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Empathy as a skill, part 1
May 8, 2024
I asked over on LinkedIn what people wanted to hear me write about in May, and Empathy as a Skill won the poll, so here’s a newsletter on it! There’ll be...
How do you evaluate your evaluation?
$ · May 1, 2024
How do you evaluate your work? This question was asked to me by my therapy tutor a couple of weeks ago. I was in a practice supervision session - we did a...
You can’t hate yourself into someone you love
April 24, 2024
‘You can’t hate yourself into someone you love’ ‘If being hard on yourself worked it would’ve worked by now’ Both these things are true, and might even give...
What are your warning signs?
$ · April 17, 2024
Plan for your bad days on a good day. It’s easier, and is a way to practice being kinder to yourself. By thinking about warning signs and what you can do to...
April is Stress Awareness Month
April 12, 2024
(I'm sending this out as I don't think it sent a couple of weeks ago, sorry readers, apparently I failed at scheduling emails) The hashtag for this year's...
Let's talk about Mindfulness
April 12, 2024
Note: I'm not sure I managed to schedule this to go out on Wednesday as normal. Sending this out now as a test, apologies if you receive it twice. I've been...
Free: You're not responsible for other people's feelings
March 27, 2024
Every so often I remove the paywall from a paid article, to give you all a peep behind the curtain, and to share a piece I'm proud of. That's what I'm doing...
Value-based Self Care
$ · March 20, 2024
It was 2020, I was still figuring out who I was outside my family, and lockdown was in full swing. In therapy I was spending time unpicking my upbringing and...
Ideal vs actual self
March 14, 2024
Last week I wrote about my playing with manifestation. I made a to-do list based on ‘where I wanted to be in a week’s time’ and then I sat down and figured...
On manifestation
$ · March 6, 2024
I’m gonna get a little witchy, if you’ll allow me. Manifesting is such an interesting concept to me. It’s similar to affirmations, in that they both can be...
Ending a therapy session
February 28, 2024
I’m getting more and more practice in being in the therapy role, having now qualified to the point where in practice sessions I can say ‘I’m a trainee...
Just because you triggered a feeling, doesn’t mean you’re resonsible for it
$ · February 21, 2024
This turned into a piece on boundaries and closure. TW for talk of estrangement from family I saw a tiktok yesterday, which has since been taken down. It was...
The tension of the moment self care advice
February 14, 2024
I want to talk about something I think we miss when we give out in-the-moment self care advice, and that's why to do the thing. A disclaimer, or a...
Compliment yourself
$ · February 7, 2024
When was the last time you complimented yourself, without caveat. No buts, or ifs, no deflecting to talk about something or someone else. Just complimented...
cPTSD And Me
January 31, 2024
This is my first email from Buttondown! This is why it looks different. You can still see my archive and read online here if you prefer. I had to do a...
On giving yourself permission to rest
$ · January 24, 2024
Note: this is the last substack I’ll publish. Next week’s newsletter will come from buttondown.email. All my subscribers will be magically moved over, paying...
On the validity of feelings
January 17, 2024
How much time do you spend figuring out if your feelings are valid? I’ve spent a lot of time unpicking my feelings to see if they’re valid, or...
The future of this newsletter
January 12, 2024
Do you want to remain subscribed?
On engaging with curiosity and kindness
$ · January 10, 2024
January is a time for change. Let's engage with ourselves with kindness and empathy
January's community challenge: Kind accountability
January 2, 2024
It's January, a time for change for many of us. Let's start it with kindness and curiosity.
Let's do some reflecting and a small announcement
December 13, 2023
The announcement is I'm taking time off for Christmas, no big.
Affirmations
December 6, 2023
Future compliments, prompts to buiild affirmations, and workshops!
It's my birthday
November 29, 2023
So here's a post of some things I've been enjoying recently
I've bought a cane
$ · November 22, 2023
AKA mobility aids, disability, and my relationship with my body
SCB Holiday questions post 2: How do I deal with being alone?
