Psychologies

I love those old wartime posters telling us to keep calm and carry on, but it has to be said, it’s not always quite that easy. Yes, most of us women spend all day ‘carrying on’, keeping our homes running, working, looking after our loved ones, doing

Struggling with a task you’ve been putting off ? ‘Set an “implementation intention”,’ says writer and former psychologist Alice Boyes in our Dossier on overwhelm from page 51. ‘In a study, students who decided when and where they were going to write

Psychologies’ mission is to provide you with inspiration and advice to support you to improve your emotional wellbeing. We aim to help you boost your happiness and resilience and lower your stress and anxiety. We do this by providing simple, achievab

Editor Sally Saunders Art Editor Jennifer Ratcliff Chief Sub-Editor and Production Editor Vee Sey Features Editor Heidi Scrimgeour Associate Editor Anita Chaudhuri Digital Editor and Wellness Director Ali Roff Farrar In The Mood Editor Alex Lloyd Ret

“How I approach this time of year is similar to how I approached it when I was at school (quite some time ago now!). In the run-up to autumn, I mentally prepare to focus; I start putting into action new career goals, and sink my teeth into fresh proj

WATCH – The long-awaited adaptation of high-school musical Dear Evan Hansen makes its big-screen debut on 22 October, with Amy Adams and Julianne Moore joining a number of the original Broadway cast members. LOOK – Kosovan artist Petrit Halilaj has

1 Help Your Child Manage Their Moods by Louise Baty (Summersdale, £9.99) offers 101 practical and achievable ways to tackle big feelings in little kids. 2 A Year Of Nature Craft And Play by Becky Goddard-Hill and Catherine Hughes (Collins, £12.99)

May I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your new-look magazine (October issue). Each and every article had something that made me ponder and, in some cases, put positive changes into practice. You made me think of ways that I could improve

The past two years have been challenging for me – a single mother to two toddlers, having to juggle work and home life and living with lockdown. But I was lucky enough to go on holiday to Cornwall with the kids, my amazing parents and wonderful older

The kind student nurse, You came to my hospital cubicle to do checks on my newborn son. It was day three in hospital. As a first-time mum having a baby during a pandemic, I felt very alone. My husband was only allowed to visit for two hours a day. So

Karin Peeters is a life and career coach, counsellor and therapist. She is the founder and director of Vitalis Coaching and Therapy.vitaliscoaching.com Ruth Thomson is a career coach and trainer. Her mission is to help women create lives they love fi

“Lynsey Bleakley, 44, the owner of an online bakery, says: ‘As lockdown kicked in, I was faced with many problems. I was pivoting to keep my business going, despite cancelled weddings and events, and I also had a multitude of new challenges to make t

Many of us have been taught that work is action – sitting at a computer, writing emails or attending meetings. Reframe a walk in nature or a mindfulness session as work too. Almost everyone has experienced the solution to a problem or a new idea popp

Read Blue Mind: How Water Makes You Happier, More Connected And Better At What You Do by Wallace J Nichols (Little, Brown, £10.99) Watch Neuroscientist Amishi Jha’s TED talk on how we pay attention: ted.com/speakers/amishi_jha Plan Book a nature re

There are some things we have to do that are important but not enjoyable. How can you make such tasks more enjoyable or ensure you get them done? Could you give yourself a reward for doing them or a consequence for not doing them? Do you need more sk

• Visualise a positive outcome. • Calm yourself before confronting someone and take charge of your emotions by using empowering language. Use ‘I’ speech: ‘I am feeling…’ and specify the degree of your emotion: ‘I am very upset…’ • Be polite. Try usin

“Claire Middlebrook, 42, runs an accountancy practice in Edinburgh. The office environment was chaotic, and often saw stand-up arguments, she explains. ‘I struggled with anxiety around conflict,’ says Claire. ‘I sought to please the team because I

Read Big Talk, Small Talk (And Everything In Between): Effective Communication Skills For All Parts Of Your Life by Shola Kaye (Rockridge Press, £6.54). Browse Nick Wignall, a clinical psychologist, offers 15 ways to handle confrontation with self-a

As a general rule, there are four phases of grief: 1 Accepting that your loss is real. 2 Experiencing the pain of grief. 3 Adjusting to life without the person or thing you have lost. 4 Gradually putting less emotional energy into grieving an

‘Grief will place a strain on day-to-day life and can feel like a “one step forward, two steps back” scenario,’ says Dr Radha. ‘If your feelings are prolonged, intense, stopping you from carrying out self-care or limiting your life, it’s crucial to s

‘It’s not always easy to recognise when grief is at play because it is different for everyone,’ says Dr Radha. ‘Feelings may be transient, mild or extremely powerful, which can make it difficult to understand how a person is feeling at any given time

‘Grief is experienced differently by everyone, but one common element is the type of comments grieving people might say or thoughts they may think, such as “I should feel differently”, “I should be able to cope” or “I should feel the same as others”,

The puzzling thing about menopause, of course, is that it’s not a direct diagnosis, but a retrospective one. The moment itself, going ‘through’ the menopause (how can you possibly know that it’s the last time an egg will plop into the fallopian tube?

