Willow Tree Counselling

22/11/2025

The government launches bold plan to tackle physical and mental health challenges faced by men and boys, and reduce inequalities.

22/11/2025

When we've grown up with childhood trauma and our emotions, beliefs and behaviors were often belittled, criticized or invalidated, we learn adaptive strategies to help us stay safe and connected.

Children NEED their parents, and they would do anything to stay connected to them.
When their caregivers are not safe people (emotionally, physically or both), children find ways to create internal safety and self-soothe, when what they really need is for their environment to show up for them.

These are entirely subconscious behaviours. We don't plan them.
They arise automatically from the body, and when we start finding ways to be grateful for these parts of ourselves, rather than criticizing them, these parts start working less hard and make room for new behaviors.
Because our behaviors are not fixed. They can change.
The same applies to our conditioned identity. – .trauma.educator
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If you want to learn about how inner child work can help you find yourself and develop your autonomy and competence, plug into our online community of recovering survivors working through old limiting self-beliefs to deepen our self-awareness and self-esteem.

21/11/2025

21/11/2025

20/11/2025

ℹ️🌿 WHAT ARE THE ROLES IN DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY SYSTEMS? |

Roles in family systems follow a pattern. When you see the pattern emerge, you are able to bring understanding and change. I’d like to answer two questions regarding patterns. How do abusers do it? And why do abusers do it?

The how. Dysfunctional and narcissistic parents divide and conquer by placing family members into different roles. In my family, my father was the head narcissist and the only person allowed to show anger. My mother was borderline histrionic and mentally ill. Both enabled each other’s behavior. Both focused their main attack on my older brother and I.

Read the Full Article: https://cptsdfoundation.org/2023/02/22/what-are-the-roles-in-dysfunctional-family-systems/

20/11/2025

Triangulation. Once you see it and realise you’ve been in the middle of it, it’s 🤯

20/11/2025

😂

20/11/2025

Most people think storytelling is powerful because it lets you “express yourself.” But the impact goes far deeper than expression: your brain changes when your story is witnessed.

When someone is present with you—really present—your nervous system receives signals it never had during the original experience: You’re safe. You’re not alone. Someone sees what happened.

That shift matters, because the memory that once lived in isolation finally has a new context. That’s what rewires the brain.

And here’s the other half we rarely talk about: witnessing changes the listener too.

When someone hears your story with openness, their own system softens. They recognize parts of their pain in yours. Your honesty gives them language, permission, and a sense of safety they didn’t even know they were missing.

This is the science of why healing is relational.
We don’t just tell stories—we co-regulate, we make meaning, and we reorganize our internal worlds through connection.

18/11/2025

I always feel much better after a holiday. I don’t even need to go away (but that’s top notch rest). It’s taken me this amount of years to fully notice how much clearer my head is after a break.
It’s a misconception that keeping going = more productivity. A well rested mind and body = better productivity ❤️