goals

ACT or CBT for anxiety?

John Nolan
15th May 2025

ACT and CBT offer distinct approaches to addressing anxiety. CBT often focuses on identifying and challenging maladaptive thoughts and reducing symptoms by altering thought content and structure. It also utilises exposure to counter avoidance. ACT, conversely, views avoidance and control efforts as key problems that paradoxically worsen suffering. Its goal is not symptom reduction but helping clients live a full, valued life by fostering psychological flexibility. ACT employs defusion to change the relationship with thoughts rather than disputing them and promotes acceptance and willingness to experience internal sensations and emotions fully, often using mindfulness and exposure techniques reframed within an acceptance context. While CBT is seen as a traditional behavioural/cognitive approach, ACT is considered a newer wave that integrates some CBT techniques within a broader framework centred on acceptance, mindfulness, values, and committed action.

Empowering Change: Coaching as a Positive Force in Addressing Depression

John Nolan
25th March 2025

Coaching for depression offers a valuable alternative or complementary approach to traditional therapies like CBT. By focusing on strengths, resources, and future goals, coaching empowers individuals to take action and build a more positive life. The integration of unique tools like the Havening Technique by coaches may offer additional avenues for managing emotional distress. While CBT traditionally delves into negative thoughts and past experiences to facilitate change, coaching prioritises increasing positive affect and creating a vision for the future. Both approaches aim to alleviate the suffering associated with depression, but they utilise different methodologies and emphases. The most suitable approach will often depend on the individual’s preferences, the specific nature of their difficulties, and their desired outcomes.

Empowering Change: Coaching as a Positive Force in Addressing Depression

John Nolan
19th March 2025

The Guiding Influence of Values in Stress Management

John Nolan
11th March 2025

Values play a fundamental and multifaceted role in effectively managing stress. They act as a compass, providing direction and meaning that can buffer against the negative impacts of stress. Here are the key ways in which values contribute to stress management: Providing a Sense of Purpose and Meaning: When individuals are clear about what is… Read More »The Guiding Influence of Values in Stress Management

Finding Your Spark Again: Effective Strategies for Treating Burnout22nd June 2025
Burnout is a state of profound emotional and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress, distinct from but often overlapping with anxiety and depression. Understanding how to treat burnout involves recognising its varied presentations and its connections to underlying issues like chronic stress and trauma. Effective, long-lasting recovery requires a comprehensive approach focusing on rest, building resilience, setting healthy boundaries, re-engaging with values, and consistent self-care. Supportive modalities like anxiety coaching offer practical strategies for managing stress and anxiety, while Havening Techniques provide a neurobiological approach to process the impact of chronic stress and trauma, helping individuals heal and build a resilient foundation for recovery.
Support for Psychological Distress: Approaches to Overcoming Anxiety and Related Challenges18th June 2025
Summary – anxiety treatment therapy: Many individuals grappling with anxiety are seeking diverse forms of support beyond traditional therapy. While established methods like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and medication are widely available, challenges such as high dropout rates and a focus on symptom reduction mean they… Read More »Support for Psychological Distress: Approaches to Overcoming Anxiety and Related Challenges
Heading: Exploring Support for Depression: Why Alternative Approaches and Coaching Are Gaining Traction16th June 2025
Many people seeking help for depression encounter challenges with traditional therapeutic models, including high dropout rates and a focus on pathology. Alternative approaches and coaching, often incorporating techniques like solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and Havening Techniques, offer different perspectives that can empower individuals by focusing on strengths, solutions, values, and neurobiological change. These methods may resonate more with those seeking practical tools and a collaborative relationship rather than solely exploring problems or receiving a diagnosis. Havening Techniques, in particular, address the emotional residue of traumatic experiences often linked to depression, offering a gentle way to process the past and build resilience for the future.
Overcoming Social Anxiety13th June 2025
Social anxiety is an intense fear of social situations and judgment, distinct from general anxiety or shyness, often leading to avoidance. It involves a hyperactive amygdala and contributions from the cortex, fuelled by cognitive biases, negative beliefs, and safety behaviours, often rooted in genetic predisposition and early experiences. Consequences include physical and emotional symptoms, social isolation, damage to relationships, and increased risk of other mental health issues. Social anxiety coaching helps by employing evidence-based techniques like exposure, cognitive restructuring, mindfulness, and goal setting to challenge avoidance, reframe thinking, build confidence, and support individuals in living a valued life despite anxiety.
Mindfulness: what is it really?11th June 2025
Mindfulness is defined in various ways, including present-moment attention, awareness, and observing internal and external experiences without judgment. Key descriptions highlight focusing on thoughts as mental events, accepting difficult emotions without trying to eliminate them, and adopting attitudes like curiosity, openness, and compassion. These varied definitions are helpful because they allow the application of mindfulness to be tailored to specific challenges: focusing on body sensations for panic, thoughts for worry, acceptance for emotional struggle, and linking practice to values for motivation. The underlying goal across definitions is to change one's relationship with internal experiences to live a fuller life, rather than simply reducing symptoms.