Mental Health Blog
Welcome to the Poole Therapies Mental Health blog, your go-to resource for insights, guidance, and practical tips on mental health, wellbeing, counselling, coaching, and supervision. Here, our experienced team shares evidence-based advice, reflections, and updates to help you navigate personal and professional challenges, explore self-care strategies, and stay informed about the latest in mental health support. Whether you’re a client, professional, or simply curious about mental wellbeing, our blog is here to inspire, inform, and support you every step of the way.
The Connection Between Sleep and Mental Health
The Connection Between Sleep and Mental Health Why Rest Matters More Than You Think Most people notice that a poor night’s sleep can leave them feeling irritable, foggy, or less motivated the next day. When sleep problems persist, however, the effects can reach much further than tiredness alone. Sleep and mental health are closely connected…
By Laura |
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Translating Love Across Cultures: What Counsellors Can Learn About Caring, Shame and Honour
Translating Love: Why talk about love in counselling? The word love often sits uneasily in counselling. Clients long for it, fear it, or have been wounded by its misuses. Therapists sometimes hesitate to name it at all, worried that the word itself could blur boundaries or carry implications of romance. Yet love remains at the…
By Laura |
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5 Simple Steps to Boost Your Mental Health
5 Simple Steps to Boost Your Mental Health – Kay Parkinson Mental health is an essential part of overall well-being, yet many people struggle to prioritise it amidst their busy lives. With the increasing demands of work, relationships, and daily responsibilities, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. The good news is that improving your mental health…
By Laura |
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SAD – How to Beat the Winter Blues
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) also known as ‘winter depression’ or ‘winter blues’ is where you begin to feel more affected by your anxiety and depression in the cold winter seasons As sunlight decreases during the short dark days of winter, many individuals struggle with seasonal affective disorder or SAD. As the…
By Laura |
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Young People and Self-harm
Young People and Self-harm Self-harm is defined in the National Institute of Clinical Excellence guidelines (2004) as “an expression of personal distress, usually made in private, by an individual who hurts him or herself”. Self-harm is more common among young people and people who suffer from mental health problems. Self-harm and Self-injury In the…
By Laura |
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Coping in an Uncertain Economic Climate
Uncertain Economic Climate Kay Parkinson delves into navigating uncertainty in our Economic Climate How can we navigate uncertainty? The UK Budget announcements are closely followed events, impacting everything from household expenses to mental health services. For many, these updates represent the pulse of economic stability-or instability-that shapes their daily lives. This year’s budget is no…
By Laura |
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Differences and Similarities in Anxiety and Depression
Eleanor Strange helps us understand the Differences and Similarties between Anxiety and Depression How does depression feel? What about Anxiety? Can you have both? Depression and anxiety can feel layered, deep and complicated, and they are often difficult to identify by oneself. If not dealt with in time,…
By Laura |
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The Impact of Vicarious Trauma in the Helping Professions
The Impact of Vicarious Trauma in Helping Professions (and Beyond) Victoria Heeley helps us understand how Vicarious Trauma Impacts Health Professionals In professions like counselling, healthcare, or social work, we often hear about vicarious trauma-the emotional toll of absorbing others’ traumatic experiences. However, vicarious trauma isn’t limited to these fields. Professions such as beauty therapists,…
By Laura |
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My Workplace
My workplace Nicola Banning talks to Laura Clifford-Jones about what it takes to run a successful therapy business, the skills and qualities that she looks for in her team of therapists, and what’s next on her horizon Laura Clifford-Jones is Director and Counselling Lead for Poole Therapies & Associates Ltd, and a BACP-accredited…
By Laura |
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Fear Embarrassment & Self-Awareness
Fear and Embarrassment with Self Awareness Today I recognised and work through my own Fear & Embarrassment. “As a counsellor what does she fear and feel embarrassed about?”I hear you say, I made a decision to take a masters’ qualification earlier this year, put everything in place to start the course in September, this included…
By Laura |
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Party Season
Party Season Drunkorexia is a colloquialism for self-imposed starvation or binge eating/purging combined with alcohol abuse. The term is generally used to denote the utilisation of extreme weight control methods (such as the aforementioned starvation or purging) as a tool to compensate for planned binge drinking. As the party season approaches more and more women…
By Laura |
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Assertiveness ‘Our Rights’
Assertiveness Our Rights Assertiveness ‘Our rights’ underly the philosophy of assertiveness training is based on the premise that we are all equal and that we all possess the same basic rights. Many people seem to have forgotten or had never been told, that these rights exist. The goal of assertiveness is to stand up for your…
By Laura |
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Saying ‘No’
Saying “No” The complexities of the word Some people find it exceedingly difficult to say ‘No’. Others ca only say ‘No’ indirectly, softening the blow with excuses and apologies. The inability to say ‘No’ means that you lack some control over your life and that you have to cope with a consequent increasingly in stress.…