by Bill Sheate
It’s Mental Health Awareness week (15-21 May 2023) and the spotlight is on ‘anxiety’.
How can CBH help you with anxiety whatever walk of life you are in?
CBH draws on tried and trusted evidence-based techniques for managing stress and anxiety, for changing your approach to stressful situations and building greater psychological flexibility for long-term resilience. Below I’ve provided the links to just a few of my popular blog post topics, the things that often initiate people seeking out therapy or support. If something resonates for you don’t hesitate to get in touch to arrange an assessment and conceptualisation session - no obligation to further sessions. But it might just help you to understand better what is going on and why. Clients often find that first session can be so helpful and therapeutic in its own right…… [Read more]
by Bill Sheate
Career change - stressful or exciting?
There can be many reasons to make a career change or change your job. Stress and work/life balance may be a strong motivating force. Sometimes, however much you try to manage the stress and anxiety, changing the principle stressor in your life - your job - may be the only real option. That can seem even more scary than the stresses your current job is putting you under. But it need not be. Maybe the stress is exactly the impetus you needed to step back and look anew at what’s really important to you and where your job fits into your wider personal values…….[Read more]
by Bill Sheate
……While all around you are not!
I’m reluctant to suggest this might be my last Coronavirus blog on the subject – it is likely to be for 2020 at least! I never anticipated a series when I posted the first one back in March this year [1]. But Covid-19 continues to dominate the headlines – with the recent end of a second lockdown, new tiered levels of restrictions, the start of the first vaccinations, Christmas holidays and maybe a third lockdown after that (seems quite likely!)? How are you supposed to navigate the deluge of information, different restrictions and competing claims? How is this continuing to impact on your own mental health and well-being - as a student or as a member of staff? …..[Read more]
by Bill Sheate
The new normal for universities?
As countries slowly begin to emerge from lock-down, universities have been busy trying to work out what the new landscape will look like come the Autumn of 2020 and the new academic year. In this third post of what has now become a series, I’m looking ahead to anticipate what teaching and learning at universities might look like this next year and how that could impact on students’ and staff mental health and well-being……..[Read more]
by Bill Sheate
The only thing that’s certain is uncertainty…..
The current Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has all the characteristics needed for generating high levels of concern and worry among the public and creating even more stress among those who already suffer from anxiety:
Uncertainty about what might happen
How might we be affected?
How severe might the impact be?
Concern about friends/love ones
Anxiety about the short- and medium-term future (e.g. if supposed to be taking exams, doing assignments, research, career, loss of work/income, paying bills, buying food)
All of these are key aspects of the coronavirus situation that cause us to ‘worry’……..[Read more]
by Bill Sheate
Practical Mindfulness for Everyday Living workshop now booking for 15 October 2018 6.00-8.30pm
An evening (2.5 hours) practical workshop that introduces you to simple mindfulness techniques and practices that you can integrate into daily living, and that doesn't require you to meditate every day! The workshop complements the self-hypnosis half-day workshop that was run earlier in September, but is also standalone……..
by Bill Sheate
Seeking help for anxiety early can make all the difference to your life at University - don’t leave it to get worse
As students begin a new life at University over the coming weeks (September/October 2018), or return to continue their courses of study, many will already have previous experience of mental health issues while some may develop them at University, often in response to the stresses and strains that come with university life (work, relationships, being away from family, finances etc). Typical problems include: ……..
by Bill Sheate
Can I afford private therapy?
If you are considering seeking private therapy of any kind an immediate consideration is likely to be cost - can I afford it? Unlike some forms of therapy cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy (CBH) is typically a short-term programme of treatment, because it is focused on specific issues and on helping you help yourself through developing skills and using techniques for greater self-efficacy. A short-term programme is likely to be around 4 - 6 sessions; ………..
by Bill Sheate
Stress is rife throughout universities
Rightly, student mental health is often now making headline news, with the need for better provision for students' well-being as they move from home to university settings, and throughout their time at university and in response to the demands and expectations upon them. Sometimes forgotten in all this is the fact that university staff - academic, research and administrative staff - also suffer from stress, anxiety, depression and a host of other mental health issues………
by Bill Sheate
What do we mean by ‘stress’ and how does it relate to ‘anxiety’? Are they the same thing? Actually, no they’re not, but they are related. There have been a number of approaches to understanding stress over the years, but it is Richard Lazarus’ transactional model that is the most widely accepted. It involves three key elements:
• a stressor,
• appraisal (primary and secondary), and
• response (problem-based or emotion-based)......
