“Don’t Feel, Just Function”: The Rule of Emotional Suppression
Many of us learned to shut down our emotions to survive, but that survival rule can leave us feeling numb, disconnected, and exhausted. This blog explores how emotional suppression develops, why it persists, and how therapy can help you safely reconnect with your feelings and reclaim a fuller, more authentic life.
“Be Useful or Be Gone”: The Rule of Conditional Worth
Do you feel guilty when you rest, or like you need to earn your place by being helpful, productive, or self-sacrificing? You might be living by an unspoken rule that your worth depends on your usefulness. This blog explores how that belief forms, and how therapy can help you reclaim your inherent value, just as you are.
“Don’t Rock the Boat”: The Rule of Emotional Containment
Many of us were taught, silently or directly, that feelings are dangerous or inconvenient. That keeping the peace matters more than telling the truth. But when emotional containment becomes a survival strategy, we lose access to our real selves. This blog explores how that rule forms, how it shows up in adult relationships, and how therapy can help you reclaim your emotional voice.
“Stay Small”: The Rule of Not Outshining Others
We’re not always told to shrink, but many of us learn it anyway. This blog explores the unspoken rule of “staying small” and how therapy can help you feel safe enough to take up space.
“Don’t Talk About It”: The Rule of Silence
In many families, there's an unspoken rule: Don't talk about it. This rule can feel protective, even loving, but over time, it quietly shapes how we feel, relate, and carry pain. This post explores the origins of silence, its impact on our wellbeing, and how breaking the rule, even in small ways, can open the door to healing.
When Time Doesn’t Heal, Presence Might
We like to believe that time heals all wounds… but for many, time alone just lets the pain settle in deeper. In this candid and compassionate blog, I (@wyecounsellor, Integrative psychotherapist) reflect on the death of a close friend and the decade-long grief that followed, asking: What if presence, not time, is the path to healing? Combining lived experience with the therapeutic insights, this piece explores how healing happens not in isolation, but in relationship, and how therapy offers a way to turn toward what hurts, rather than waiting for it to fade.
The Sacred Pause: Finding Stillness in the Noise
We’re not built to go full-speed forever. In this blog, part of the Of Time and Presence series, I explore the profound importance of pausing, not as a luxury, but as a biological necessity. Learn how even short moments of stillness can regulate your nervous system, soothe trauma, and return you to your centre. This is a call to make space, not just for rest, but for reclamation.
Anchored in the Ordinary: The Quiet Power of Everyday Rituals
After my morning cold plunge, I don’t rush into the day. I sit with a strong cup of Earl Grey, not for the caffeine, but for the presence. This post explores how tiny rituals like this one can regulate the nervous system, support trauma healing, and reconnect us to our own rhythm in a world that constantly pulls us away. Anchor us in the ordinary!
Even in the Worst Shtholes, You Can Find Something Worth Salvaging
"Even in the worst shtholes, you can find something worth salvaging."
It’s not the kind of sentiment you’ll find stitched on a pillow, but it’s the raw truth for anyone who’s lived through real hardship. This post is for those standing knee-deep in life’s mess, the aftermath of trauma, the weight of mistakes, the pain you don’t know how to name.
Rather than offering toxic positivity, this blog invites you to turn toward what’s uncomfortable. Because buried in that mess, if you're willing to look, is hard-earned wisdom, resilience, and the first glimpse of freedom.
Read Part Two of the “On Time and Presence” series and take the next brave step toward meaning, healing, and wholeness.
The Golden Years Only Seem to Happen in Hindsight
Have you ever looked back on a time in your life and realised, that was actually one of the best parts? This blog explores why we often miss the richness of the present, how fear and stress can blind us to joy, and how therapy and self-awareness can help us reclaim those moments while we're still living them. If you’ve ever felt like you were too busy to feel contentment, this is for you.
Reclaiming Regulation: Sunlight, Sleep, and the Rhythm of Being
What if regulating your nervous system began with rhythm, not reaction? Explore how light, sleep, and daily cycles help you reconnect with steadiness from within.
Reclaiming Regulation: Cold Water, Calm Body
Cold water reminds us that we are alive, and that we can return to calm. This blog explores how cold exposure, breathwork, and interoception support emotional regulation and build a resilient nervous system, gently and accessibly.
Reclaiming Regulation: Movement as Medicine
Movement isn’t just physical, it’s neurological, emotional, and deeply human. In this blog, we explore how everyday movement supports nervous system regulation, through concepts like optic flow and bilateral rhythm. No pressure, just permission to move.
Reclaiming Regulation: Breathwork as a Bridge Back to Yourself
Breath is one of the only systems in your body you can influence on purpose. This blog explores how soft, intentional breathing can help you regulate from the inside out, gently, accessibly, and without overwhelm.
Reclaiming Regulation: The Inner Compass (Listening to Your Body Through Interoception)
Interoception is your body’s way of telling you how you’re really doing. This post explores why it matters, and how you can begin to notice internal signals with more clarity, calm, and choice.
Reclaiming Regulation: Simple Tools to Support Your Nervous System
Many of us override the body’s messages in the rush to cope. This series explores tools to help us regulate, reconnect, and respond to life with more steadiness and choice.
The Fight That Never Ends: When You Don’t Know How to Rest
Rest doesn’t always feel like relief. For many veterans, service personnel and trauma survivors, it feels like exposure. This blog explores why slowing down can be so hard after service, and how psychotherapy helps your body and mind learn to feel safe again, even in stillness.
Parenting with a Service Background: Breaking Cycles, Building Connection
Many veterans set out to parent differently from how they were raised, or how they were trained. But emotional connection can be hard when you’ve spent years holding it all together. This blog explores how service life impacts parenting, and how therapy can support reconnection, healing, and presence.
From Hyper-vigilance to Peace: Retraining a Brain Built for Survival
Many veterans live with a nervous system still primed for conflict, it’s tense, reactive, on guard. This post unpacks the neuroscience behind hyper-vigilance and how trauma-informed therapy can help you turn down the volume without losing your strength. You’re not broken. You adapted. Let’s reset your baseline.
The Brotherhood Void: Why You Miss the People, Even If You Don’t Miss the Job
Not every veteran misses the military job itself, but nearly all miss the people. The brotherhood forged through shared hardship, trust, and dark humour leaves a deep imprint. Losing that connection isn’t just emotional; neuroscience shows it activates the same brain areas as physical pain. This blog explores the grief behind the brotherhood void, how it affects isolation and relationships, and why therapy can help honour what you’ve lost without getting stuck in the past.