Rising Phoenix Counselling

12/10/2025

10/10/2025

Today, is mental health day thinking of:

Those with unresolved trauma
Those who cannot get support
Those who are financially struggling.
Those who have been bereaved
Those affected by war
Those who are estranged by family
Those who are isolated and alone
Those fighting battles nobody knows
Carers, unpaid mental professionals, nurses, GP's.
LGBTA+ community
Children and teenagers failed by the educational system or being bullied or pressures of social media for teenagers.
Those affected by racism and misogyny
Those that society doesn't cater for......
Mental health starts with taking action against the broken and dysfunctional systems and society we live in.

26/09/2025

I hear this a lot around su***de,

"But they had the perfect life".

It's like saying they had the perfect body and therefore cannot get/have a disease that kills them. Trauma kills, stress kills, unresolved psychological and emotional injury kills. These don't discriminate no matter what. Happiness isn't in material things, love alone can't cure the deepest bleeding of the psyche. Love heals but safety in environment is just as important and we don't live in an emotionally safe world. In a world where these wounds are always seen, understood and attended too or prevented.

14/09/2025

When someone is suicidal or feels suicidal the worst thing you can say to that person is: if you were then you would have done it by now.

Firstly it dismisses and invalidates their feelings and pain.

Secondly, it's judgemental and suggests the person is just seeking attention.

Thirdly, it's asking the person to end their pain by taking their life so that their pain can finally be seen and they can be taken seriously, by which point, the person has lost their life.

Nobody should have to prove their pain when reaching out for support and nobody should be faced with this response. We can do better, than label people attention seekers when they are connection seeking.

It's not enough to ask those suffering to talk about it, our responses and attitudes need changing before anyone can trust and feel safe enough to reach out or talk about it.

14/09/2025

September is su***de awareness month. This is my message to the world and as a mental health professional.

Not talking about emotional pain is like not talking about physical pain. Not talking about emotional pain is like ignoring physical pain and expecting it to go away. Not talking about emotional pain is like expecting a person to physically suffer and ignoring them when in need. It's like telling them not to go to a GP or shame them for telling anyone where it hurts. There is no difference between physical and emotional pain.
Mental and emotional pain silenced will and does kill people.

If you don't know if they want to talk about it, just ask, don't assume and don't render their pain invisible. Just like we ask, did you hurt yourself? Don't tell someone they will be okay or they are okay. Sit with them, listen to them, allow them their reality, not your comfort.

Don't be afraid to ask, don't be afraid to ask if they are suicidal. Asking doesn't kill or make things worse, it shows people that they are seen, makes them feel not alone and normalises pain. Big emotions are not bad, they are a normal reaction to overwhelm. It's okay to have them, it's not okay to bury them.

When we ask others to bury their pain, the reality is we may be also burying them. We can support them or help them find support, just let's not ask them to shut down emotions, that's asking someone to be dead inside and chances are they already feel dead inside. When that's asked of someone they may feel, they might as well be dead.

Please let's change the narrative and start normalising open discussions, the expression of feelings and acknowledging pain not turning away from it.

14/09/2025

10/09/2025

Today is su***de prevention day; it is not a mental health issue that drives people to end their pain. It's a normal human response to pain and trauma.

Mental health suffers as a response to trauma. Trauma can be grief, loss of job and relationship, financial struggles... what causes su***de is also the erasal of emotions.

The positive thinking that dismisses suffering and the impact, the silencing of emotions, the ignoring the pain or not talking about it.

This adds to feeling alone, helpless, hopeless and to have to bury pain that will find a way out.

Compassion and living in a world that doesn't judge and stigmatise is crucial. A world that is comfortable with sitting with another's pain and that is trauma informed. A world where compassion and emotional intelligence is valued that it reduces suffering for many wounds are relational.

Much of the healing is on how others respond and the help available that lacks. The system is failing people, institutions are failing people...children are suicidal.

Children are often forgotten when a parent dies from extreme mental pain.

I came close to losing both parents to the pain this life inflicts and we inflict on each other. I have wished mine to end before it's time.

We need to change the language around su***de, we need to change the myths around it and we need humanity back because without humanity; life really isn't worth living.

07/09/2025

Su***de and compassionate and accurate language. Let's open the conversation.