Loneliness is something many people experience at different points in life. It can feel uncomfortable, heavy, or confusing, especially when it persists even when you are not physically alone. From a trauma-informed perspective, loneliness is not seen as a personal failure, but as a signal… Read More »Loneliness: understanding it and what can help (a supportive guide)
A carer is someone who provides unpaid support to a person living with an illness, disability, mental health difficulty or addiction. In practice, this often means you may be caring for a parent, child, partner, grandparent, grandchild, other relative or friend. Caring can be short-term… Read More »Living as a Carer: A Personal Perspective
Shame and guilt are emotions that many people experience, often in response to things they have done, said, or even just felt. Although they can feel uncomfortable, they are also part of being human and are closely linked to how we learn to live alongside… Read More »How shame and guilt can affect us
Attachment usually begins in your very early childhood. It is an innate, biologically driven process that leads you, as an infant, to form strong bonds with the people who care for you. When you were very young, experiences of illness, threat, or exhaustion would naturally… Read More »How attachment styles can shape your everyday life
Grief is a deep emotional response to losing someone or something important. It can feel overwhelming, confusing, and sometimes unpredictable. Although it is often linked to death, grief can also happen after many kinds of loss, including changes in identity, relationships, roles, health, or future… Read More »Grief and Loss: understanding your experience
This piece brings together research and observations about how spending time in nature can support both physical and mental health, and how going for a walk and different ways of engaging with the outdoors may influence how we feel. From a personal wellbeing perspective, the… Read More »Finding calm in nature: how walking outdoors can support your wellbeing
Depression is often described as feeling low for a sustained period of time, but for many people it can feel much more complex than that. It is not just “feeling sad”. You might notice a persistent heaviness, emptiness, or disconnection from life, where things that… Read More »Depression: understanding it from your own experience and what can help
This blog post on anxiety brings together the experiences of Michelle Vickers, UK psychotherapist and coach, alongside my experience of working with anxiety in a trauma-informed way. From a trauma-informed perspective, it’s important to remember that anxiety is not “just in the mind” or something… Read More »Anxiety: what it is and what can help
Anger is a natural human emotion that everyone experiences at times. You might notice it arising when you feel hurt, misunderstood, disrespected, or blocked from something important to you. Although it can feel overwhelming or even frightening, anger is not “bad” in itself. In fact,… Read More »Anger: understanding it from your perspective and how to manage it
Living with a long-term health condition can affect every aspect of life — physically, emotionally, relationally and practically. Whether you are living with unexplained symptoms, adjusting to a diagnosis, managing chronic illness, chronic pain, or facing a terminal illness, it is understandable to feel frightened,… Read More »Living with Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, or a Terminal Diagnosis: Caring for Yourself with Compassion