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Self-Abandonment: Why We Get Lost

“What we call the personality is often a jumble of genuine traits and adopted coping styles that do not reflect our true self at all but the loss of it.” ― Gabor Maté In my previous article, I explored how our psychological symptoms — like depression, anxiety, addiction, and relational struggles —

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Man looking down

When Your Symptoms Are NOT Mental, But Existential

“The land of possibility is a better place to make your home than the realm of expectation will ever be.” ― Rasheed Ogunlaru When people seek out psychotherapy, it’s often because something in their life feels “off” or has become unbearable. It might be a gradual accumulation of symptoms like anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive

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Heart in hands

Feeling Unrooted: How Commitment Gives Life Meaning

Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose and commit myself to, what is best for me. ― Paulo Coelho There is no question that our lives are changing at an unprecedented pace, and here, I am not just talking about technological advancements and artificial intelligence (AI). Rather,

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Man sitting procrastinating

Hidden Function of Procrastination: When We Fail To Process

“If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.” — Victor Frankl One of the strongest predictors of happiness in life is the presence of close, meaningful relationships with others. This is supported by the longest research study on human happiness to date. Conducted by Harvard University, the

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Woman crying with tears on her face

Why Self-Compassion Is Your Most Valuable Skill for a Successful Life

“You have been critising yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”  – Louise Hay As a practicing psychologist, I keep being amazed (and sometimes downright bewildered) by how universally we excel at being our own worst critics. From a very young age, we are taught to

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Man looking over desk

Snowflake Syndrome: The Cost of Avoiding Difficulty

“Easy way feels good but fails to elevate you. Difficult way is overwhelming but guarantees to rise you.” – Hiral Nagda In an era where facing a mild inconvenience is considered a full-blown crisis, where the mere thought of a challenge sends people scrambling for their emotional support teddy bears, it is

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Behind the Mask: The Truth on Perfectionism

“When you accept yourself, the whole world accepts you”  – Unknown With a graceful touch, I guide the crayon along the edge of the black border, ensuring the vibrant colours stay neatly confined within its boundaries. Each stroke brings a sense of accomplishment, filling the blank spaces with hues that dance against

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Woman sitting on couch

Therapy secrets revealed: What clients wonder and therapists don’t say

“What is most personal, is most universal”  – Carl Rogers As a practicing psychotherapist, I’ve spent years delving into the depths of the human psyche, offering a safe space for clients to explore their innermost secrets, shame, emotional pain, and deepest confusions. Yet, behind the curtains of confidentiality, ethics, empathy, positive regard, unconditional

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Group of individuals laughing

Loneliness and belonging: What therapy has taught me

“We are all just walking each other home” – Ram Dass I started this week’s newsletter off writing about the strange nature of the therapeutic relationship, but then found myself questioning the strange nature of our modern relationships. In an age dominated by screens, social media, and artificial intelligence, online connections seem to

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Man looking confused

The self-help hoax: Why you remain stuck

“Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict” – William Channing Do you often find yourself buying yet another self-help book that you hope will finally be the book that will give you that Aha! moment in trying to improve this one thing that you have been struggling with? Or do

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Emotions: A weakness? The truth behind your tears

“The more anger towards the past you carry, the less capable you are of loving the present”  – Barbara De Angelis “Not now”, I tell myself. “Hold it. Deep breaths”. I can feel tears trickling towards the bottom of my eyes. My view gets hazy. I refuse to blink. Fearing that a blink would push

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Person looking down sitting on couch

I should have this figured out already!

“The hardest part is not finding out who you are, it is accepting that which you find” – Carl Jung I have lost count of the number of times I’ve heard clients criticise themselves with the thought “I should have had this figured out already!”, or “I cannot believe that my parents’

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To therapy, or not to therapy? Is psychotherapy “right” for me?

“Psychotherapy is a sanctuary; a battleground; it is a place I have been psychotic, neurotic, elated, confused, and despairing beyond belief” – Kay Redfield Jamison Client: “I really don’t know if therapy is actually “right” for me, or if I just need life coaching”Me: “What makes you think you are not “right” for

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Man looking at computer screen smiling

The Future of Self-Discovery: Using Technology and AI

“The better you know yourself, the better your relationship with the rest of the world.” — Toni Collette How self-aware are you, really? Ever wondered that? Well, if you can answer the following two questions, you are well on your way: Who am I? How am I seen by the world?

