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Counselling Directory member, Paula Coles, provides five tips to prevent us passing stress onto our kids.

The impact of parental stress on children is a topic that is well-researched by academics. But, when it comes to the practicalities and the impacts, do we, as parents, know the effects our stress is having on our children?

As parents, we can often face the burden of expected happiness. Many parents feel obliged to showcase social media showreels of their ‘joyous’ parenting, but it’s not always the truth of what’s going on behind closed doors. In fact, many parents will be ‘managing’ the stress of parenting with unhealthy...

We have all heard about the importance of self-care and how it helps us stay both physically and mentally well. Yet for many of us, it continues to be a struggle. Interestingly perhaps, those who work in a helping capacity can quickly forget about their own self-care.

We speak to counsellor Teresa Sinani about the importance of self-care when you care for others at work.

The term self-care is often spoken about, but what does it mean for those who work in the helping professions?

I understand self-care to be a practise that counsellors, therapists, anyone working in the helping professions need to...

If you travel by tube, you may well have seen the ‘baby on board’ badges pregnant women are able to wear, encouraging others to give up their seat if none are available. Many of us know to give up our seat if someone is pregnant, injured or using a walking aid – but what about disabilities and health problems we can’t see?

Last year TFL created the ‘please offer me a seat’ badge for those with hidden illnesses to wear when travelling by tube. Earlier this week to mark the first year anniversary of the badges (and to reinforce their important message), TFL launched ‘Priority Seating Week’.

Pictures and stories of people with hidden illnesses have been shared to raise awareness of the badges and how they help those who wear them. People with health problems like epilepsy and vision impairment were included in the campaign, along with

As humans, our brains are wired for connection. We’re social beings who thrive when feeling loved and accepted. Families and significant others form a large part of this, but friendships are also hugely important.

These are the people we chose to spend our free time with. The people we trust, support and laugh with. Just like romantic relationships however, friendships can run their course and even become toxic.

Sometimes the friends we make are circumstantial. Perhaps you were in the same class at school and created a friendship based on this. Even though there may be years of history, you may find your values have changed as you’ve grown into adults and the friendship is now bringing more stress than joy.

Whatever the situation is,...

The effects of loneliness are considered as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Understanding loneliness, and especially who it affects, is important if we want to tackle the problem.

At the start of 2018 the Prime Minister announced the government’s plans to tackle loneliness in Britain, part of this strategy involved an investigation into who was affected and what the risk factors for loneliness are.

Using data from the Community Life Survey (2016 – 2017), the

World Bipolar Day (30th March) is a day designed to raise awareness and help us all learn more about a condition that affects around one in every 100 adults. As with many mental health conditions, sadly, bipolar disorder can often be misunderstood.

Stereotypes and myths can lead people to believe those with bipolar are completely erratic, wildly productive, or even have ‘split personality’.

It’s time to put these misconceptions to bed and educate ourselves on what it means to have bipolar disorder.

Common misconceptions

Doesn’t having bipolar mean you have a split personality?

The idea of having a ‘split personality’ largely comes from a condition that was once called ‘multiple personality...

If you utter the words self-care to a parent, chances are they’ll smile, nod and have a little laugh to themselves in their head. Raising children and supporting a family is tough and for mothers and fathers alike, self-care priorities often slip.

And while you may think this is for the greater good of raising tiny humans, you’re actually doing them a disservice if you are strung out, stressed and spread too thin.

Looking after yourself supports your mental and physical health, making you more resilient and capable of kicking butt as a parent, day to day. And, before you say “I haven’t got time!”, take a read of the below tips, we promise they won’t take up too much of your time and the benefits are worth it.  

Prioritise your health

Dr Sherylin Thompson is a chartered counselling psychologist. She trained as a mindfulness teacher at Bangor University. Sherylin founded The BeingWell, which offers mindfulness courses for the public and staff training to organisations.

Celebrating motherhood links us to wonderful human qualities of care, commitment, attentiveness and love. On Mother’s Day, we thank our mothers for the gentle, steadfast and nourishing presence we needed since birth to flourish. We may struggle to find the words or gift to really put across our gratitude. Often, the most generous and memorable gift can just simply spending time together in a certain way. In other words, it might not be your present that matters, but your presence!...

Every year, Eating Disorders Awareness Week aims to raise awareness of these mental health conditions that affect so many of us. This year, we were pleased to see some consistent messaging coming through for Eating Disorders Awareness Week, including:

As a nation, we need to educate ourselves on eating disorders.

Eating disorder charity Beat revealed that 34% of adults could not name signs or symptoms of an eating disorder. Understanding eating disorders and the way they manifest is so important because those struggling with the illness are unlikely to seek help themselves. They are likely to need the support and encouragement of those around them. We all have a responsibility to look out for each other.

Eating...