One of the most striking features about some of the clients I work with is how terrifically well they appear to be coping. Smart appearance; a good physical fitness regime; managing a busy home; holding down a demanding job: it could be easy to imagine this person hasn't a care in the world. And indeed, as we talk at greater depth, it often turns out that that's exactly what their family, friends and colleagues do think. Yet, behind the smart outward appearance, this person

Self-care has received a lot of media coverage lately, yet I find myself puzzling over what's being presented as self-care. Some commentators seem to think it's a dressed-up cover for self-indulgence, while others seem to be proposing what sounds to me like yet another way for us to torture ourselves through strict diets and rigid exercise regimes. Either way, it seems to be seen as a solution to be found "out there". A friend drew my attention to this blog post by Brianna W

In a recent pilot study, researchers at Drexel University explored the effects of making art on participants' cortisol levels. Cortisol is one of the hormones in our bodies most commonly used as a biomarker for stress. The researchers found that after 45 minutes of free creative self-expressive art-making, a statistically significant lowering of cortisol levels could be detected in participants' saliva. Participants also provided written accounts of the experience, indicatin

Is it even possible to fix a broken heart? If you're suffering the sleepless nights, panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, self-recriminations, and downright misery that can come with the end of a relationship, you may not think so. But psychologist Guy Winch believes there are things we can do to make the process of healing easier. In this heart-warming TED talk, Guy highlights the unhelpful ways our thinking can lead us into deeper misery, and offers tools and encouragement

It seems to me that a big part of the value in talking therapies - either instead of or alongside anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds - is the chance for circumstances that are painful, difficult, and soul-destroying to be validated as real, and naturally likely to lead to depressed and anxious feelings. There's really pretty much nothing worse than believing that our pain is our own fault. That despite poverty, lack of meaningful employment, loneliness, bullying, abuse, w