Stress often results from overwhelming or difficult events (stressors), and tends to involve too much change, too much information, too many demands, or too much responsibility. Continue reading “Aspects of Stress and COVID-19”
I often hear people say things like, ‘I shouldn’t have felt this way’ Continue reading “Emotions are Messengers”
Panic attacks come on suddenly: sometimes in response to a clear trigger, sometimes after a build-up, and sometimes out of the blue. Continue reading “Understanding Panic”
Perinatal anxiety occurs during pregnancy or in the postnatal period (the first year after birth). Continue reading “Perinatal Anxiety: Symptoms, Risk Factors, and Treatment”
Anxiety: it’s so physical. Anxiety activates your body’s fight or flight response, Continue reading “Four physiology hacks for anxiety”
The Fight or Flight Response
Anxiety, fear, and stress all activate our body’s stress response, also called the ‘Fight or Flight’ response. This causes several physiological changes to help us respond to danger or a threat. Continue reading “Stress, fear, and anxiety”
There are a number of risk factors for postnatal depression that are well-established in the scientific literature. These include the following: Continue reading “Risk factors for postnatal depression”
Thoughts go through your mind all day, every day. Thoughts narrate our lives, and tell us stories about ourselves, other people, and the world. One narrative that I often hear from mothers is thinking or feeling they are being a bad mother, or Continue reading “The Bad Mother Story”
One thing I often hear from my clients is ‘I’m a bad mother’, or ‘I feel like a bad mother’. Why are so many women feeling this way? Commonly, the reasons behind these thoughts are things like: Continue reading “Good Mothers & Bad Mothers”
Pregnancy support counselling is a particular type of nonjudgmental counselling that aims to provide support and objective information for women experiencing difficulties related to recent or current pregnancy, or even whether to consider planning a pregnancy. Reasons why women may access this service include the following:
– Discussing issues related to a recent pregnancy, such as loss (including miscarriage, stillbirth, birth trauma, or loss of your infant), or coming to terms with a termination.
Exercise has long been demonstrated as a helpful, Continue reading “Happiness & Exercise”
There are several myths about motherhood that are communicated through the media and by other people. If you strongly believe these myths, and then find the reality of motherhood to be quite different, you can be left feeling like you’re failing or not measuring up. No one likes to feel inadequate. Understanding what these myths are, and having a balanced understanding of what motherhood is really like can help relieve unnecessary guilt, shame, anxiety, frustration, or inadequacy. Continue reading “Motherhood Myths”
