The internet has helped us all become more savvy about mental health, mental illness and personality disorders. But sadly, it has also led to mental health diagnoses being thrown around like casual weapons. Boss doesn’t like you? Narcissist. Girlfriend angry you broke up with her? Borderline. In reality, only a small percentage of the population have personality disorders. We all, on the other hand, have personality traits. There is no agreement among the professional psychiatrists as to what mental illness…
Experiential Avoidance: How avoiding stressful situations can actually be bad for you.
October 28, 2021Experiential avoidance has been broadly defined in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as attempts to avoid thoughts, feelings, memories, physical sensations, and other internal experiences – even when doing so creates harm in the long-run. It’s natural to seek experiences that make you feel good while avoiding those that cause harm or discomfort. In fact, it’s an essential evolutionary response that could even be considered a normal, protective adaptation. Sadly, avoiding persistent pain or negative emotions is an instinctive reaction that…
Emotional Self-Care, are you interested in knowing how to practice it?
October 28, 2021With self-care growing increasingly popular, many are wondering if this enlightening practice is nothing more than a trend. It hit the scene fast and rapidly lured in anyone in its path. Those who evaded the long arms of this evolving fad often mock the significance of it. Fortunately, that hasn’t stopped society and mental health professionals from delving further into this enhancing exercise. They’ve even uncovered different facets of self-care, including spiritual, physical, and emotional. Emotional self-care involves caring for…
The differences between emotional pain and suffering will surprise you!
October 24, 2021What is Physical Pain? As a practicing counsellor and therapist I come across emotional pain and suffering a lot in my line of work. As a life-saving alarm system, pain keeps us focused on distress, for the purpose of relieving it. Pain motivates behaviour that will help heal, repair, or improve. A pain in your foot, for example, will motivate you to take the rock off it, get more comfortable shoes, soak it in a tub of warm water, or…
Do you have emotional intelligence? This may surprise you!
October 21, 2021What is emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. Emotional intelligence is generally said to include a few skills: namely emotional awareness, or the ability to identify and name one’s own emotions; the ability to harness those emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving; and the ability to manage emotions, which includes both regulating one’s own emotions when necessary and helping…
Many people visit a counsellor at least once in their lives, and there are a wide variety of reasons people seek counselling. If you’re wondering whether counselling could benefit you, you may ask yourself, “Why do people seek counselling? Hitting a crisis point in your life can be scary. The idea of counselling can be a daunting one, often surrounded by the mystery of what to expect. Reasons for seeing a Counsellor You might come to see a counsellor for…
Do you know the difference between a Counsellor and a Therapist?
October 10, 2021A counsellor or a psychotherapist – which one do you need? It’s one of the most popular questions I get asked when people decide to seek therapy. The truth is that it’s rather a grey area when it comes to counselling and psychotherapy here in the UK. Whereas in some countries like the United States there is a definite difference between psychotherapy and counselling, in Britain there is a definite overlap in both training and practice. Therapists themselves can have…