Category Archives: Uncategorized

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?”

As I  think I’ve mentioned before, I’ve got a quote on the wall at the Headspace Guildford office that says “no one has got it all figured out”(http://headspaceguildford.co.uk/inside-out/ ) . I love it because it’s so true. But so often we compare ourselves with others and find ourselves wanting. Or we compare ourselves with someContinue reading “You are good enough.”

You sleep badly and wake early stressing about the upcoming exams. As you are coming round you notice the little toy on your bedside table that your friend gave you to remind you it’s all going to be ok. It makes you smile. You drag yourself out of bed (possibly after some nagging from yourContinue reading “How to make it through exam season”

At Headspace Guildford we often help children and young people manage something which is distressing them – often things like worries or coping with feelings or sensations which are difficult. We work to give young people strategies that help them cope with this. One of the best strategies is also the most accessible to allContinue reading “Just breathe…”

I like the Action for Happiness stuff a lot. https://www.actionforhappiness.org/ I like the idea that instead of trying not to feel something negative (Sad, depressed, anxious) we can work on feeling happy or good or chilled instead. It’s from a school of thought called Positive Psychology. It’s the idea that rather than focus on allContinue reading “The journey not the destination”

I ended last week’s blog with the quote from Winnie the Pooh. The whole quote actually goes like this: You are BRAVER than you believe STRONGER than you seem and Smarter than you think you are Now, here at Headspace Guildford, and in the NHS, I have met a number of people who I knowContinue reading “You are stronger than you think?”

I can remember once being in a very important interview – in fact it was one of a series that I needed to pass to be accepted on to Clinical Psychology training. Despite looking calm, my voice completely betrayed me, shaking the entire way through one interview. I forged on despite sounding like I wasContinue reading “The mind and the body”

It occurs to me that I’ve been talking a lot about kindness recently, and perhaps not started at the beginning. I recently had a conversation with someone which went like this: Me – “How are things?” The other person – “Good thanks, we’re all doing fine. Except for my sister in law. She’s got MentalContinue reading “What is ‘Mental Health’”