November 15, 2023
Want me to answer your festive question? Fill in the google form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLPKrft5a3SMNovmQWbZxykPxG8KY-...
Putting the theory in my practice
$ · November 8, 2023
I'm in my next stage of therapy training and things are starting to come together
SCB Holiday questions post 1: How do I deal with a family I hate?
November 1, 2023
For the past couple of years, I've invited questions about survivng/enjoying the holiday period. I'm going to be publishing ones from last year and new ones here, free over the next month or so.
Giving In vs Giving Permission
$ · October 25, 2023
Sometimes wew need permission to rest, even if it feels like giving in to our feelings
On sobriety
$ · October 11, 2023
I've not really spoken about my sobriety online yet, until now
Holiday season preparation
October 4, 2023
The holiday season is upon us. Let's talk about preparing for it
On the validity of instinct and feelings
$ · September 27, 2023
"Your brain is lying to you" is a refrain often seen on social media accounts, usually ones that talk about anxiety, or anxiety-related issues. It's true,...
September is Suicide Prevention Month
September 20, 2023
TW: Suicidal IdeationI've written before how I am ambivalent to mental health awareness months/days but I've been thinking about September being Suicide...
Kind accountability and consistency
September 13, 2023
Kind accountability is a reframing exercise. It's similar to the way I use affirmations as future compliments: instead of framing an improvement or change...
September's SCB community theme: gratitude
September 6, 2023
I've started monthly themes and challenges over on the SCB discord. I wanted to provide an optional framework for people to work with if they want, and it...
The shame of housework
$ · August 30, 2023
Almost 1000 words on housework, plus community news!
Being Vulnerable with ourselves.
$ · August 16, 2023
Thank you so much for being a paid subscriber! I've been super busy at events this month, so here's a snippet from my book for this week's post.
Gentle redirection aka gentle parenting your brain
$ · August 2, 2023
Thank you so much for supporting my work <3
Find your glimmers
July 26, 2023
Have you heard of glimmers? It’s a relatively new term was coined by Deb Dana, in her 2018 book The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy. Glimmers are the opposite of...
On walking and the changing nature of self care
July 19, 2023
I had a couple of revelations this week. I saw a tiktok where someone described their restful time as letting their brain be unregulated a bit. They spoke...
Working with your bullshit, not against it
July 5, 2023
The official SCB discord is open! Sign up here to join a community working on self care: https://discord.gg/B3hF5X3ZyA Let’s talk about how to know your own...
5 years
June 21, 2023
The official SCB discord is open! Sign up here to join a community working on self care: https://discord.gg/B3hF5X3ZyA On 23rd June, it’ll be 5 years since I...
Sometimes it's not that deep
June 14, 2023
Feeling your feelings will always bring some learning, but sometimes that learning is...'oh. Those feelings make sense, I don't need to act on them.', which can leave you feeling adrift a bit.
Comfort zones
$ · June 7, 2023
We often think of comfort zones as only something to be avoided if we need to grow, but I think we need a more nuanced take, and a comfort zone is something to be strived for.
It's Mental Health Awareness Month
May 31, 2023
And it was Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK this month. Here's why I've not written about it (until now)
When empathy is difficult
$ · May 24, 2023
Figuring out where you're blocked from empathy can be an interesting exercise
Plan for bad days on your good days
May 17, 2023
This sounds obvious, and it is, but it's also a surprisingly powerful exercise
On finding and choosing joy
$ · May 10, 2023
It can be hard to choose/find joy, because the fallout can be exhausting
Working with your bullshit
May 3, 2023
Being kind doesn't mean going easy on yourself. It means knowing yourself and working with yourself, not against yourself.
Accepting where I am
$ · April 26, 2023
Acceptance of whereI am in my mental health journey, and what that means for me now
On writing
April 19, 2023
I'm writing a book! Because apparently a weekly email newsletter isn't enough writing for me... (this is a free version of the newsletter, please subscribe to support if you like my work!)
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