Scribblings of a Psychotherapist

HEY, GUYS! YOUR VOICE COUNTS TOO!: Male Mental Health Men have mental health too! We often forget about this and many men experience unhelpful and exasperating comments such as 'Boys don't cry', 'Man up', Come on, be the big man' and 'why would you feel like that...don't be a girl!' Argggh! Why is is OK for females to talk about how they feel, but not men? Well, actually IT IS OK for boys and men to talk about how they feel. Actually, it's not just OK, we want to hear what things are like for you. You ARE IMPORTANT and what you are experiencing IS IMPORTANT! Talking and sharing your thoughts and feelings can not only help you, it can help other guys start taking and having conversations too. The more guys that open up about their own mental health, the more we all understand too. Guys, whether you are feeling sad, anxious, scared, fearful, worried, stressed, having relationship problems, experiencing grief or ...

SELF-HELP ACTIVITY FOR YOU TO TRY: Reducing Worry and Anxiety with a ‘Worry Script’ Many people spend hours each day trying to avoid worrying about things that upset them. People distract themselves by watching TV, focusing on a new worry to avoid thinking about an old one, or even self-medicating with drinking, drugs, or over/under-eating. None of these things help reduce worrying. In fact, most people find that the harder they try and avoid the thoughts that make them anxious, the worse they get. Trying to push something out of your mind is a little like trying to push a beach ball under water: it takes a lot of work to keep it down, and the minute you let it go, it pops right back up again. Rather than putting all of your energy into avoiding upsetting thoughts and images, you can instead face your fears, and writing worry scripts is one way to help you do this. By writing a worry script about your biggest worry, you will be facing your negative th...

Vacancy: Affiliate Therapist: Adult Eating Disorders (16+): Glasgow city centre (one evening per week plus possible additional referrals) CLOSING DATE: MONDAY 8TH APRIL 2019 * Would you like the opportunity to work with adult (16+) clients experiencing eating disorders/disordered eating in private practice? * Would you like us to refer clients onto you while we take care of room hire fees, referral fees and advertising/marketing and still earn £30-£40 (£40 for after 5pm/weekend, £30 for daytime) per appointment? * Would you like to receive other benefits, such as discounted supervision, access to room hire discounts (when you hire the room for your own clients), discounted access to therapist peer support groups and more? * Would you like add a few clients to your own private practice and see the clients we refer on around your other commitments (i.e. you choose when you see clients)? * Would you like to receive possible additional referrals from our other two p...

#FridayFacts Most week's we try to post some #FridayFacts . This week's fact is just to let you know that you are enough as you are. You are enough. Have a good weekend. Alexandra :-)        

Many of us think of the 'fight, flight or freeze' response when thinking about what anxiety is. Or perhaps we have an image of someone shaking or blushing or having a panic attack when they feel anxious. While all of these are true for anxiety, it's important to note that anxiety can present and 'come out' in many different ways. This is especially true for children and young people who might not understand what they are feeling/experiencing or find it tricky to describe what is going on for them. The info-pic below illustrates some ways in which a child's anxiety might show up as something else. I hope you find the info useful. Alexandra :-)        

Our affiliate therapist and counsellor, Shirley, has discounted appointment slots available on Tuesdays, at 4.30pm (weekly or fortnightly) or at 1.30pm (fortnightly). The fee is £35 instead of £45 for all your sessions. Discounted therapy, CBT and counselling slots are given in a first-come, first-serve basis. Other slots will be the usual price. If you would like to take advantage of this discounted slot, please feel free to get in touch: support@citizen17therapy.co.uk

My cat, Penny, is my best friend (don't tell my other half though!). When I was director of the eating disorders charity, No Bodies Perfect, we also had a PATS service (Pets As Therapy Service) for a short while too and had a few volunteers who would walk with their dogs with some of the people using our services at the time. What do you think? Are pets helpful in combatting loneliness? Do animals help our mental health too? My answer would be 'yes'. What you think? Alexandra :-) See link to article below:  https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/1098215/mental-health-pets-loneliness-steve-reed?fbclid=IwAR33YD7Ll_pL7iMhrdNmePUxvQs9_ZJqS1hlcItbl9mjfzRdjWG6ApUj6GE        

Great to have an affiliate therapist join the team who will start seeing clients at two of our practices (Talking EDs: Glasgow & West Eating Disorders Support Service and Citizen17 Therapy, CBT & Counselling Services (Glasgow) tomorrow. We will be recruiting an affiliate therapist to work one evening per week soon too and help us with our waiting list. Watch this space if you're interested.   

#MondayMotivation Hope you all had a good weekend. This week's #MondayMotivation is below. Hope you like it. Have a good day, whatever you are doing today. All the best, Alexandra :-)    

Looking forward to re-launching Glasgow & West Eating Disorders Networking Group in a few months. This will form part of our services here at Talking EDs. We launched a similar eating disorders interest group back in 2011 (and it lasted until 2015). Then it was called EDSIGS. However, we are re-launching it again soon. What is Glasgow & West Eating Disorders Networking Group? * It will be a membership group (membership free for the first few years while we re-establish it) for those with a professional interest in eating disorders (therapists, researchers, support workers, volunteers etc. - please note it's not a group for those currently experiencing an eating disorder - it's not a support group) * It will be a discussion and special interest group for professionals (i.e. those working in or interested in eating disorders in a paid or voluntary capacity) who wish to meet and share information, have discussion groups, attend networking events...

10 Calm Down Ideas for Kids   These tips have been written with children and young people in mind, however, they can help adults to calm down too. They are especially useful when we are feeling overwhelmed with emotions, are feeling angry or feel impulsive in some way (e.g. binge eating). Hope you find the 10 Calm Down Ideas for Kids useful.