Let anxious thoughts fade away, relax tired muscles and transform your mood with minty, medicinal lemon balm Fresh and citrussy with a hint of mint and similar in appearance to oversized mint leaves, it’s no surprise to learn that lemon balm belon

If I told you that you are the creator of your experience, what would you say? Would you roll your eyes and write me off as another woo-woo merchant with a ropey understanding of physics? Please don’t – because that’s not the kind of creation I am ta

Audrey Tang is a psychologist and author of ‘The Leader’s Guide To Resilience’ (Pearson, £14.99).draudreyt.com Alice Boyes is a former psychologist and researcher turned writer. She is author of ‘The Healthy Mind Toolkit’ (Random House, £11.99).al

If everything seems to be getting on top of you, it’s pointless charging ahead with a battle plan. Instead, take a couple of days to focus on attaining a calmer state. ‘A helpful thing to do is a body scan meditation,’ suggests Audrey Tang, a psychol

One other common source of overwhelm is other people, even those we love the most. ‘I’m seeing people struggle with this, particularly as we try to return to normal after lockdown,’ observes the psychologist Audrey Tang. It’s definitely something I’v

We felt the benefits of taking this single daily supplement within a week. It contains seven natural ingredients, including marine collagen, ashwagandha and turmeric, to help balance mood, reduce anxiety and support healthy brain function. Pop this

We call it serenitea! But these drinks don’t all need hot water Treat yourself to a cup of this medicinal drinking chocolate. It contains ashwagandha, a mild antidepressant, and Siberian ginseng, which encourages the adrenal glands to secrete stres

How about an online art class to help quieten inner noise? This one includes step-by-step instructions, video tutorials and secret cheats to help you create a masterpiece – guaranteed! This hypnotherapy app transports you into a state of relaxed awa

Q I am 39 years old, have a good job and consider myself fortunate when it comes to friends and family, although I don’t have children of my own. Recently, at a family gathering, one of my cousins said: ‘If you don’t have children, you don’t have a l

The urge to do a clearout for an elderly person may strike and the feeling of lightness it can bring might be welcome, but tread carefully. Lesley Spellman, a decluttering expert, shares a few pointers: • Look through old family photos together and w

READ: We Are The Sandwich Generation: Keeping Everyone Happy by Claire Gillman (Albert Bridge, £6.99) WATCH: It’s Not A Burden; The Humor And Heartache Of Raising Elderly Parents; itsnotaburden.com CREATE A PRECIOUS RECORD: Mum, Tell Me: A Give & G

1 I always had an unrealistic to-do list and dwelled on what I hadn’t achieved. While working with Lucy, I realised that I couldn’t remember the last time I felt content. Coaching helped me understand my unhelpful feelings of not being good enough an

Psychologies’ partnership with Barefoot Coaching gives you the tools to find a coach who meets your needs. Barefoot Coaching has been at the forefront of coaching and coach training for 25 years. It has a proven track record as a provider of high-lev

For 20 years, I managed teams and had a reputation for problem-solving. I am passionate about overcoming obstacles through self-awareness. My values at work evolved, so I studied a postgraduate degree in coaching and now work with clients to identify

Eating almonds (including yummy almond butter) has been found to improve diet by making you more likely to eat other healthy foods. A study* found that eating three tablespoons of almond butter (one tablespoon for children) improved diet quality thro

1 Child’s pose (shishuasana): This calming pose soothes the nervous system. The gentle pressure from the ground on your forehead as you rest it down on to the mat can feel blissful, especially if you rock your head slowly from side to side. 2 Downw

“I first started practising qigong two years ago with a friend who had trained as a teacher,’ says Laura Collins, 35. ‘I’d spent years suffering from anxiety and she said qigong would help. ‘During my first class, my legs didn’t stop trembling, whi

Everyone has experienced issues with sleep at some point – but how do we know when we need professional support? In this episode, UKCP’s Sarah Niblock and psychotherapist Heather Darwall-Smith, a sleep specialist, discuss problems with sleep and the

Heather Darwall-Smith, who specialises in sleep, explores our inner experience of sleep in order to improve it When it comes to sleep, our needs and how we sleep are unique. When thinking about how we sleep in times of difficulty, we must understa

In my 20s, I worked as an art director, but felt I wanted something else. I went to therapy for multiple reasons and experienced the profundity of feeling heard and seen without judgment. My progression into training as a therapist evolved from a fou

The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is the leading research, innovation, educational and regulatory body working to advance psychotherapy for the benefit of all. We have a register of more than 8,000 individual members who offer a range of therap

That’s right, it’s a thistle! ‘While the artichoke is often referred to as a vegetable, it actually belongs to the thistle family – which makes sense, given its globe-like appearance,’ says nutritionist Alison Cullen. ‘The regal-looking artichoke, wi

• 150g artichoke hearts (you can use a jar of hearts preserved in oil, for convenience – just drain off the excess oil first)• 1 clove garlic• Handful fresh basil• 2 tbsp Greek-style plain yoghurt (or any alternative thick vegan yoghurt)• 1 tbsp oliv

The government-backed recycling and reuse organisation Wrap reports that two in five of us performed a clearout of our wardrobe during lockdown and, according to the celebrity stylist, Gemma Sheppard, this is the first step towards creating emotional

Rewilding The Page: The Urban Forest Writing Map (available from jackeeholder.com, £7.99) Lush urban nature populates our towns and cities: flourishing gardens, parks and city forests create a green belt around us. In Rewilding The Page, discover 12

Before your employer selects anyone for redundancy, by law they must follow a consultation and selection process. They might consider changing working hours, offering voluntary redundancy or moving employees into different roles. Your employer must c

Read In You Are The Music by Victoria Williamson (Icon, £9.99), the music psychologist reveals how tunes physically reshape our brains. Listen The Sound Affects Podcast: Music & Mental Health unpicks the impact of music on mental health, via intervi