Welcome to the Westmeria Counselling blog, where our counsellors and expert contributors share valuable insights about the challenges that matter most, from managing anxiety to coping with loss.
Each month, we publish thoughtful articles designed to offer guidance and practical tools for emotional well-being. Whether you’re currently in counselling or looking for ways to support your mental health, we hope you find these blogs helpful and reassuring.
How to plan a self care day
Making the most of your self-care day self-care /sɛlfˈkɛː/ noun the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one's own health. the practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress....
Why Volunteer? My Experience as a Volunteer Counsellor
Volunteers' Week takes place 1 - 7 June every year. It's a chance to celebrate and say thank you to all volunteers out there. However, you might be forgiven for asking, ‘why do people volunteer their time for nothing?’ Calvin Holbrook, writing for ‘Happiness.com’...
What to Expect from a Counselling Assessment
If you are reading this, you may have a counselling assessment coming up, or are thinking about reaching out to a counselling service and wondering what will come next. Either way, reaching out for support is a positive and incredibly brave step, so you should be very...
The New Normal
I’ve heard a lot about the ‘new normal’. It seems to be a bit of a catch all to encompass everything that is going on for us at the moment. All the uncertainty, anxiety, stress, worry and opportunity in our lives are tied into this new normal, which is something to...
Stress Awareness Month
Rather aptly it seems, April is Stress Awareness month. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us are facing an incredible stressful and uncertain time. In this blog, we’ll take a look at what stress is, some ideas on ways to cope, and a personal account from...
Eating Disorder Awareness
Sharing my personal experience, knowledge and enthusiasm about how we can do more for people with this serious mental illness. I know how it feels to be extremely slim. Until my thirties I was under-weight, and in my twenties people mistakenly thought I had an eating...
Random Acts of Kindness
Random Acts of Kindness day is on February 17th and here at Westmeria we are privileged to witness how acts of kindness can impact someone and their everyday life. Random Acts of Kindness began in 1993 when Anne Herbert scrawled on a napkin practice random acts of...
Overcoming the January Blues
With the highs of Christmas activity starting earlier and earlier each year, and the fun of the festive season feeling like an ongoing period of celebrations, it is no wonder that January pales in light and mood when we are left feeling the discomfort of...
Christmas- A time for Great Expectations
With Christmas approaching it is often met with very mixed emotions. Everyone ‘should’ be excited and ‘should’ be looking forward to the Christmas break. With that comes Great Expectations – from others and also, and sometimes with more pressure and demands, from...
Understanding the freeze stress response
When we are faced with actual or perceived dangerous or threatening situations, our fight, flight or freeze stress response is activated. This unconscious defence mechanism enables us to instantaneously evaluate the situation and triggers a series of physiological...
An insight to Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Generally anxiety is a normal reaction and we need this to survive. It only becomes a problem when it gets out of our control. Learning to understand our body and our own normal range of anxiety is paramount to us being able to manage heightened anxiety and...
Mindfulness at Westmeria
We believe mindfulness can have an incredibly positive impact on our mental health, which is why we're running a NEW mindfulness course here at Westmeria Counselling. Run by our counsellor Sheena, this 6 week course is perfect for beginners who would like to learn...
Why so SAD?
SAD (seasonal affective disorder) The Winter months and lower levels of sunlight can affect many people’s mood. For lots of us the miserable grey rainy days don’t exactly add to the joy of being outside. However for some, the reduced exposure to sunlight can be more...
5 Steps to Everyday Happiness
[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] This blog is aimed at sharing ‘5 steps to everyday happiness’ that I gained from a recent well-being publication. It left me reflecting on ‘the magic of the morning’ and how important this energy can be utilised...
It’s time to start your career in counselling
[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Why study with us? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="16px"][vc_column_text] When you make the decision to take a counselling course it can feel like a big step. An exciting and potentially life changing step. So...
Why am I so convinced that helpful talking really works?
[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]If I may say so, talking is the food of life. Helpful talking goes on all the time between parents and children, friends, relatives, teachers and pupils, work colleagues and peers. However, the same also...
My journey with grief
[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Someone I loved, someone who had been a part of my life since the day I was born, died suddenly, and quickly, one weekend many years ago. I spent many hours in a state of shock, wondering how it happened,...
Baby blues- the bit that nobody talks about
[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Baby blues - the name doesn't do it any justice. To want for children so badly and then to feel no immediate bond, as they tell you you will, is crushing. Having always loved children as soon as I was...
Positively Positive
[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][mk_blockquote font_family="Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif" font_type="safefont" text_size="18" align="center"]When you stop at a red light, look at the red light and smile. - Thich Nhat Hanh[/mk_blockquote][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]It...
We can’t all take time out to train for a marathon but we can take 2 minutes in our day
[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] April 23rd I had the privilege of watching my daughter run the London Marathon. She was not on her own. There were 39,000 people running on the day. After months of hard training and fundraising for their charities...