My updated thoughts about acceptance
My updated thoughts about acceptance
If you’ve followed this blog for a while, or indeed have sat in a therapy space with me for any length of time, you will probably have heard me talk about acceptance.
My updated thoughts about acceptance
If you’ve followed this blog for a while, or indeed have sat in a therapy space with me for any length of time, you will probably have heard me talk about acceptance.
The space in between
A short but sweet revisit of one of my favourite topics, and one of my favourite quotes:
I’m really not sure where the first three months of 2023 went, but here in Melbourne, Australia we are starting to see the shift into autumn and so it feels especially timely to write a little summary of the things that I’ve been digging into and enjoying in the work I do as a psychotherapist, but also in my own personal world.
Spotlight on women’s mental health
I have started a PhD this year and I spend a lot of my time at the moment almost literally up to my armpits in all sorts of research related to women and their mental and physical health. I am driven to work in this space for a whole bunch of reasons and as part of my professional reflective practice I have been considering why it matters so much to me.
What is therapy? As a registered, professional Clinical Counsellor and Psychotherapist, with personal (and company) values that are grounded in authenticity and integrity, it matters deeply to me that I practice in evidence-based forms of therapy. That means a few things.
When the workplace is the source of your pain
I am a creature of habit and I have this very regular practice where I spend some time on a Sunday writing the upcoming week’s blog for TB Wellbeing. It’s been something I do every week for about 2 and a half years. Sundays in my world are associated with research, brunch, writing and food shopping. I am grateful that they aren’t associated with what my Dad used to call “Sunday-night-itis” – that kind of dread that comes with Monday mornings and the thought of having to go to work tomorrow.
No hierarchy of trauma
If we could start with the idea that trauma is ‘too much, too fast, too soon’ I think we could really broaden the conversation around what is and isn’t traumatic. Using this approach helps us understand that what we encode as traumatic is really very subjective and individualised, and as such there can be no judgement around trauma.
(Good) therapy can be a totally life-changing experience (sure, I’m biased) – it can help you develop future goals for your life, heal from past trauma or address patterns of behaviour that no longer serve you. I believe that everyone can benefit from therapy regardless of your age, stage of life or lived experience. Importantly, you don’t need to be in crisis to seek professional support.
I can’t believe I’m writing this, my last blog of 2022, a week out from Christmas – I know I say it every year, but this one feels like it’s flown by especially quickly. This time next week it will be Christmas Day and I will be taking a couple of weeks off not only working in the practice, but also social media and blog-writing. It’s been two years that I have consistently written weekly blogs and tried to share some hopefully useful insights into mental health, trauma and some of the approaches that help support recovery.
It’s a real struggle to find the right words or language around ‘recovery’ or ‘healing’ – honestly there are really so many rubbish words around this. How does ‘healing journey’ land with you? That one just gives me the ‘ick’ but whatever works for you, works for you! I am so mindful about how we frame or explore the experience of therapy and I’m also curious about how different words or language inform or shape how we feel about that experience.