If Christmas is in your life, then you will be very familiar with the idea of writing a letter to the big bearded guy. Can you believe it’s writing-to-Santa-time again – already?!
Typically, young kids’ letters are checklists of ‘wants’, along with parent-nudged-politeness like “Dear Santa, hope you are well and have had a good year”, or “I hope Mrs Claus is well” and, ideally, a “thanks so much for last year’s gift I LOVE it! )”
It’s 4am. You’re exhausted, but sleep won’t come. You’re replaying a conversation you had earlier and coming up with things you could’ve said, clever things, better things… and now you worry about the consequences.
[bctt tweet=”Then you move onto that crack in the ceiling – what IS that? Is it settlement? What if it’s a sign that you’re house is built on a sinkhole? #worry #anxiety #4AMdemons #selfhelptips #selfhelptechniques #CBT #dontbelievewhatyouthink” username=”psychosal”]
As long as the thoughts are bad enough to trigger anxiety they get a place in your private 4am terror fest. Been there? Yes…same. It feels awful.
I guess it’s my age, but I’ve noticed personally and professionally that caring for elderly parents is a common theme in life recently. Finding oneself in the unfamiliar role of caring for a parent has its rewards of course, but it can also be draining, isolating, saddening, even traumatic.
You’ve probably already heard about the new Calvin Klein advertising campaign. It’s worked, that’s for sure, in that Twitter and Facebook can’t get enough of complaining about it. And of course the pro-sexism and creepy factions can’t get enough of defending it and lashing out at people who recognise it for what it is – blatant sexist glamourisation of and dismissal of sexual harassment.
83% of our suicides are men. Why is this?
Last year, Leinster and Ireland prop Jack McGrath helped to launch the IRUPA’s Tackle Your Feelings campaign by revealing that he had suffered in silence for five and a half years following the tragic death of his brother in 2010.
A few of weeks ago I and my friend and colleague on TwoWiseChicks asked our readers to tell us where in their lives they’d like some guidance. And they told us. So we’ve been busy!!
“Is our relationship healthy? Is it normal? Are we OK?”
These questions come up all the time in therapy – actually, if you’re lucky, they come up over coffee with friends! You’ve maybe had those conversations, praying that your friends will say “Ya! – we fight more than you do actually – you have it sown UP compared to us!”.
Wanna kill Christmas?
As we in TwoWiseChicks said in our last, we know it: this time of year is very difficult for some. With that in mind I was invited to write a piece for Voiceboks.com which is a great parenting site, and I was greatly honoured this year to be asked to be a feature writer for their site!
Christmas can be wonderful and fun and festive! I do love it actually. Mostly.
And yes, Christmas can also be a difficult time. At best it’s somewhat stressful, and at worst, deeply, horribly painful.
It’s always nice to hear from a previous client.
As therapists, we have a privileged opportunity to share a precious part of our clients’ journey through pain, crisis, vulnerability – but we usually do not get to hear about the “what happened next?”. Often, after the work is ‘done’, our minds wander back to our clients and we can only hope that things are going well. Hope that our relationship however brief, had some positive influence, that they are happier now. Continue reading
