Mental Health Archives - Wellspring Therapy & Training

Stress Awareness Month

April 23, 2021 By wellspring

Stress Awareness Month has been held every April, since 1992 to increase public awareness about both the causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic. In today’s blog post, Alex helps us to understand what stress is and how it can lead to burnout.

Stress is a bodily reaction to threat. It is hardwired into all of us. In other words, it involves automatic, ancient programming over which we have little control. If a predator is chasing us we don’t have time to think about our reaction, we experience the stress response in our bodies. We recognise the flight/fight/freeze response in a change to our physical state. The rise of adrenaline and cortisol is programmed to stimulate our muscles to move, our blood supply to surge energy to those muscles and any prospect of resting or digesting food is temporarily halted. We are primed for our best response.

So far so good, in survival terms. However, this is more problematic when we find ourselves stuck here, on a constant loop of these hormonal surges, and no respite to be found. This is chronic stress. Stress that is never given a chance to leave our bodies before the next threat is recognised. It’s like the story of the frog in boiling water. You may be able to cope in the moment, like the frog in warm water but if you gradually increase the temperature eventually the frog will die as it didn’t notice the gradual build up of heat. Our bodies still respond with the automatic programming. The causes of stress may often be personal, but they are universal in the stress response they trigger.

This is burnout.

Resting and healing from burnout needs to address both the immediate distress and the longer term chronic problems of pressure. We need to learn to complete the stress cycle (see previous blog post on this) so all our stresses do not build together over time. Counselling can help with this, and with addressing any overwhelming stress that has been hanging around too long.

For more information about how to deal with stress, see ‘Burnout’ by Emily and Amelia Nagoski or visit www.stress.org.uk.

Written by Alex Brook-Dobson [Wellspring Counsellor]

If you would like to refer yourself for counselling, please use the link at the bottom of our Therapy page.

Wellspring House has now re-opened for a limited number of face-to-face counselling sessions. Zoom and telephone counselling are continuing to take place. Most of our clients live within a radius of up to 20 miles. However, if you live outside this area (but still in the UK) and do not have access to a local counselling service, you can still contact us through the online form as we do have capacity to see a limited number of adults from outside the area.

See our Resources page for more support and links.

We are all in this together – Self-Care during Lockdown

March 10, 2021 By wellspring

We are all in this together.

It is easy to dismiss our own needs at the best of times. We can become experts at distracting ourselves or minimising our own importance. If there are people worse off than ourselves, which there generally always are, we can say it is our duty or humility that requires us to stay silent around our own needs.

When we are hungry, we are no less hungry by knowing that there are people who are starving in the world. Our need is not so great as theirs of course, but neither is it to be ignored.

The pandemic has brought immeasurable suffering and grief to so many, but it doesn’t mean that the individual trials and challenges we all face our insignificant.

We are not all in the same boat, but we are in the same storm.

As humanity we are all in this together. We have different boats, but if we look after our boat we can stay afloat to help others who may be sinking.

It comes back to self-care. We do not need to deny ourselves self care if others are suffering, we can use it to ultimately help them.

How can you look after yourself today? And if it helps, try and identify who else that will help?

Written by Alex Brook-Dobson

See our Resources page for more support and links.

Our building is currently closed for face-to-face counselling until further notice. But we are still offering sessions over the phone or through Zoom to the people of Harrogate and the surrounding area. Most of our clients live within a radius of up to 20 miles. However, if you live outside this area (but still in the UK) and do not have access to a local counselling service, you can still contact us through the online form as we do have capacity to see a limited number of adults from outside the area. If you would like to refer yourself for counselling, please use the link at the bottom of our Therapy page.

Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2021

March 3, 2021 By wellspring

Eating Disorders Awareness Week is taking place this week, 1st-7th March 2021.

What thoughts and feelings come to mind when you think about food and eating?

We all need food; without it we won’t last long; but the act of eating is about far more than providing our bodies with the nutrition we need to stay healthy. Life’s milestones are celebrated with food; we all enjoy cakes for birthdays and weddings! Think about those dinner dates with friends or partners; as humans we love to share food when we get together. Lots of us have missed this simple pleasure over the last year.

But for many people food and eating is complicated and stressful. Around 1.6 million people in the UK struggle with an eating disorder.

We tend to think of it as more of a problem that affects women, but 11% of that 1.6 million are male. It can affect us at any age although it is more common in young people between the ages of 14-25.

