Well, here I am again. The last year has gone so fast that I haven't had chance to slow down and consider what's important to me. I followed absolutely none of my own advice in my last blog post about burnout and, whilst I never actually got to a stage that I would call burnout. I've definitely been struggling to find a balance between what I do for a living and what I enjoy in life.

Enter: the new year. It's a time of reflection, and my friends are always really good at getting me to stop and think about what I'm doing. I realised this year that if I continue to prioritise my work life (which is important, don't get me wrong) then I'm going to completely lose some of the other things that I value about my life, including writing, which is a creative outlet for me as well as something that helps me to focus my thoughts on different topics. So, one of the things I've decided to do is to start blogging again.

I had an interesting conversation with a friend this week who had no idea how the current mental health system works in the UK. Inspired by that, here's a post on why the model we have for both physical and mental healthcare is only right part of the time.

A shorter post this week about assumptions, and why it's useful not to take anything for granted.

Happy new year! I'm not sure I can quite believe that it's 2020, I'm definitely feeling both the change of seasons and my age this year! Have a look at this blog post for the things I'm going to be working on this year.

We're so close to the big day I can smell the cranberry sauce! For a bit of fun, I thought I'd do a "survival guide" for all you therapists out there (counsellors, clinical psychologists, assorted trainees, etc). It's only meant in jest, because it's the season of love and laughter after all!

This week on the blog I'm musing about motivation. Join me after the cut to think about how to motivate yourself when you feel like your mojo is missing.

This blog is a year old in December! To celebrate, I'm having a look back over my old blog posts, to see if anything has changed for me over the last year.

Apologies if you're a parent looking to shush an unruly child; this isn't the post for you! Instead, I'm looking at quietening your mind in a world full of loud and colourful distractions. Read on to learn how to be quiet.

I love Halloween! It's my favourite time of year, partly because of the whole ambience of it all and partly because I'm a bit of a goth at heart. I got rid of a lot of the outward signs of this when I started to work in the NHS (purple hair and New Rock boots are generally frowned upon in clinic), but my headphones are usually blasting something dark and melancholy. This week, after my 1975 post, another fun blog post showcasing some of my favourite goth-y bands and their lyrics!

My best friend is a great guy. I've written about him before, and when I told him I was starting a blog I asked him for ideas. One of the things he came back to me with was "how can I identify people who are struggling and what can I do to help?" This post is for him, and for those of you out there who might not struggle with your mental health but know someone who does.