Articles
Practical, research-informed articles on psychological flexibility, anxiety, perfectionism, relationships and wellbeing.
Attraction, Relationship Skills and Marriage Strength: What the Research Tells Us
Marriage strength comes from personal vulnerabilities, stress and communication. Why does attraction fade, and which skills and exercises help? A research review.
Doomscrolling: Why Is Bad News Hard to Put Down, and What Does the Evidence Actually Say?
What is doomscrolling, how is it linked to anxiety and distress, and why is correlation not causation? A review of the evidence and its limits.
Self-Compassion: When the Inner Critic Speaks Louder Than Everyone Else
What is self-compassion, how does it differ from self-esteem, and what does research say about reducing self-criticism? A science-based guide with the evidence's limits.
Compassion Fatigue and Burnout in Helpers: When Caring Drains Your Energy
How do compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress and burnout differ? Signs, risk factors, and boundary-setting and self-care strategies for counselors, nurses and caregivers.
I Know I Need to Start: Why Do I Keep Putting It Off?
Explore recent ACT research on procrastination, recognise the role of uncomfortable feelings, and try a small, practical step from a published CBT workbook.
Why Must I Remember Everything? Sharing the Mental Load at Home
Recognise the planning behind household chores, understand new research on mothers' wellbeing, and explore a published method for sharing responsibility.
After an Unsuccessful IVF Cycle: Deciding Whether to Continue or Pause
Explore research on decision support after unsuccessful IVF, separate medical questions from personal priorities, and use a published guide for your next visit.
Forgiveness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Letting Go Without Pretending It Was Fine
What forgiveness is and is not, what recent trials show, and how acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) helps people work with hurt, grudges and self-blame.
From Freud's Defences to Dreams: How the Brain Meets Difficult Experiences
Why do defence mechanisms differ between people? What psychoanalysis and neuroscience can tell us about defences, sleep and apparently precognitive dreams.
Defence Mechanisms, the Brain and the Face: What We Hide and What Shows
What defence mechanisms are, which brain systems research links to them, and how hiding a feeling changes what the face shows and what the body still feels.
Neuroplasticity and Psychological Flexibility: How Change Begins
What neuroplasticity really means, how it differs from psychological flexibility, what research shows, and why change often starts with one different response.
Psychological Flexibility: What It Is and How to Build It
What psychological flexibility means in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), why it matters for wellbeing, and a tested exercise to start building it.
Intolerance of Uncertainty: Why Not Knowing Feels So Hard
Intolerance of uncertainty helps explain worry and anxiety. What it is, how it shows up in everyday life, and practical ways to live with not knowing.
Perfectionism and Appearance Anxiety in the Age of Filters
How perfectionism, comparison and photo filters can feed social appearance anxiety, and practical steps toward a kinder relationship with your image.
Mindful Communication for Couples: Conflict Without Losing Closeness
Why conflict is normal in close relationships, how mindfulness helps couples respond instead of react, and a tested writing exercise for times of conflict.
Emotional Wellbeing During IVF: Coping With Stress and Uncertainty
IVF can bring hope, waiting and uncertainty all at once. Understand the emotional side of fertility treatment and find practical ways to cope with stress.
Online Counselling: Does It Work, and What Happens in a First Session?
Is online counselling as effective as meeting in person? What research says, how a first online session works, and how to prepare so it feels comfortable.