For those of us who struggle with an eating disorder it can be very isolating and frightening. It’s often a secret illness that sufferers go to great attempts to hide until there are obvious physical signs. Even then, the sufferer can struggle to acknowledge there is a problem.

So, what can we do if we have someone close to us who we think might have an eating disorder? It can feel stressful, frustrating and bewildering. We can feel very helpless.

The good news is that there is help and support out there for sufferers and their loved ones.

Beat is a leading eating disorder charity that provides education, support and help. They have a telephone helpline open 7 days a week. You can find their website at: www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk and the helpline number is 0808 801 0677.

If you have an eating disorder, talking through what is happening for you with a counsellor can give you a safe and confidential space to help you work out a way forward and start on the path to recovery.

If you are supporting someone with an eating disorder, counselling can give you a space to talk and gain strength.

Sufferer or supporter; you are not alone.

Written by Beth [Wellspring Counsellor]

See our Resources page for more support and links.

Our building is currently closed for face-to-face counselling until further notice. But we are still offering sessions over the phone or through Zoom to the people of Harrogate and the surrounding area. Most of our clients live within a radius of up to 20 miles. However, if you live outside this area (but still in the UK) and do not have access to a local counselling service, you can still contact us through the online form as we do have capacity to see a limited number of adults from outside the area. If you would like to refer yourself for counselling, please use the link at the bottom of our Therapy page.

Asking For Help – ‘Time to Talk’

February 10, 2021 By wellspring

Asking for help can be difficult. Some of us would rather do anything other than acknowledge how terrible we are feeling.

If we hide our vulnerability from others, maybe we can ignore it? Maybe we can hide it from ourselves? We certainly don’t want to share it.

There is also a temptation to rely solely on our own resources, and to keep a lid on a box that we have no wish to open. There is a temptation to believe we deserve our troubles and therefore are not worth helping. There is a temptation to think everyone else is managing and we are somehow ‘weaker.’

All these beliefs can mean it is even harder to ask others for help when we need it most. But we don’t need to ask anyone, or everyone, only someone we trust.

Sharing how we feel can be the most powerful comfort if we allow ourselves to access this balm.

This is how counselling can help, but so can a friend, colleague or family member. If we can share now how hard we are finding things, it can also give others an invitation to do the same at a later date. It is part of a conversation that allows all of us to be less than perfect; it allows us to be vulnerable. To be resilient we need to be able to access external help as well as our own internal resources.

The pandemic has taught us we are all so connected. Why don’t we use this idea of connection to help someone we care about improve their wellbeing by giving our time to talk, or listen?

Time to Change hosted ‘Time to Talk Day’ earlier this month as a way to start conversations about mental health and help end the stigma. You can find some helpful tips on talking about mental health on their website.

Written by Alex Brook-Dobson

See our Resources page for more support and links.

Our building is currently closed for face-to-face counselling until further notice. But we are still offering sessions over the phone or through Zoom to the people of Harrogate and the surrounding area. Most of our clients live within a radius of up to 20 miles. However, if you live outside this area (but still in the UK) and do not have access to a local counselling service, you can still contact us through the online form as we do have capacity to see a limited number of adults from outside the area. If you would like to refer yourself for counselling, please use the link at the bottom of our Therapy page.

The Big Sponsored Sleepover

February 5, 2021 By wellspring

Join in the Big Sponsored Sleepover this March and help us to provide vital mental health support services to children and young people!

With daylight saving time just around the corner, March is National Sleep Awareness Month. It’s a great reminder of the importance of sleep, especially when it comes to looking after our mental health. To mark this month, we’re asking you to join in with our Big Sponsored Sleepover!

You could organise a virtual Pyjama Party, you could make it your aim to stay awake all night long with a group of friends, or have an online evening pamper session to get you relaxed before bedtime. This is a sponsored challenge for all ages! So get creative, invite your friends to join in, and set up your sponsored page at Virgin Money Giving. Or simply ask your friends, family, and colleagues to donate straight to the Wellspring page: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charity-web/charity/finalCharityHomepage.action?charityId=1014496

We’re suggesting the 5th March, but it’s totally up to you to decide upon a date that suits you. We will also be sending out an E-certificate to say thank you to anyone who raises over £30.

Simply email communications@wellspringtherapy.co.uk to register for the event!

We’re aiming to raise a total of £1000! Can you help us change lives as we provide therapy and mental health support groups for children and young people?