you."

This client and I did fixed term counselling and spent 16 sessions working through their concerns. If fixed term counselling sounds right for you, please feel free to contact me and begin your counselling journey today.

31/07/2024

Today I was treated to being in the right headspace to recognise this beautiful sight, the clear blue sky and trees so green, even in the centre of Cambridge.

That headspace is not there for me every day, sometimes it takes work and others it isn’t possible for me to notice at all.

Perhaps this lack of awareness sounds familiar to you or someone you know?
Sometimes Therapy is a great way to figure out what’s stopping you from noticing how bright things are, or figuring out how to view it again.

If this is something you’d like to learn, send me a message and start the journey to finding these moments for yourself