Pesky negative beliefs This is the third blog in a little series looking at the three ‘compass points’ that we work from when we’re exploring and then processing trauma.  As a quick recap, we’re talking about thoughts (this is more about the meaning or beliefs we have about ourselves, other people or the world around

What is your body trying to tell you? A couple of weeks ago (before I got distracted by Birth Trauma Awareness week) I’d started a little series looking at the three ‘compass points’ that we work from when we’re exploring and then processing trauma.  As a quick recap, we’re talking about thoughts (this is more

Birth trauma awareness As I write this, it’s the end of 2022’s ‘Birth Trauma Awareness Week’ and I’ve been super interested (and excited) to see this topic getting much more attention than in previous years.  So, I thought I’d reprise a blog I’ve updated and refreshed about this incredibly important topic.  Of course, I happen

Feelings are for feeling In my line of work, I spend lots of time navigating three different but equally important ‘compass points’ of a person’s inner world; thoughts (and as a psychotherapist working with the kind of modalities that I practice this is more about the meaning or beliefs we have around certain events or

My favourite resources: April - June 2022 This one is a week or so late!  I try to publish this review at the end / start of each new quarter but because I was busy travelling to the UK and catching COVID it kind of slipped my mind…anyway, here’s my latest brain-dump of all the

The power of rest I have just returned to the Practice after 2 weeks leave visiting family in the UK and attending a trauma conference in Belfast…oh and catching COVID (of course) to keep things interesting!  It didn’t quite go as planned, thanks to the COVID bit, but it was amazing to go on a

Why a special interest in women’s mental health? I’m up to my knees in some more post-graduate studies at Deakin University in Melbourne which is all in preparation for a PhD and, in alignment with the central focus of my work in private practice, it’s very much centred on women’s mental health.  I was reminded

Polyvagal theory and trauma The experience of trauma is a whole-body one.  Many distressing symptoms of post-traumatic stress are felt in the body, such as a tightening sensation in the chest, a lump in the throat, sinking or dropping feelings in the stomach or a state of chronic fatigue or exhaustion. When we experience a

Losing and grieving According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), grief is a normal response to loss.  It can be in response to a disaster or traumatic event or can be in response to a loss in terms of expectations, losing a loved one (human or animal), losing a job, relationship, sense

Trauma is not what happened to you Last week I shared a bit of a recap on trauma, which was something of an introduction to trauma.  This week I want to expand that conversation a bit to provide a framework or a lens through which we can hopefully make sense of what we mean when