Welcome to the Warm and Friendly Counselling blog! I hope what you read will be of interest to you. Please feel free to get in touch if you’d like to know more.
Therapy
12 useful things to know about counselling
This article highlights 12 things to know about counselling, from the first awkward steps of opening up, to uncovering patterns, working through challenges, celebrating progress, and even finding humour along the way. Published in Counselling Directory.
The here and now – why being present can feel refreshing
When life is busy or overwhelming, being present can feel surprisingly hard. In this blog, we explore why this happens and how therapy can gently help you feel more grounded, connected, and at ease in the here and now. Published in Counselling Directory.
What is Interpersonal Therapy and how can it help you?
Feeling low, anxious, or stuck is often closely linked to what’s been happening in our relationships and life transitions. This post introduces Interpersonal Therapy and explores how a compassionate, here-and-now focus on connection can support emotional wellbeing.
What Therapy Can Teach Us About Ourselves
Therapy isn’t about proving your pain or polishing your story. It’s about creating a space where you can gently notice your blind spots, listen beneath the surface of your feelings, grieve what you’re letting go of, and begin to find steadier ground in the simple act of showing up as your real self.
Discover Existential Therapy: Finding Meaning in the Human Condition
Explore how existential therapy helps us pause, face aloneness, and discover meaning, all within the safety of an authentic therapeutic relationship. This post reflects on living more fully, embracing life’s challenges, and connecting deeply with ourselves and others.
What Is Transactional Analysis?
Ideas from Transactional Analysis can help people make sense of their thoughts and feelings, notice patterns in relationships, and develop a greater sense of choice in how they respond to everyday situations.
Discover Online Counselling – Get support wherever you are
Feel supported wherever you are — online counselling lets you connect with a caring therapist in a space that feels safe and familiar, helping you navigate life’s challenges with understanding and compassion.
Walking Side by Side – Discovering the Benefits of Walk-and-Talk Therapy
Walk-and-Talk therapy combines movement, nature, and conversation to enhance mental well-being, reduce stress, boost self-esteem, and improve engagement, especially for those with neurodiverse traits, men, and individuals who feel stuck in traditional counselling settings.
Therapists Have Therapists Too
Even therapists go to therapy, not just during traing or when life feels hard, but as a normal way to reflect, grow, and make positive changes, showing that therapy is something everyone can benefit from.
Neurodiversity, Autism & ADHD
Exploring Autism – A different way of experiencing the world
Discovering or understanding autism as an adult can bring relief, clarity, and self-acceptance. This blog explores how counselling can support autistic adults in embracing their strengths, navigating challenges, and moving forward with confidence and compassion.
Understanding the Autistic Experience and How Counselling Can Help
Counselling can be a great support for autistic adults, helping to improve well-being and navigate life’s challenges. It can clarify confusing experiences, enhance self-awareness, and offer helpful strategies for dealing with anxiety and social isolation. In this blog post, we’ll chat about how therapy builds understanding, celebrates unique strengths, and encourages confidence in everyday life.
Adult ADHD, self-compassion, and relationships
Living with adult ADHD can present unique challenges in relationships and daily life. This article highlights how cultivating self‑compassion, effective coping strategies and fostering open communication can support stronger connections and greater emotional well‑being. Published in Counselling Directory.
Neurodiversity, Masking, and Burnout: The cost of “fitting in”
Masking can help neurodivergent people fit in, but it often leads to exhaustion and burnout. This article explores why masking happens and how counselling can offer support, understanding and a space to be more authentically yourself. Published in Counselling Directory.
Anxiety
Facing Your Fears and Anxiety This Halloween
As the spooky season approaches, many enjoy the fun and excitement, but for some, the season can stir feelings of fear or anxiety. This post explores how to face anxiety and feelings of fear with understanding, compassion, and courage – not only at Halloween, but beyond it.
Neurodiversity and Anxiety – Understanding and supporting yourself
Living in a world that isn’t always designed for neurodivergent minds can be stressful and exhausting. This article explores how anxiety can affect adults and young people with autism and ADHD, and offers supportive ways to care for yourself and feel more at ease. Published in Counselling Directory.
Relationships
Understanding Relationships – Why They Matter and How to Navigate Them
Relationships shape who we are and how we see the world, bringing joy and connection, but they can also challenge us and cause frustration. This article explores how tuning into our emotions, understanding our attachment patterns, and improving communication can help us navigate relationships with greater clarity, compassion, and confidence.
Emotionally Draining Workplaces: Stress, Burnout, and Bullying
Feeling drained, overwhelmed, or stuck at work? This post explores how stressful or unhealthy workplaces can impact your emotional wellbeing, and how counselling can help you make sense of what you’re experiencing.
Low confidence and The Inner Critic
“I’m Not Good at Anything” – The Inner Critic and the Power of Self-Compassion
Life’s setbacks can make us doubt ourselves. This article explores how practising self-compassion allows us to meet challenges with kindness instead of criticism. It transforms self-doubt into resilience, brings clarity and perspective in moments of disappointment, and helps us move ahead with confidence.
How to stop people pleasing and start prioritising your needs
Are you frequently putting yourself last and saying ‘yes’ when you actually want to say ‘no’? Learn how to break free from people-pleasing, establish healthy boundaries, and prioritise your own needs with confidence and compassion. Published in Counselling Directory.
Update your Self-esteem
We all have moments when we are our own harshest critics, replaying our mistakes and doubting our worth. However, negative self-talk does not make us stronger. It keeps us trapped in shame and self-doubt. Here are some ways to quiet that inner voice and rebuild your confidence through self-compassion.
Life Transitions and Changes
Navigating Life transitions
Adulthood is a journey of stages, from finding identity and love to navigating midlife balance and eventually seeking wisdom. Each step marked by new challenges, deeper relationships, and chances to grow.
The Challenges and Opportunities of Midlife
Midlife is a phase that provides an opportunity to pause, reflect, and reconnect with your sense of purpose. It is a time to rediscover yourself and to share your care, wisdom, and creativity with others. This period can be a time of renewal, balance, and deeper fulfilment, and counseling can help you navigate this journey.
Development Through the Lifespan – Understanding Growth & Young Adulthood
Life is a continuous journey of growth and change. This post explores young adulthood as a time of self-discovery, connection, and new possibilities, and how therapy can support you in finding balance and meaning along the way.
Why change can be hard – and why we keep trying
Change often feels hard because part of us clings to familiar patterns while another part quietly longs for something different, and it’s through compassion, patience, and gentle curiosity that we begin to grow into what we truly want.
Finding Meaning through Life’s Challenges
At different points in life, we can find ourselves at a crossroads where loss, uncertainty, and mixed emotions invite us to grieve what has been left behind while questioning who we are becoming. With reflection, realistic expectations, and support, these transitions can become opportunities to reconnect with meaning and move forward with greater clarity.
Identity, Motivation & Resilience
Motivation as a Driving Force to Overcome Obstacles in Life
When life feels heavy, it’s often motivation that helps us take the next step.This post explores how our inner drive, personal story, values, and sense of meaning shape the way we overcome obstacles and reignite that spark to move through difficult times.
Finding light in the holiday season – Why this time can feel heavy
The holiday season can look warm and joyful on the surface, but for many, it amplifies feelings of stress and loneliness. Learn why the holidays can feel hard and find practical, kind ways to support your emotional wellbeing.
Embracing Autumn: A Season for Reflection and Renewal
Autumn invites us to slow down and reflect as the world turns golden, offering both comfort and challenge, and with the support of self-care and counselling, this season can become a gentle time of resilience, balance, and new beginnings.
Let’s talk
I’d love to explore working with you.