Improving Mental Health during the Winter Blues
Many people face low mood, fatigue, and loss of interest in daily activities in winter. Some experience depressive symptoms linked to seasonal change such as loss of motivation (anhedonia). Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a recognised type of depression that most people feel in the winter months. Symptoms include low mood, tiredness, increased sleep or insomnia, lack of interest in activities, change of appetite, and difficulty concentrating. Treatments include talking therapies, light therapy, and medication.
Reducing Burnout Using Healthy Activities During the Festive Season
The festive season increases pressure on your time, energy and mood. Work responsibilities remain, family expectations rise and daylight hours diminish, increasing the risk of burnout. You need focused action to protect your mental health and reduce burnout symptoms.
Couples Counselling using Schema Therapy
Many couples struggle with repeated cycles stemming from these scars: criticism, distance, unmet needs, or emotional cut-offs. These often stem from early maladaptive schemas as we find in Schema Therapy. Schemas are deep-rooted beliefs formed in childhood. They influence how you think, feel, and act in your relationship.
Couples Counselling: The Benefits for your Relationship and Mental Health
Couples counselling (also called couples therapy or marriage counselling) helps two partners work on relationship issues together. It gives a structured space to talk, change patterns, improve communication skills and build connection. It may happen face to face or through online Couples Counselling sessions. At Clarity Mind Therapy, we offer both!
ADHD in Women: the Hidden Symptoms
Many young girls with ADHD are overlooked in school because their symptoms don’t always match the stereotype of the “disruptive, hyperactive boy.” Girls may be quieter, more withdrawn, or simply labelled as “daydreamers.”
Autism in Women: Recognising the Signs and Understanding the Differences
Recognising autism in women requires sensitivity and awareness of these different presentations. At Clarity Mind Therapy, we work to provide a safe and understanding space where women can explore these experiences, whether they are seeking assessment, therapy, or simply a better understanding of themselves.
Applying a Trauma-Informed Care Perspective
In the trauma-informed model, we shift from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”
It’s a compassionate way of understanding that these behaviours and manifestations are often attempts to cope with overwhelming emotional pain, not simply intentional bad choices or failures.
“MEN-tal” Health
Men are significantly less likely than women to access mental health services in the UK. Many are taught from a young age to “man up,” push through pain, and avoid appearing vulnerable. Mental health stigma among men is persistent. The fear of being labelled "weak" or "unstable" often stops them from reaching out, even when they need it most.
Mindfulness for Depression: An ‘Affective’ Anchor
Mindfulness is the practice of intentionally focusing attention into the present moment, without judgment. It means noticing your thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and environment as they are, rather than trying to escape, fight, or fix them in the moment.
The Real Victim in Substance Abuse
Healing is about more than quitting substance use—it's about building a life that feels worth staying sober for. It’s about improving the areas of our lives that are calling for healing under the mask of substance abuse.
Supporting Loved Ones Experiencing Mental Health Challenges
Supporting someone through their mental health difficulties is not about having all the answers—it’s about being present, compassionate, offering help where you can, and knowing when to refer to professionals.
The Power of Box Breathing for Anxiety and Depression: A Mindfulness Practice You Can Do Anywhere
Box breathing is a simple yet powerful breathing exercise that involves four equal steps: inhaling, holding the breath, exhaling, and holding again. Each step typically lasts 4 seconds. This technique promotes a state of calm through the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system.
New Years, New Me?
New Year’s resolutions are about personal growth, not perfection and definitely not self-criticism. By adopting a flexible, compassionate, and evidence-based systematic approach, you’ll set yourself up for sustainable success.
The Importance of Guilt-Free Relaxation for your Mental Health
Relaxation isn't just a luxury; it's a necessity. Chronic stress, often exacerbated by toxic workplace environments, leads to burnout, anxiety, and even physical health issues. Guilt-free relaxation allows your body and mind to recover, improving your overall well-being and productivity when you return to work.
The Hidden Toll of Shame on Mental Health
Instead of focusing on actions, shame targets the self- leading people to feel they are inherently flawed or unworthy. This is often without any particular actions to cause it. For example, rather than thinking, "I made a mistake," a person might think, "I am a failure." This internalized belief can be paralyzing, trapping individuals in a cycle of self-blame and self-criticism that damages self-esteem and increases vulnerability to anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions.
World Mental Health Day: Psychology is not just for the sick
You don’t need a major reason to seek out psychological support. Sometimes, checking in with a therapist can be a proactive step toward optimizing your mental health and improving your overall quality of life.
Understanding Suicide: Risk Factors, Indicators and Prevention
Suicide is very often a brief window when someone cannot not access the mental health resources or innate hope within themselves to see through this window of despair. A person may believe it is all bad and will forever remain bad when, in fact, this is not the case.
Understanding Shame: Its Psychological Effects
Shame is an emotion that arises from a perception of being fundamentally flawed or unworthy. It’s a feeling that can affect one's entire sense of self.
Understanding Abuse and the Psychological Effects
By raising awareness and providing support, we can help victims of abuse find the path to healing and reclaim their lives. This is sometimes as simple as starting with improving self-esteem, confidence and building a positive self-image. Never buy into the lies that you deserve this- you deserve happiness like everyone else.
The Difference between Anxiety and Stress
Stress and anxiety, although sharing many overlapping symptoms, are different to one another. Stress is often short-term and triggered by an external stimulus whereas anxiety is a mental health condition that is long-term and more due to more internal precipitants.