Author Archives: Ellie Atkins

People talk about holidays as being a well-earned break and a chance to relax. Adverts in particular portray the idyllic life, popping out for day trips or jetting somewhere hot (or hotter) for a fortnight of uninterrupted bliss.  TV programmes tend to do the same. Netflix box sets of people just enjoying the high lifeContinue reading “It’s not all sun-filled bliss”

It is pretty common these days to hear someone talk about how overwhelmed they are with the various juggles that life is placing on them. School and homework and revision and extra-curricular stuff. Or work and family and meeting everyone’s needs. Then there’s the pressure to build in ‘me time’ or exercise or mindfulness practice.Continue reading “Beyond busy”

I often think of that old adage about people on their deathbed who never say they wished they’d spent more time at work. I love my work. I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to train and work as a Clinical Psychologist. I feel incredibly lucky to do a job which gives me both joyContinue reading “Deathbed hindsight”

I promised here (http://headspaceguildford.co.uk/what-is-mental-health/) that I would post on how life growing up impacts on our mental health. This is a tricky area to write a short blog about because it’s complicated. It would be easy to blame all our problems on what happened to us when we were little, and therefore think we haveContinue reading “What life was like growing up”

And just for clarification right at the start, I don’t mean running away. So, here’s what I do mean: I like to run. I’m not an especially good runner, I don’t run that fast or all that far. If someone asked me to run a marathon tomorrow, there’s very little chance I could do it.Continue reading “Mental health is like running…”

I promised a post on all the fun stuff we do at Headspace Guildford. The way I figure it, if you’re going to give up 50 minutes of your life to come and see us, on a regular basis, then it should be worth it. So, here are just a few of the things weContinue reading “Dealing with feelings is a whole lot of fun”

So, you’re on the platform, staring down the tracks, having missed that train (see last week’s blog http://headspaceguildford.co.uk/trains-traffic-and-emotional-regulation/) and feeling awful. Just at that moment it seems like the worst thing in the world.  Feeling overwhelmed and not quite sure how you’re going to manage, beyond holding back the tears or the impulse to punchContinue reading “Looking down the tracks and taking the long view”

Emotional regulation is the term we use to talk about how we manage big feelings. It’s a skill we all need in life and sometimes we are better at it than at other times. There are always going to be times when the feelings just feel too much, are too big to handle. Have youContinue reading “Trains, traffic and emotional regulation”

Life isn’t ever like it is on the TV, or in films or books. Because space and time is precious in a programme or a novel every event has to mean something. A mundane story about stroking a stray cat or running to catch the bus is only told as a metaphor for the strugglesContinue reading “Real life”

A Clinical Psychologist I admire very much (Dr Lucy Johnstone) said something along the lines of this – ‘we need to move from working out what’s wrong with you, to what has happened to you’. So often we look for a name or a title to hang our problems on. Sometimes this can be incrediblyContinue reading “What’s happened to you?”