Counselling For Health Anxiety

Repeating bouts of anxiety about the state of our physical or mental health is a common reason for seeking counselling. Despite assurances from the medical profession that there is nothing seriously wrong, we find ourselves stuck in a loop of hyper-awareness and fear. How might counselling and psychotherapy help?

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Dealing With Intrusive Thoughts

Most of us have experienced intrusive thoughts at some point in our lives. They often arrive at times of high stress and can fill our heads with unhelpful ‘what if’ scenarios and irrational fears that leave us preoccupied or distressed. Trying to make ourselves stop thinking in this way doesn’t…

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Change: Making The Unfamiliar, Familiar

When we come to counselling or psychotherapy we are usually looking for something in our lives to change. We talk things through and gradually new possibilities for being in the world come to light. However, for some of us, something is holding us back from making those changes. Could it…

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Men And Anxiety

What do you do if the very thought of talking about your anxiety with someone else makes you anxious? My guess is that you will hang on in there until it becomes impossible to ignore symptoms such as panic attacks, fear of enclosed spaces (e.g. travel on trains and planes),…

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Only The Lonely

We all have times in our lives when we are lonely. Feeling cut off from the support and companionship of others can be a huge source of stress. In my experience of helping people combat anxiety and depression, prolonged periods of loneliness not only contribute to poor mental health but…

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To Put It Another Way…

As human beings we are hard-wired to make sense of what happens to us. This is an important skill since good judgement about the world gives rise to emotional and physical safety. Sometimes, however, we might be continuing to interpret our current experiences based on skewed or narrow unconscious assumptions…

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Sticky Labels

Throughout our lives we will all receive messages from other people about who we are and what we are like. Such information will have a major impact on the way we feel about ourselves. Positive messages will build our confidence whereas other, less favourable ones, might help us to regulate…

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Secrets & Lies

Most families have secrets of some sort. Unwelcome truths are withheld, lies might be told and the burden of information that must not be shared is carried around. Often, as a result, trust is eroded and relationships falter. The weight of keeping such secrets – or a sense that something…

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The Attention Seeker

Whenever I hear a person labeling someone else an ‘Attention Seeker’, there is always something in their tone of voice or manner which suggests judgement – a sneer, a rolling of the eyes, a sigh of exasperation. Apparently, to seek attention from others is not a good thing. It is,…

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