Actualise

24/03/2025

🌿Hello!🌿

I’ve been working with a lot of clients who are trying to navigate very stressful lives lately, so I thought it would be good for me to touch base with some theory around stress and share some knowledge.

My approach to any mental wellbeing challenges we all face is to provide psychoeducation around the issue. Knowledge is power, and if we know what we’re up against, it can make things seem a little less scary, remind us that we’re entirely normal humans, and empower us to confront and change what’s keeping us stuck.

I’ll be posting more about self-help strategies for stress soon, so please follow if you’re interested in finding out more 🙂

How do you cope with stress? Let me know in the comments 👇

🌿Thanks for reading and take care of yourselves, Donna 🌿

📧 I’m currently accepting new counselling/ psychotherapy clients, so please do DM or email me if you’d like to work with me online, by telephone, or face-to-face.

💚 Social Media is not therapy - please reach out to your GP or other qualified professionals for support with your mental health. The Samaritans (116 123), Shout 85258, or NHS 111 / 999 are also there if you need support urgently

19/11/2024

🌿 A post for International Men’s Day 2024 🌿

I’ve had the privilege of working with lots of men who’ve had the strength to share their struggles, their biggest secrets, and shown the vulnerability they’ve been told time and again they’re not allowed to show.

I’m so proud of the achievements all my clients make through engaging in therapy, but I (and I’m sure lots of other therapists feel the same), still wish I got the opportunity to work with more men.

Let’s keep bucking the trend, think really hard about the cultural normative stereotypes we sometimes conform to, stop engaging in “toxic masculinity,” and support the men in our lives to access the help they deserve 💚

🌿 Talking really can help 🌿

📧 I’m currently accepting new counselling/ psychotherapy clients, so please do DM or email me if you’d like to work with me online, by telephone, or face-to-face.

💚 Social Media is not therapy - please reach out to your GP or other qualified professionals for support with your mental health. The Samaritans (116 123), Shout 85258, or NHS 111 / 999 are also there if you need support urgently

07/11/2024

🌿 I’ve had this post prepped for a while, but given what’s been going on lately, it felt right to share it now.

Evaluating our Circle of Control can really help us to figure out what’s causing us to feel stressed or anxious, to find ways of changing or eliminating stressors, or to accept that we cannot control or influence the outcome of many situations or events.

We spend so much energy worrying about the things we can’t control. Sometimes granting ourselves permission to just focus on “controlling the controllable” can bring us the mental peace a lot of us need right now 🌿

What else have you accepted you can’t control, and how did doing that help you? 👇

📧 I’m currently accepting new counselling/ psychotherapy clients, so please do DM or email me if you’d like to work with me online, by telephone, or face-to-face.

💚 Social Media is not therapy - please reach out to your GP or other qualified professionals for support with your mental health. The Samaritans (116 123), Shout 85258, or NHS 111 / 999 are also there if you need support urgently

04/11/2024

🌿Happy Monday, Everyone!

Here we are at the beginning of another week, at that time of year when stress levels seem to go nuclear (🎄🎁🤦🏼‍♀️)

There are loads of reasons to look after ourselves better as the weather gets colder and the nights get longer, but we often overlook the detrimental role that high stress levels play in our mental and physical wellbeing - especially when it comes to keeping our immune systems in good shape to fend off all the viruses that thrive in the colder months 🦠🤧

These are some of the things myself and my clients do to help us to let it all out and stay better regulated - what would you add?👇🌿

📧 I’m currently accepting counselling/ psychotherapy clients, so please do DM or email me if you’d like to work with me online, by telephone, or face-to-face.

💚 Social Media is not therapy - please reach out to your GP or other qualified professionals for support with your mental health. The Samaritans (116 123), Shout 85258, or NHS 111 / 999 are also there if you need support urgently

19/10/2024

🌿 One of the key things us therapists listen for are the little, harsh words that get added - “I can’t believe I was so STUPID,” “I’m just RUBBISH at my job,” “Perhaps it’s ALL MY FAULT,” “I’m a S@!T communicator, that’s why no one listens to me.”

When we hear these statements of self-blame, self-doubt, and sometimes downright self-sabotage, we’re hoping that by bringing them to your attention, together we can then start to challenge that inner-dialogue, instead of letting it have total control over how you think, feel, and act 🌿

📧 I currently have space for 1 client, so please do DM or email me if you’d like to work with me online, by telephone, or face-to-face.

💚Social Media is not therapy - please reach out to your GP or other qualified professionals for support with your mental health. The Samaritans (116 123), Shout 85258, or NHS 111 / 999 are also there if you need support urgently.

19/10/2024

New Blog just published!
https://wix.to/O65yrtf

After describing the causes, symptoms, and effects of Burnout Syndrome (BOS) in the first part of this blog, October's blog focuses on....

12/10/2024

🌿 If you find yourself struggling with anxiety of any type, anxiety or panic attacks, or are working through PTSD or C-PTSD, then you’ll know that unexpected stressors or triggers can rapidly lead to your nervous system becoming dysregulated.

One way to plan ahead for these often inevitable events and situations, and their consequences, is to have a Distress Tolerance Kit with you wherever you go.

The idea is to keep your kit small - (think make up bag / pencil case size), and to fill it with lots of things which stimulate one of each of your 5 senses; things that will help you to self-soothe and distract yourself from incapacitating thoughts, feelings, and emotions 👀👂👐👃👅

This post has lots of ideas for things you could put in your personalised kit to help you re-regulate your nervous system more quickly and comfortably.

I hope you find it useful 💚🌿

📱📧 I currently have space for 1 client, so please do DM or email me if you’d like to work with me 🙂. I work online, by telephone, and face-to-face.

