It’s the most wonderful time of the year.  Except when it isn’t. For many people, Christmas is in fact the hardest time. If there’s been loss and grief over the years, Christmas can bring that to the forefront of mind.  Maybe Christmas this year looks different for you and doesn’t fit with the messages of magic, joy and celebration that we see and hear everywhere we turn.  At times, integrating our current situation with the ‘shoulds’ or ‘meant tos’ that come with Christmas can be tricky.  No one wants to be the Christmas Grinch, but putting on a fake smile and pretending ..read more

It’s the last day of exploring ways to boost wellbeing for mental health awareness week 2023. The theme for 22nd September is: Keep Learning. Human’s are primed to learn new things; anyone who has been around young children will see this in action; the way they curiously explore the world, test how things work and relentlessly ask ‘why?’ Regardless of our age, learning new things has been shown to boost our self-confidence and resilience.  As a psychologist, I am lucky to have a career that involves lifelong learning. Learning about psychology is one of my hobbies; and every week I listen ..read more

It’s the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand Mental Health Awareness Week - the theme is Five Ways, Five Days. Each day explores a different way to boost wellbeing. Thursday 21 September is: Connect. Connect refers to making connections, or whakawhanaungatanga; often connection is associated with a sense of belonging. While social connection is a big element of this, connection can take many forms; collegial, spiritual, cultural to name a few. Before 2021, I spent over a decade working in hospital settings. As someone who is recharged by being around others, a hospital offers many connecti ..read more

The Five Ways, Five Days focus for Wednesday 20th September is Be Active We all know that being physically active is good for our body. But did you know that physical activity is one of the best mood boosters around? The key is finding a way to be active that doesn’t feel like a chore or a “should do”. There are lots of tips and tricks around for this, like doing something active with a friend, choosing an active hobby like gardening or hiking or temptation bundling by pairing something you like (eg listening to a favourite playlist or podcast) with your activity. My mate Nic from Mainstream G ..read more

The focus for Tuesday 19th September for Mental Health Awareness Week is: Give. ?Giving has benefits for the recviever and the giver. Humans have a biological drive to connect and support others. Back in the time of cave people, being part of the group was important for survival. Therefore our biology rewarded behaviours that kept us connected with others. When we give, we tap into our own biological reward system and get the benefits of feel good hormones. ? Those we give too also feel good; and often want to share that goodness with others, creating a ripple effect of kindness. ? ?Giving can ..read more

It’s the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand Mental Health Awareness Week - the theme is Five Ways, Five Days. Each day explores a different way to boost wellbeing. Monday 18th September is: Take Notice. ?Taking notice is about tuning in to our observations, experience and actions in a given moment. One way this improves wellbeing is that we turn off our autopilot✈️ giving us the ability connect with our values and live a meaningful life. ? ?Lately I’ve enjoyed taking notice of the earlycheer flowers in my garden. I planted the bulbs in autumn ? and they came via a PTA fundraiser. Now I ..read more

One moment we were out and about, living our lives. Then within hours we were plunged into lockdown. As I write this, New Zealand has been in Level 4 lockdown for a mere three days. But in the weird time distortion that can occur during uncertainty, it feels to me like a week has passed. Or maybe that’s because my household has gone through a week’s worth of food in three days. For many of us, the loss of routine and endless hours at home can lead us to regularly looking for comfort in the fridge or pantry. As well as being important for our physical and mental health, food can provide us with ..read more

This week is psychology week in New Zealand. The theme is Love Psychology. There are so many reasons why I love psychology it was hard to narrow it down for a blog post. So, I’ve used a mnemonic to focus on 10 reasons why I love psychology; ·        Potential: psychology taps into the human potential.  Psychology sessions can be an emotional, financial and time investment. But the life-long payoffs can include insights, understanding, empowerment, tools, growth and meaning.  That’s a pretty good potential return! ·       ..read more

Butterflies in the stomach. Racing Heart. Shallow breathing. Full blown panic. Here is Anxiety. Taking over the body. Screaming “look at me”…. “listen to me”…. “DO SOMETHING NOW”. It can feel scary and yuck to be in the grips of anxiety.  And often we focus on making the yucky feeling stop.  We do this either by:   Running away/avoiding whatever triggers the anxiety or Becoming a warrior; ignoring the anxious thoughts and sensations and pushing through.  Short term, these strategies can reduce anxiety. But, paradoxically, after the initial relief, they might actually ..read more

Transitions can be tricky. The snap, and then extended lockdown New Zealanders were plunged into on 17 August was hard in so many ways. There was no time to prepare as our lives were tipped upside down. Now we’re in the unusual situation where Auckland remains in Level 4, and the rest of New Zealand moves to Delta Level 2. While we wait for the whole country to return to ‘normal’ it can feel almost indulgent to feel anything but gratitude if you’re at Level 2, and perhaps some justifiable resentment if you’re in Auckland. But I was reminded by my five-year-old of the myriad of feelings we mig ..read more