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A vintage leather suitcase resting at the foot of an unmade bed on a wooden floor, in warm diagonal light, illustrating the threshold moment of leaving for travel.

Think You Can Leave Your Issues at Home?

Crossroads, Notebook16 hours ago14Views 0Likes 0Comments

A holiday is something to look forward to – a change of scenery, a break from everyday life and sometimes the hope that time away will fix how we feel. But the issues we’ve been dealing with rarely stay behind. A reflection on what travels with us, what holidays can reveal, and how to enjoy…

A hand with gold rings reaching toward a rail of patterned silk and printed clothing in jewel tones, against a warm brown background, illustrating the quiet act of choosing clothes that express who you are.

Why Your Clothes Don’t Showcase Your Individuality

Body & SelfJune 25, 202629Views 0Likes 0Comments

A wardrobe of camouflage. Clothes that don’t represent how you want to feel. The quiet sense that what you’re wearing isn’t really you. This final post in my style series is about why personal style begins inside — and what changes when you do the inner work.

A woman in a cream knitted cardigan and white socks sitting on a bed in a window seat, holding a small mug, with warm natural light coming through the window — illustrating the quiet pause of burnout recovery.

Why Rest Alone Doesn’t Fix Burnout

Crossroads, NotebookJune 24, 202637Views 0Likes 0Comments

You’ve removed the catalyst. You’re trying to rest. But you don’t feel any better, and you’re not back to your old self yet. A reflection on why rest alone doesn’t fix burnout, the patterns it can’t touch, and what makes recovery hold.

A woman in a cream cardigan and tan top reflected in a round mirror, appraising herself, illustrating the inner critic at work in the moment of getting dressed.

How the Inner Critic Tells You to Dress

Body & Self, NotebookJune 19, 202644Views 0Likes 0Comments

Most style writing tells you how to find your style. Few touch the running commentary that turns getting dressed into a daily self-attack. A reflection on how the inner critic shapes what we wear, what we say about ourselves, and the cost of dressing from a place of self-criticism.

conference name badge for the Appearance Matters 11 Conference resting on a green notebook with a black pen, in warm natural light on a wooden surface, illustrating a personal reflection on the conference.

The Invisible Burden of a Visible Burden

Body & Self, NotebookJune 18, 202633Views 0Likes 0Comments

A personal response to attending the Appearance Matters 11 Conference at UWE Bristol, the phrase that stayed with me, the body image research that landed, and what I’m bringing back to my counselling practice.

A view through a window with soft curtain detail, illustrating the suspended state of burnout recovery

Burnout Recovery – Why It Takes Longer Than You Think

Crossroads, NotebookJune 11, 202655Views 0Likes 0Comments

You’ve identified that you have burnout. You’ve taken yourself out of the situation that caused it. So why aren’t you feeling better? A reflection on why burnout recovery takes far longer than most people expect and what’s happening in the suspended time.

Clothes as Disguise

Body & Self, NotebookJune 9, 202665Views 0Likes 0Comments

From the woman in head-to-toe black to the wardrobe of gorgeous clothes you no longer wear, clothes can disguise us in ways we don’t always notice. A reflection on what we wear when we want to hide and what it might be telling us.

Woman seen from behind sitting at a desk working on a laptop, surrounded by large tropical plants in warm neutral tones, composed and unreachable

What’s Behind Your Capable, Composed and Reliable Armour?

Quietly AmbitiousMay 28, 202698Views 0Likes 0Comments

Do you pride yourself on being capable, composed and reliable? It can be a real strength but when it becomes armour, it can also be a way of keeping what’s really going on hidden from view. This post explores the weight of that armour and what lies beneath it.

Woman writing in a journal at a desk in warm natural light, real and unposed

What is Journalling and How to Make it Right for You

How We Live, NotebookMay 27, 2026120Views 0Likes 0Comments

Journalling gets talked about a lot but it doesn’t have to mean a perfect daily ritual in a dedicated notebook. This post explores what journalling actually is, why it can be valuable and how to find your own way into it.

$Fragmented female face seen through teal geometric circles on a cream background, illustrating the fractured identity of shapeshifting behaviour$

Shapeshifting – When the Person You’ve Become Isn’t Really You

Notebook, Roots & Patterns, TraumaMay 22, 2026108Views 0Likes 0Comments

Shapeshifting and people pleasing are often mentioned in the same breath but they’re not the same thing. This post explores what shapeshifting actually is, where it begins, how it develops and what it can cost over a lifetime.

Personal photograph of Fawning by Dr Ingrid Clayton on a wooden desk beside a plant in warm spring light.

Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves and How to Find Our Way Back

Book Recommendations, Notebook, Roots & PatternsMay 20, 2026193Views 0Likes 0Comments

Fawning by Dr Ingrid Clayton is, I believe, the first book dedicated entirely to the fawn response written by a practitioner. In this recommendation I share why it moved me personally, how it has changed my practice, and who I think should read it.

Hand reaching in to arrange imperfect white ceramic vessels in warm natural light, illustrating the fawning pattern of orchestrating and controlling

Why Trying to Orchestrate Events and Other People is Keeping You Trapped

Notebook, Roots & PatternsMay 14, 2026148Views 0Likes 0Comments

If you’re a fawner, the chances are you’re also an expert orchestrator, managing situations, preparing for every eventuality, trying to influence what happens around you. This post explores what’s really going on underneath that pattern, and why it keeps you trapped.

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