As an LGBTQ+ person it is very likely that you share a similar story with others who identify as LGBTQ+ . A journey that most likely began in your youth with questions like, “Who am I?”; “Where do I belong?”; “Who belongs to me and who do I belong to?”.

At this point in time, we long for belonging but often find ourselves lost, confused, misunderstood.

Selfcare Pairs is a resource for mental health professionals and parents alike. It helps teaching children and young people about the variety and importance of self-care in a fun and playful way. Learning about self-care supports mental well-being!

Research suggests that initiating sleep is a much more common and intense difficulty for people who have an ADHD diagnosis. An estimated 25–50% of people with ADHD experience sleep problems, ranging from insomnia or nightmares to secondary sleep conditions.

When a child receives a diagnosis of ADHD a lot changes in the family dynamic. There is an increased focus on supporting the child with the diagnosis. So what happens for the child without the diagnosis? They often receive much less attention and stand on the sidelines of what happens in the family. What may be their thoughts and feeling and how do these affect their behaviour and development?

Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) is a method used that can help people improve their way of communicating and interacting with one another. VIG allows the participants to learn how to become more effective in their interactions, communicating their needs and feelings which in turn enhances overall social and emotional wellbeing.

New beginnings, like a new year or even returning to school or our jobs after an extended break can also spark intense feelings of uncertainty, which for some of us, understandably so, may turn into worry and anxiety. If you or your child is worried about returning to school, here are 7 tips to begin school again with more confidence.

I often hear people say self-care is a face mask or a bubble bath. If a face mask and a bubble bath means self-care for you that’s great and you are definitely encouraged to continue doing it whenever you feel like it. But let me tell you why self-care can be so much more than that!

Praise is incredibly important for building a child’s self-esteem. Praise is positive feedback from a person of significance (e.g. parents, teachers) that tells the child that it has done something well. This translates to the child learning that they can affect change and influence their environment. In turn this enables the child to think positively and confidently about their abilities and themselves.

Toxic Positivity is the concept of suppressing emotions that are experienced as unpleasant such as sadness or anger.

It is an inappropriate overgeneralisation of happiness or a joyful state in response to situations that are distressing or painful when the experience of “negative emotions” is justified.

We all have an innate bias to spot and remember negative events much more easily than the positive ones. In Psychology this is known as the negativity bias. The negativity bias affects our attention, how we learn and retain or recall information, the conclusions we come to when evaluating peoples’ behaviour and our decision-making.

Shame and guilt are both powerful emotions; but what is the difference? Shame-ammunition is loaded with the poison of self-doubt. This will lead to reduced resiliency for further attacks and the wounds from previous attacks heal much slower. But guilt can play an important role in accepting ourselves.

I am the emotion, being alone is describing a situation. When you are surrounded by people you can still feel lonely, even though you are not alone. And when you are alone I don’t necessarily come and visit you. When you are alone you may meet me, loneliness, but just as often humans can feel happy and content when they are alone. So please do not say that we are the same.

Starting therapy for the first time, or meeting a new therapist can be daunting, especially for children and young people. I strive to provide a safe, warm and compassionate environment for my clients—an environment that allows them to be open and honest, free from judgement, pressure or stress.