Whatever you desire you unconsciously fear “Whatever you desire, you unconsciously fear. Whatever you experience, you unconsciously want.”1 Wait.. what? The thing I desire the most is the thing I fear the most? And what I'm experiencing now is what...
A walking mindfulness meditation for people with ants in their pants. As a kid my parents called me “Squiggle” because of my refusal to sit still. 46 years later and I’m pretty much the same although I move a bit slower. Seated meditation just isn’t my bag....
An Emotional Survival Guide for Christmas This Emotional Survival Guide to Christmas has been written to help you navigate difficult emotions over the ‘silly season’. Whether you are feeling anxious, stressed, lonely, sad, or suicidal even, here are my tips for...
What's on your "lemon day" list? When life gives you lemons do you make lemonade or do you reach for the ice cream? I have been known to do the latter when things go really downhill. Sometimes you just need a bit of sweetness in your life, but then I regret it the...
What flavour Unicorn are you? Takes this quiz to find out. I’m kidding of course. Everyone knows that Unicorns only come in one flavour: AWESOME. But have you noticed how many “know yourself” quizzes pop up in your feed these days? (I love doing them and I’ve...
The waterfall - a pose to help with anxiety If you ever suffer from anxiety, whether it's just low level worrying and rumination or a full-blown panic attack, you know that it's not a pleasant sensation. As a therapist I give people strategies to help with anxiety....
My closest friends are currently dealing with depression, work stress, relationship issues, anxiety and the terminal illness of a family member. But they don’t ask for help. Not one of them is seeing a therapist for their emotional distress. They soldier on alone. ...
Holding onto anger feels awful and it's no good for you physiologically. The other day a foul-mouthed oaf masquerading as a concreting contractor yelled expletives at me at 6.30am in my back yard, for a reason that was nothing to do with me. I was left shaking with...
“I eat the right food, exercise regularly, get 8 hours sleep. Why am I so tired all the time?”Not so long ago that was me. In fact some days it still is me. As a somatic psychotherapist I often hear this from otherwise medically healthy clients. What I tell them is...
The importance of scheduling time to do nothingHow are you feeling right now? Are you running on a full tank of fuel or are you about to break down by the side of the road? Your ability to react positively to the stressors you encounter in your daily life depends not...
(Or ‘Why we work with both the mind and the body in body psychotherapy’) As a remedial massage therapist specialising in body-mind massage, I would help my clients release the tension and stuck emotions in their body. They would report that they felt immediate relief...
There’s a common misconception that psychotherapy is only for ‘crazy’ people and neurotic New Yorkers.But what if you’re just feeling stressed, anxious or depressed and you just want someone to talk to? Someone you can be completely honest with and not worry that...