Anxiety, intuition, and the moon
At the start of February, I got a(nother) tattoo. This one is of the moon tarot card. The moon tarot card has a wonderfully dual meaning. One of the one...
Hisses get kisses
I watch a lot of animal videos on the internet, a lot of them are rescue or foster. One of the things I have discovered, when it comes to feral cats and...
Sitting in calm
A progress note: I’ve seen the requirements needed to sit my Certificate of Proficiency exam in July and I meet them. This means I am on track to quialfy as...
Soothing old patterns
I am experiencing some ambiguity. I might be able to graduate this year, or I might not. It's still possible, probable even, but not guaranteed. What I'm...
So often it's sub-concious
I'm not trained in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), but I have had it (though looking back, I didn't have the best practitioner). In CBT, the focus is on...
On Stuckness
Have you ever felt stuck? We talk about being stuck in therapist circles. It's when sessions get stuck in a loop, and neither the client or therapist knows...
Disappointment and Rejection
Noelle:Disappointment doesn't killDr. Abby Barnes:Right... rejection kills. Disappointment only maims. I don't know how I stumbled upon the 1996 film The...
Experiencing is a friendly resource, not a frightening enemy
Gradually clients learn that experiencing is a friendly resource, not a frightening enemyOn Becoming A Person, Carl Rogers, pg 173 It’s scary, doing the work...
I've been working on shame (paywall removed)
Every so often I remove the paywall from an email I particuarly like, both to advertise my paid work and to give me a break. This was published back in...
How do you show up for yourself?
I’ve been thinking about self abandonment recently. Self abandonment is when you step away from your wants, needs, values, in order to fulfil something else....
Self care when things are terrible the redux
Apologies that this is late. I did a version of this last year: https://buttondown.com/SelfCareBackpack/archive/self-care-in-crisis/ but it feels relevant...
2026: commitment
Last year I picked the word ‘Consistency’ as my word of the year, with a vision board and everything. While I did do more things more consistently, there was...
New year, new me?
2025 was a year. I think it was a big one for a lot of people, in good and bad ways. For me it was a rollercoaster, and it’s left me feeling a little shaky....
December reminders
Welcome to the last newsletter of the year. I hope no matter how you spend this time, you have some joy, calm, and connection. Recently, I was asked about...
I've been working on shame
I've been returning to shame recently. I did some training on working with shame, that I actually used to look at my own sense of shame. I also did a...
Discomfort vs safety (paywall removed)
Once a month or so, I remove the paywall from an old email, to showcase what you can get if you upgrade to a paid subscription, to share something I’m proud...
Touching grass
I’m so sorry I missed the last paid post, life happens. I appreciate your support more than I can say. The past few weeks have been challenging. Becoming a...
Mental health at the holidays
I’m working on a workshop for mental health/survivng the holidays and I thought I’d share some things from it, given it’s somehow mid-November already. How...
Some reminders for when you're ill
I've been ill for the best part of a week. I'm recovering but the fatigue and gastrointestinal distress is lingering. Here's what I'm reminding myself of...
You can't self aware your way out of it
Self awareness isn't enough. You can be fully aware of your patterns and still follow them every time. You can see the self sabotage coming, and feel a sense...
