Author Archives: Ellie Atkins

I’ve blogged before about the kindness of strangers (http://headspaceguildford.co.uk/the-power-of-kindness/ and http://headspaceguildford.co.uk/little-kindness-world/) and what a difference a simple, random act of kindness can make to someone. But today I wanted to talk about kindness in the non-random way – as a way of living. There’s a great book I always read with children called ‘Have youContinue reading “Kindness as a way of living”

I’ve been thinking a lot about what to write in this blog. Traditionally January is linked with fresh starts and new beginnings and with the Christmas break and the start of they year giving us time for reflection, often its seen as a chance to look forward, set goals and head towards a bright newContinue reading “New year reflections”

When you write a blog which goes on your webpages, you’re representing yourself and demonstrating your views for anyone to read. It’s difficult because you never know who (if anyone) is reading what you write and who might have something to say about what you write. I always try and be careful because I wantContinue reading “Values, mental health and climate change”

As I wrote last week (link) there is a lot of hype around Christmas. It’s tempting to get swept up in ‘silly season’ and rush between events and the shops and spend hours and hours doing things to prepare for the ‘perfect Christmas’. I put it to you that there’s no such thing as perfect.Continue reading “Practice Compassion”

Why is it always the way that when we need to look after ourselves the most, that’s the time when we’re least able to do it. When we are really busy and under pressure a bit of self-care would go a long way. But because we’re stressed and rushed we aren’t able to think orContinue reading “Looking after ourselves”

Apparently ‘tis the season to be jolly. I’m not sure if I believe it myself. I think ‘tis the season to think you’re supposed to feel jolly, and perhaps even act like you are jolly, but that’s not quite the same thing at all. The thing about this time of year is there seems toContinue reading “Is it the season to feel jolly?”

Last week I used this quote “The world is changed by your example, not your opinion” (link here)  and talked about how you could change your world. Today I want to talk about this quote again, and again think about how you change your world, as well as changing the wider world for the better.Continue reading “Changing your world #2”

Last week I was talking about practising what you preach (here). I came across this quote which summarises it too… “The world is changed by your example, not your opinion” It’s easy for us to have an opinion on may things but it’s the action that makes the difference. This is as true for MentalContinue reading “Changing your world”

I truly believe in practising what you preach. If you’re not prepared to do something then you shouldn’t be asking other people to do this. This is as true for Clinical Psychology as it is for cutting down on plastics or flying less air miles. And it’s almost easier to enact for Clinical Psychology becauseContinue reading “Practice what you preach”

I have a psychologist friend who says that thinking is the key work of a Psychologist and what makes us stand out from other professionals. Now, I think that Psychologists are often lumped in with all the therapy-type professions and have a reputation for being ‘fluffy’ and ‘navel-gazing’. My experience of Clinical Psychology is thatContinue reading “Fluffy + Science = formulation”