The amygdala, a small almond-shaped structure located deep within the brain, is often referred to as the brain’s “smoke detector” or “survival alarm”. It is responsible for quickly identifying potential threats and triggering a response, even before conscious awareness. Here’s a breakdown of the amygdala’s functions in relation to anxiety: Threat Detection and Rapid Response:… Read More »The Amygdala: A Key Player in Anxiety Responses
Trauma can lead to several physiological changes, such as changes in brain wave patterns and an increase in stress hormone activity. These changes are the result of the brain’s attempt to protect itself from further harm. However, they can also lead to several problems, including anxiety. Trauma changes the way a person experiences the world.… Read More »The Connection Between Trauma and Anxiety
We all know about habits however we tend to think of them in the bad things they do for us. Habits are just automated thinking. Things were done so often it becomes automatic or semiautomatic to do them. Habits can be good as well. Think of cleaning your teeth, it takes little thought to… Read More »Habits to Develop to Overcome Anxiety
Coaching approaches are now being used far more commonly to help people overcome anxiety. New ways of thinking new tools and new techniques. This is a brief overview of how a coaching approach works. Shifting the Focus: Instead of concentrating on reducing distress or merely surviving, the coaching approach aims to help the individual thrive… Read More »A Coaching Approach to Overcoming Anxiety
Your brain changes in response to how you think and what you think about. Prolonged periods of anxiety bring about brain changes. Changes that are reversible. As your brain changes how and what you think about also changes. Understanding a little of the science behind what is going on between your ears will give you… Read More »Brain Changes Due to Anxiety
Names, and details of people and organisations have been changed to maintain their privacy. The case studies below will will go into details of how these transformations occurred. Early on in my practice, many decades ago I saw a client who’d been sent by their employer, a local brewery. They’d been sent because they were… Read More »Disorganised To Organised
Names, and details of people and organisations have been changed to maintain their privacy. The case studies below will will go into details of how these transformations occurred. Tim (not client’s real name) was an unusual client in that from the very first contact they were clear that anger was the issue (typically clients have… Read More »The Damaging Impact of Anger
Clients sometimes ask me how much sleep they should be getting. What they’re really asking is “How little sleep can I get away with?” Here I want to look at the question from a different perspective. What do you gain by having ‘enough’ sleep? Then, how much is that for you? Studies have shown that… Read More »How Much Sleep Do You Need?
I suspect there is not one single human being who doesn’t know that if they just dropped some habits, or adopted others, their life would improve. So why are people not doing this? Many years ago, not long after I started my private practice, I realised that helping clients to make lasting changes was not… Read More »Just 20 Seconds to Change a Habit
Consider this very familiar scenario: someone makes a decision to start the New Year by putting a new healthy habit in place. A few weeks later, and it’s been forgotten. Perhaps you are one of those rare people that simply follows through with everything that they commit to? So what goes wrong? Generally, when people… Read More »Why Willpower Is Not Enough
You’ve probably been tempted by books or programs offering to transform your life, e.g. “21 Days to a New You!” I confess I’m still tempted by them, but I now have enough wisdom to know that they are unlikely to work. Most importantly I know why they are unlikely to work. This helps me see… Read More »How to Make Lasting Changes In Your Life
Long ago, in the summer holidays, I worked in an engineering workshop, fixing machines in the local textile mills. One day on a job with the engineer he discovered that he was missing a specific bolt that he needed to finish the work. We could have gone all the way back to the workshop which… Read More »Wisdom Is Knowing What to Ignore
I’m sure you have received the message many times that everything you do should be done to the best of your ability. This just does not make sense! This strategy is highly costly in terms of the effort required, and means that overall you’ll get far less done. Take Joe. Joe is a skilled engineer… Read More »When Is Good Enough, Good Enough?
You can probably think of an occasion where the feelings you were experiencing at a particular moment were stronger, more intense than the situation really deserved. Something from your past had been awakened or ‘triggered’. Sometimes people are aware of what these memories are; sometimes they just experience the emotional charge from the past event.… Read More »How to Help Yourself When you’re triggered
I know you’re busy. You have more commitments than your energy and time allow. I also can guess that many of your commitments are not taking you in the direction want your life to go. They’re not aligned with your values. We’re constantly bombarded with requests from work, from family; even your phone keeps demanding… Read More »How One Extra Second Could Make All the Difference to Your Life