Samantha Stanyard Counselling Therapy

21/08/2025

I’m curious — what’s one simple thing you do to lift your mood when you’re feeling low?
I’ll start: mine is stepping outside for a few minutes and breathing deeply, no phone, no distractions and a moment of quiet.
I’m a counsellor here in Poole and I’m always learning from the small things that help people feel a little better, I'd love to hear what you do 🫶

19/08/2025

When everything feels “too much,” try this: pause and take a few slow, deep breaths. 🌬️ Breathing this way signals your nervous system to relax, helping your body shift out of stress mode. It’s like giving yourself a mini reset — grounding you, calming your mind, and bringing you back to the present moment. 💛✨

If you want to talk more about what is causing you to feel stress, or more about breathing or grounding, or what counselling might look like for you, I offer a free no pressure intro call 💜

17/08/2025

14/08/2025

Life can be amazing — and it can also feel messy, confusing, and overwhelming. When everything’s piling up, it’s easy to think you should just “get on with it” or figure it out alone. But you don’t have to.

I offer a space where you can slow down, breathe, and speak freely. No judgement, no jargon, no pressure to be “fixed.” Just honest conversations, gentle curiosity, and a calm presence alongside you while you navigate whatever’s going on.

Sometimes that means untangling old hurts. Sometimes it’s finding your footing after a big change. And sometimes it’s simply having someone who listens, so you can hear yourself more clearly.

You don’t need to have the right words, the perfect plan, or even know exactly what you want from counselling. We’ll start where you are, take it at your pace, and find a way forward together.

Because life’s challenges don’t disappear overnight — but they do feel lighter when you don’t have to carry them alone.

If you would like a free, 15 minute conversation to see how counselling could help you, please get in touch.

18/10/2024

10/02/2024

Learning to brave my ice bath 🥶

The human body is well-equipped to endure gradual exposure to ice water. The water offers us a way to handle stress, mental or physical, of any kind. It can be painful at first, but you learn to adjust to it and then, eventually, you actually start to love it. You start to love that stress and what it does for you. ❤️💪

Hormetic stress in this form is exhilarating and beneficial. And it helps to protect the body, on a cellular level, from other stressors, whatever they might be. Bacteria, viruses, emotional stress, work stress. 🦠🚫

There are no tyrannical bosses or heartbreaking divorces in the ice bath. The cold water is the boss. 👑❄️

10/10/2023

I know I’ve shared this recently but as today is World Mental Health Day it feels right to share it again.

I love that the meditations start you on the basics and build as you indicate what you feel you’ve learnt. And that they can range from 5 minutes upwards.

There are also sleep stories for adults and children, my favourite is the one that changes scene every night so you don’t know where you will be going.

10/10/2023

Today is World Mental Health Day 2023

Take some time to check in with yourself and be curious about how healthy you are mentally.

Is there anything you would like to change or talk to someone about?

09/10/2023

💌 Send this to the first person you thought of. 🤗 (And be sure to let them know Balance is free for their entire first year!)

Tuesday is , and we're proud to be a part of the global effort to raise awareness that mental health is a universal human right.