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Person looking down despondent

Have we over-therapised ourselves and the profession?

“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly”  – Mahatma Gandhi Client: “But I’m doing all these things and I still feel so lost. Like I don’t feel like I’m any closer to knowing who I really am!” Me: “Have you tried to perhaps instead of

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Why Self-knowledge is Your Greatest Asset

“The better you know yourself, the better your relationship with the rest of the world” – Toni Collett I find it fascinating how we are so intrigued about the world around us that we will spend so much of our time trying to make sense of it – and others. We want to learn

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Man holding his hand in front of his mouth with a surprised expression on his face.

Say What? The Psychological Power of Words

Take a quick moment and reflect on the two most recent conversations you had. How did you feel following the conversation? What was the tone of the conversation? Uplifting? Heavy? Inspirational? Stressful? Energising? Now, more importantly, did you converse in a more positive or negative tone? Turns out, the words we use have

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Forget new year, new goals

Something that has come up for me a lot over the past week is the concept of goals and the setting of goals. It seems almost a given that at the beginning of every year, there exists this expectation for us to set goals. In life, setting goals is important, as

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Therapist in session

The costs of therapy no one talks about

We all know the benefits about psychotherapy, but what are the trade-offs? “Therapy isn’t Radio. We don’t need to constantly fill the air with sounds. Sometimes, when it’s quiet, surprising things happen.” — Mary Pipher There is no questions that psychotherapy holds tremendous value for those who are able to

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Woman looking at herself in a mirror.

What Perfectionism IS, and what it IS NOT

Perfectionism, a reflection of how the self is perceived by others. An attempt on a better understanding of what it really is So, perfectionism …  It has become quite the buzz word in the self-development, self-improvement, and self-help world. But what is this term perfectionism really, and what is it

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What vulnerability IS and is NOT

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of connection and the path to the feeling of worthiness. If it doesn’t feel vulnerable, the sharing is probably not constructive.” Brené Brown Vulnerability truly does form the cornerstone of meaningful connections. It is only through our vulnerabilities that we truly connect. Vulnerability is the type

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What I’ve Learnt on Your Life’s Purpose

As a psychologist, I often have clients who come in wanting me to help them discover their purpose in life. Finding purpose is a great endeavour in life, but if you go about it the wrong way, then you will not only end up despondent (like you have no purpose

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choosing healthy foods

How to develop successful health behaviour campaigns

Designing effective health behaviour campaigns are essential given that today’s leading causes of death are behaviour-related, and thus, preventable. However, health campaigns can end up being disastrous if the intended message that gets communicated has the opposite effect to what was intended or desired. The main reason behind this ‘boomerang

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man plugging his ears with fingers

How self-criticism is harming you

“You are really ugly” … “You really should not be taking selfies, no camera is made for that face” … “Gosh, look at those teeth, rather keep your mouth shut” … “Why is your hair so curly?” … “You are just a burden to everyone around you” … “No one

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woman staring through hand

11 Subtle signs you are a Perfectionist

We now live in a culture that idolises perfectionism. The pressure to look and be the best is now higher than ever before. Once only to torment a select few, perfectionism has become a wide-spread phenomenon, fuelled by social media, modern parenting practices, meritocracy, and an increased competitive economy.  Perfectionism

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tired child

What if we are raising a tired generation?

Across the world, the academic and social pressures on tweens (i.e., pre-adolescent children) and teens (13-18 year olds) have escalated to an all-time high, as have the prevalence of mental health issues among these age groups. When it comes to adults, aspects such as work pressure, unrealistic work commitments, burnout,

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girl looking in mirror

Perfectionism: A Lurking Epidemic

As a child, colouring in was probably one of my favourite activities, but I can still vividly recall the day in kindergarten where the crayon in my hand slipped slightly, making a mark outside of the solid black line on my drawing. My lower lip started trembling. Tears started filling

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