Blog

Connect with the world (and beat the fear)

hello, salut, hei,

Welcome to my first blog here at Humansense. I have decided to take the plunge and start a blog, something I have wanted to develop for a while but put off because like many of us experience anxiety and fears that stop us from doing things. For me, writing means putting myself out there, my anxieties focus around “what if I get it wrong, what if I am not good enough or worse still what if nobody is actually interested”?!

“But your’e a counsellor” I hear you say.  Yes I am, as is Dom but we experience a range of emotions like everyone else. We swear, laugh, get sad, feel anger,  we have disagreements, sometimes we argue and we make mistakes. What we aim to do is negotiate our way and learn from our experiences in what can be a beautiful as well as a harsh World.

So, here we are. Taking a risk, like we all do when we start or try something new.  We don’t know where it will lead or if it will be a success, they key thing though it that you made the first step, had some faith and took some action.  My hope is that we can create writing and resources that you will find interesting and helpful, thought provoking and supportive, uplifting and positive and of course a good dose of humour!

We are looking forward to sharing our experience of being therapists and human beings and our knowledge we have gained so far. Our resources and blogs will cover all sorts of issues from coping with anxiety and stress, managing conflicts, using strategies to manage difficult emotions, relaxation techniques, getting the best out of ourselves and increasing personal happiness!

We also hope our blogs and resources we will be creating  will help trainee therapists  gain insight into what is important when working as a therapist, caring for self and others in the process and useful strategies for helping others get the best from their sessions.

We hope you will join us in our new adventure and we hope it inspires you to start your own.

speak soon

Niki

Butterflies in your stomach, feeling sick,  dry mouth, quickened breathing, sweating? Sound familiar?  Well if it does you are not alone.

Anxiety can be felt by anyone. In fact, most recent statistics indicate that there were 8.2 million cases of anxiety in the UK (Mental Health Foundation 2013) and that’s just those officially recorded.  Globally the second most prominent mental health issue was anxiety (depression being the first – will come to that in another blog) Global Burden of Disease 2013.  As therapists, anxiety is something we work with a lot. Helping clients understand what anxiety is and how it affects them is important in coping with anxiety.  A technique we teach to clients to help manage anxiety is Grounding, it’s really simple and very effective, a great tool to have up your sleeve.

So what is anxiety?
Basically, anxiety is a primaeval survival mechanism that alerts us to danger and helps us to deal with emergencies by preparing the body to “fight” or “flee” and is commonly known as the “fight/flight” response.  Anxiety is what we can feel when we are worried or afraid and is often linked to thoughts about things we think may happen immediately in a situation or things we think might happen in the future.  Feeling anxious isn’t nice and for some, it can be overwhelming and very frightening.  Panic attacks are extreme anxiety reactions and can be completely debilitating for the person experiencing them.

Triggers and symptoms
Anxiety and triggers can be as unique as the person experiencing them.   There are however some common triggers that can influence anxiety difficulties  – childhood difficulties such as experiencing a loss or separation, past experiences such as bullying or social exclusion.  Current life stressors include financial problems, work pressures, exhaustion or being out of work.  Physical illness such as living with a serious health condition or mental health problems such as depression can trigger anxiety as can taking certain drugs or medications.  Typical symptoms include fast heart rate, sweating and hot flushes, nausea, pins and needles,  trouble sleeping,  jaw clenching and headaches and other body pains.

Grounding for anxiety
Grounding can be done at any time, anywhere.  You can ground standing, sitting or lying down.  When you feel yourself becoming anxious – heart racing, feeling hot, racing thoughts………follow the steps described below and tame your anxiety.

1  STOP.  You can say Stop in your head, out loud, see a stop sign etc – whatever works for you.  You can literally stop what you are doing and stand with both feet on the ground, if you are sitting put both feet on the ground.

2  BREATHE.  In through your nose and out through your mouth at a steady pace (if you need to, count in your head to  3 for breaths in and then the same for breaths out).  Really focus on the feel and the sound of your breath, take all your focus to it.  Do this 3 – 4 times or for as long         as you feel you need to.  This can be sufficient in helping to calm you down and refocus, however, you can also do step three.

3  FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION.  Keep your breathing steady and focus your mind, try any of the following…

* take your attention to your toes/feet, feel them in your shoes or on the floor, wiggle your toes
* carry a small item with you in your pocket like a pebble or crystal and focus your attention on it, its shape, texture, temperature etc
* look around you and focus on something and really study it, like a picture, flowers, a sign. Break them down and focus on the colours, shapes, items etc
* what can you hear? focus on the birds singing or the rain pitpating, or focus on your breath
* as you breathe in and out just allow yourself to slow down or have a soothing mantra to use such as ” I can “cope”  or “This will pass”

Allow yourself to just be in this space for as long as feel comfortable and then gently open your eyes and smile.  Great stuff. Now go and enjoy your day!

For more information on anxiety visit our downloads page at humansense.online

Niki