According to SAMHSA, 2014, individual trauma results from an event, or series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical social and emotional, or spiritual wellbeing. Historically, birth trauma wasn’t categorised […]
What Is Birth Trauma? Read More »
What is Excessive Reassurance Seeking & Why Do We Do It? Typically, when you feel anxious, you may do something to try and make yourself feel better. This is what we call a coping strategy. Excessive reassurance seeking is a very common coping strategy for those who get anxious about things. Reassurance can come from
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It is thought that 10-20% of new parents develop Postnatal Depression. Research has even found that between a third and a half of women start to develop PND in their pregnancies (this is sometimes referred to as antenatal depression). This highlights how common depression is during this time, so you’re not alone if you have
How can CBT help with Postnatal Depression? Read More »
On 21st June 2021, it was International Father’s Mental Health Day, a day founded by Mark Williams, International Campaigner, Public Speaker, and someone with lived experience of their own mental health difficulties in parenthood. Mark became involved in the health sector after supported his wife with postnatal depression and experiencing his own emotional breakdown. We
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What Is Low-Self Esteem? Low self-esteem is something that I see very commonly in clinical practice. Your self-esteem relates to how you view yourself and what values and qualities you feel you have. When someone has low self-esteem, it really means that their opinion of themselves is not great, they may think about themselves in
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Have you always been a bit of a worrier? Do you find yourself spending lots of time getting anxious about lots of different things, such as finances, relationships, health, work, or the future? Do you struggle to let the worries go? Maybe the worries affect your sleep? Do you find yourself feeling more irritable than
Generalised Anxiety Disorder & How to Manage Excessive Worrying Read More »
You may be wondering whether the change in how you are feeling after having your baby is down to the baby blues, which can happen to up to 80% of women, or whether it is a sign of Postnatal Depression (PND). The baby blues tends to be experienced by the mother and can include feelings
Baby Blues or Postnatal Depression? Read More »
I was recently asked the question ‘can a difficult childhood cause anxiety?’ The short answer is yes. In this article, I’ll share my thoughts on this based on clinical experience and knowledge from academic study. What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences? We know that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as your parents separating, witnessing domestic violence,
Can Childhood Adversity Cause Anxiety? Read More »
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a very practical therapy that involves homework as a huge part of the therapy process. You may think of school when they hear the term “homework”, and that’s understandable. However, homework in CBT is actually a really good thing. The reason that there is a heavy focus on homework or
Can Anxiety Cause Physical Symptoms? The short answer is yes, you can feel anxiety in the body. Many people are surprised to realise just how many physical symptoms are caused by anxiety. They often attend their GP surgery to discuss their physical symptoms because they’re concerned about them or the symptoms are affecting the way
What Does Anxiety Feel Like in The Body? Read More »