Commit a random act of kindness – Have a look at this video and it may inspire you..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Qc8ZbVcdHpg
Tips on self care coming up to Christmas – Tip Five:
This may sound ridiculously simple but here it is: Get sleep.
Particularly coming up to Christmas, we are stressed, or excited, and may be socialising more. And often, sleep suffers. And remember – alcohol interferes with sleep – it does NOT enhance it, and it IS a depressant. (Those of you who have woken up in the horrors and had a ‘down’ day after a ‘great’ night will know this).
Mind your mood.
Tips on self care coming up to Christmas – Tip Four:
Tips on self care coming up to Christmas – Tip Three:
Take a minute right NOW to do NOTHING: take 3 slow, deep, to your tummy breathes, feel the chair under you, the ground under your feet, hear the sounds around you, feel the clothes on your skin, be aware of what smells are around you.
Listen to your inner dialogue: how much pressure have you put yourself under? How many rules and demands have you made of yourself for Christmas? Would you make these same demands of your best friend??Write down what you expect of yourself, then cross off the unreasonable and unnecessary items, the ‘shoulds’, and marvel at how few are left:)
Remember to breathe during today – just remind yourself, and you’ll soothe yourself nicely.
Tips on self care coming up to Christmas – Tip Two:
Know this: Being emotionally and mentally healthy doesn’t mean never going through bad times or experiencing emotional problems. We all go through disappointments, loss, and change. And while these are normal parts of life, they can still cause sadness, anxiety, and stress. Christmas brings with it an extra pressure to be “happy”, even though many of us find Christmas exceptionally stressful, and most of us have some sadness around it, missing people who have died or who are away. Let yourself feel whatever you are feeling, be it sadness or excitement, without judgement. You are human.
Tips on self care
Christmas is an incredibly stressful time, you already know this. In order to maintain and strengthen your mental and emotional health, it’s important to pay attention to your own needs and feelings. This is hard when everything around you is about other people and their needs, friends, family, in laws.. Don’t let stress and negative emotions build up. Try to maintain a balance between your daily responsibilities and the things you enjoy. If you take care of yourself, you’ll be better prepared to deal with challenges if and when they arise. This is good advice all year ’round of course, but now in particular.
Challenges will arise by the dozen in the next couple of weeks!
The Root of Violent Behaviour
While listening to Neil Prendeville on 96FM, I caught part of a discussion on the rate of violence on Cork’s streets. There is a general need to assign blame for escalating violence. Scapegoats ranged from “drink and drugs” to “nightclubs”.
Domestic Violence against women
This was the first commissioned article I wrote for the Farmer’s Journal. It looks at issues around domestic violence against women. It’s old, and so some of the info is out of date!
In the Journal we often get telephone calls from women who are being abused by their husbands. Many of them have never spoken to anyone about the abuse and do not know what their rights are. Here, Cork psychologist Sally O’Reilly looks at the problem of domestic violence and outlines the options open to women who are being abused:
Region is to get its first Counselling Psychologist
Well here’s a blast from the past! Routing through my old (OOOLLLD) posts I found this piece by Colette Keane in the Examiner entitled: Region is to get its first Counselling Psychologist (and that was me – nearly twenty years ago!! #eek)