Dr Claire Plumbly

21/07/2025

If you find the lack of boundaries that comes with flexible working hard then you might find this Telegraph article helpful. Spot my comments half way down!

18/07/2025

This time last year was scary!

Launching an offering into the world and not knowing what people will think isn’t easy.

I couldn’t pick the book up and read it for a month as I was fearful that I’d read a sentence or paragraph and immediately want to edit it. But… it’s all gone well and has led to some fun new experiences for me.

Thank you so much for all your support with sharing, reviewing, sending me messages about how the book has helped you. I appreciate this so so much.

It had an American sibling in January - The Trauma of Burnout. And in the coming months should appear in Polish, Chinese and Arabic too!

If it’s on your TBR list don’t forget you can also get it as an audiobook and kindle.

Here’s to the start of year two!

17/07/2025

It's Week 2 of my 4-week plan to psychologically warm-down for my holiday… and I’m actually following it (mostly)!

This week’s focus has been to signal to my nervous system that it's OK to take my foot off the gas over August. Permission to detach.

In practice, that’s looked like:

1. Listing the apps I'm deleting from end of next week (and whatsapp chats I'm muting ). It’ll be all the usual socials, although I'm on the fence about Substack!

2. Listing what won’t get done before I leave - I've put it on my board for Sept focus... including launching my new website, which is almost ready to share . It just doesn't make sense to launch and then say goodbye for a month!

3. And my favourite one has been choosing my holiday books. Reading has always been one of my fastest routes to detaching from work, but only when it's got a great storyline - so curating a summer stack feels like a small but important step in preparing my brain to rest.

I've got these three so far but open to more book recommendations!

I’ll share more about how I'm getting on next week! In the meantime the rest of the 4-week guide is in the link in the comments.

11/07/2025

Just let me know if you want this weekly dose by dropping your current favourite emoji into the comments (then I’ll DM you details).

🥸





(Just having fun with these hashtags BTW!)

05/07/2025

Sadly too many people have a story like Greta’s - of a boss humiliating, belittling or terrifying them at some point in their working life.

So I’m very grateful to Greta Solomon for both sharing her own experience and for inviting me to contribute to this brilliant article.

It’s gives a framework for thinking about the impact of this - using the term Post-traumatic Boss Disorder (this not a real disorder according to diagnostic manuals but could feel like a validating label to capture the residual traumatic effects of having a boss like this).

It includes a handy checklist to see if this term applies to you and gives some ideas about what to do if you have had this (or perhaps are still trapped in a situation with an abusive boss).

Out now in Psychologies Magazine (Summer Uk edition).

02/07/2025

This screenshot says it all!

When my podcast episode with Joe Marler went live this morning, I couldn’t bring myself to listen..

I messaged my friend saying, “I can’t do it, all I can remember is that we talked about sh*t.”

She assumed I meant I’d been waffling, but I meant we literally talked about 💩

Link below (for the poop-curious).

Joe Marler's Things People Do

01/07/2025

Registered psychologists feel unhappy about the rise of large, cheap therapy providers who have lots of money to spend on ads and therefore have grown quickly.

For good reason- they’re not as good for the client care or for the therapists who they recruit. Take a look at this really helpful blog post to understand all the reasons in more depth:

https://www.valecoast.co.uk/why-choose-a-small-private-therapy-practice-over-large-corporate-providers/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR6C8SsY01_x9T3UI92Gm1Ypw0tfHjBrCud7zzZAZl64GCAG0WMZAmB-9p5lQw_aem_Ww5Tkm0x1-Je9y4IbDGK7w

Finding the right therapist can make all the difference when you’re going through a difficult time. Whether you are dealing with anxiety, depression, bereavement, trauma, relationship difficulties or something else, therapy should be a space that feels safe, consistent and focused on your individu...

30/06/2025

Lovely feedback from the keynotes I delivered last month.

Talks I have coming up for the rest of this summer:
⭐️Local primary school - parental burnout and how to protect our kids
⭐️Local social services - managing stress at work and preventing burnout
⭐️ online webinars for a dog-trainers membership to protect from burnout
⭐️ Online webinars for paramedics feeling burnt out

Get in touch if you want to find out more about the potential workshops or keynotes I can offer.

24/06/2025

REST! Why this is so blinking hard in functional burnout

24/06/2025

On the 5th of April this year I managed to:

- get invited by Dr Monika Wieliczko onto her invaluable Guide To AfterLife podcast to talk about the ideas from my book.
- get a glimpse into the way a fellow associate practice lead runs her successful practice (and get her thoughts on a systems issue within my own).
- share ideas with Dr Sarah Butler (who runs the EMDR intensives SIG) about how we run our EMDR intensives
- exchange tips on getting onto podcasts to promote our books with two other psychologist- authors

All of this connection, collaboration and inspiration occurred organically from conversations over one lunch.

And that’s why Dr Marianne Trent and I have fallen in love with running these networking lunches with other HCPC independent psychologists. Because we know that the best opportunities come from ‘who’ you know, not ‘what’.

Do come to the summer one on the 6th Sept and spark some magic with me or someone else!

Link in comments.

11/06/2025

Ever felt like you should be able to unwind, but just… can’t?

If no one showed you how to play as a child, or if play was shut down, judged, or made to feel unsafe, then of course it’s hard to relax now.

In therapy, I see this all the time: adults who are capable, productive, and burned out… but who feel deeply uncomfortable when they try to rest or play. They either avoid it completely or use substances to aid them to feel able to let go.

But here’s the problem - play isn’t frivolous. It’s regulating.

In polyvagal terms, play is a blended state: you’re accessing the energy and movement of the sympathetic system while feeling safe and socially connected through the ventral vagal system.

That combination is powerful. It tells your nervous system:
“You’re safe now. You can explore. You’re allowed to enjoy.”

If play feels awkward, you’re not broken. You just need to practice and learn this skill in adulthood.

Which tip will you try first from these slides?

👇 Let me know! Or tag someone who might benefit from reading this.

22/03/2025

I seem to frown a lot when in full flow!! Thank you to Taunton Health Hub for having me this Wednesday. If you are a business or part of a team who would like support with wellbeing then get in touch- tailored workshops and talks available to help prevent burnout

An inspiring and informative evening and thanks to all who joined - a super turnout!

Thank you Dr Claire Plumbly for providing tools to create lasting change to help us move emotions from feeling anxious and overwhelmed to feeling calm and confident.

Dr Claire explained how emotional difficulties make sense and are developed as a way of coping with what's happened, and we don’t have to feel guilty or defective about this.

Get your Roadmap to Feeling Better from Burnout and learn the steps that will move you from feeling anxious and overwhelmed to feeling calm and confident on the below link :

https://www.drclaireplumbly.com/