❌ Social Media is not therapy - please reach out to your GP or other qualified professionals for support with your mental health. The Samaritans (116 123), Shout 85258, or NHS 111 / 999 are also there if you need support urgently 💚

31/03/2024

🌿 Most of us experience mild levels of stress on a daily basis. It’s normal to feel stressed before an exam or job interview, however it’s not normal when stress becomes pervasive, damages our physical and mental wellbeing, and starts interfering with the enjoyment of our daily lives 😔

Some easy and helpful ways of handling the pressure could include:

💚 Exercise - (something you actually enjoy doing)
💚 Getting enough sleep
💚 Eating healthily and regularly
💚 Mindfulness and Meditation
💚 Self-care
💚 Having fun!!
💚 Building a solid support network
💚 Socialising
💚 Offloading with friends
💚 Adopting grounding techniques
💚 Journaling
💚 Getting creative (art, singing, acting)
💚 Laughing
💚 Leaving your work phone / computer alone when you’re not at work 🌿

How do you cope with stress? Is there anything you’d add to this list? I’d love to hear from you!👇

📱📧 I currently have a waiting list, but please do DM or email me if you’d like to work with me. I work online, by telephone, and face-to-face.

❌ Social Media is not therapy - please reach out to your GP or other qualified professionals for support with your mental health. The Samaritans (116 123), Shout 85258, or NHS 111 / 999 are also there if you need support urgently 💚

28/03/2024

🌿I’ll admit it 🙋‍♀️ it’s been a while since I practiced gratitude and it’s something me and my clients have been exploring a lot in session lately.

So, in the interest of practicing what I offer as a helpful option (never, ever preach!), I thought it would be good to re-engage with something that’s helped with my own mental wellbeing in the past too 💚🌿

P.S. Given the strength of the wind tearing through my garden right now, someone might need to remind the weather about it “officially being Spring” 🧐😂

What are you grateful for today? I’d love to hear from you!👇

📱📧 I currently have a waiting list, but please do DM or email me if you’d like to work with me soon 🙂. I work online, by telephone, and face-to-face.

❌ Social Media is not therapy - please reach out to your GP or other qualified professionals for support with your mental health. The Samaritans (116 123), Shout 85258, or NHS 111 / 999 are also there if you need support urgently 💚

25/03/2024

🌿Feeling anxious about places, people, situations, or objects are normal reactions, but most of the time, the physical and psychological effects of anxiety they provoke are short-lived, and we mange to push ourselves to confront, adapt, and overcome our apprehension.

But what happens when anxiety becomes too much for us to handle and we avoid those things which cause us to feel extreme fear? This is a phobia. A debilitating, anxiety-based reaction which limits us and the way we would like to live our lives.

The anxiety induced by phobias, whatever they might be, is very difficult to live with, but we can learn to tolerate them and even overcome them through engaging in talking therapies such as counselling, psychotherapy, and CBT. Hypnotherapy is also an excellent way of working through phobias - the choice is yours 🙂💚🌿

Are you living with Aquaphobia? Have you had therapy to overcome it? How did it help you and what’s your life like now? I’d love to hear from you all!👇

📱📧 I currently have a waiting list, but please do DM or email me if you’d like to work with me soon 🙂. I work online, by telephone, and face-to-face.

❌ Social Media is not therapy - please reach out to your GP or other qualified professionals for support with your mental health. The Samaritans (116 123), Shout 85258, or NHS 111 / 999 are also there if you need support urgently 💚

25/03/2024

🌿For me, music is one of the most important things in my life. I’ll listen to anything from Metallica to Madonna depending on how I’m feeling or what I need. But, when I stop listening to music, that’s my signal to kick myself into engaging in some much needed self-care (and to listen to A LOT of 80s music 🙂) to help me feel better.

Music is powerful. It can bring us together in a shared sense of culture, community, identity, and fun. It can make us laugh or cry, give us goosebumps, make it feel like our heart’s ache, motivate us to do some housework, make us smile, and remind us of people, places, and events so strongly, we feel like no time has passed at all 💚🌿

How does music help with your mental health? What are your go to songs when you’re feeling low and need a boost? Which artists have provided the soundtrack to your life? I’d love to hear from you all!👇

📱📧 I currently have a waiting list, but please do DM or email me if you’d like to work with me soon 🙂. I work online, by telephone, and face-to-face.

❌ Social Media is not therapy - please reach out to your GP or other qualified professionals for support with your mental health. The Samaritans (116 123), Shout 85258, or NHS 111 / 999 are also there if you need support urgently 💚

11/03/2024

🌿 Burnout Syndrome (BOS) has been widely discussed in psychological literature since the 1970s, yet it has only been a few years since the condition was included in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) for the first time.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies BOS as:

“A constellation of symptoms that occur in relation to chronic work-related stress which has not yet been successfully managed.”

However, when we find ourselves physically, emotionally, and mentally depleted as a result of our jobs, we also have nothing left to give outside of work.

When BOS is not recognised and appropriately addressed, it can encroach on every facet of our lives; leaving us devoid of the emotional, physical, and psychological energy we need to take care of our own basic needs, our homes, our self-care, and our relationships.

If you or anyone you know feel you might be living with BOS, then talking, sharing your experiences, adopting coping strategies, and creating choices can really help in getting you back to the person you’d like to be, the life you’d like to live, and enjoying your relationships once again 🌿

📱📧 I currently have one space available to begin working with a new client. I work online, by telephone, and face-to-face, so please DM or email me if you’d like to work with me 🙂

❌ Social Media is not therapy - please reach out to your GP or any mental health professional for support with your mental health. The Samaritans (116 123), Shout 85258, or NHS 111 / 999 are also there if you need support urgently 💚