Experiencing difficulties with your mental health is extremely common and we know that accessing support is useful, especially if we obtain support early. But feeling nervous about asking for help is also very common and can lead to delays in starting treatment. A widely cited 2004 study by Wang and colleagues reported that the time between onset of symptoms and start of treatment can be 10 years or longer. So why is it so nerve wracking to link in with a psychologist?

Here at Melbourne Wellbeing Group, we of course offer therapy in the one on one space, and for our clients this is a highly effective therapeutic process. However, there are many other ways to access therapy, and an additional option we offer here is group therapy.

As humans, we experience a variety of emotions. Emotions are a normal and important part of life. Inevitably we will all experience the full range of emotions, ranging from some of the most joyful and euphoric to the deepest of lows, sometimes in the same day! The way we think about, understand, and relate to our emotions can have important implications for the way we behave, think and continue to feel.

Are you guys feeling burnt out? It has been a long year but of a different kind. After two years of long lockdowns and intense uncertainty, life has been back at full pelt. We’re all seemingly moving forward but there seems to be a grey cloud over our heads. Are we even doing ok? What even happened in the last two years? Why are we moving forward but not acknowledging what we’ve gone through over the last two years? I am not even sure we even know the answers to these questions, but I have a feeling that it’s contributing to how we’re all feeling. Moreover, dealing with life, mental health issues, and just the state of the world in general…. Wow. It’s a lot. With three months left of the year, let’s talk about how we can manage these feelings of burn out.

What was it like growing up for you? Is a question I often find myself asking my clients. It feels so cliché to be asking this question as a clinical psychologist, but it holds relevance. Not because our parents are to blame for everything, which is what most people assume to be the reason why we ask this question, but because our life experiences shape who we become as adults, right from the moment we are born. As Oprah and Dr Bruce Perry, Child Psychiatrist, put it in their new book, asking this question of: “what happened to you?” is a powerful way to begin to understand the impact of life on people and helps us understand what trauma is.

Difficulties with self-esteem is a challenge for many if not most girls and young women in this world. We live in a culture obsessed with diet and wellness culture and our mainstream media is super saturated with images of idealised beauty standards and messages about the importance of appearance. We encourage our girls to be ‘anything they want’ but we also tell them to avoid being ‘bossy’. Gender stereotypes are rife, perfectionism is celebrated and risk taking is discouraged. Research tells us that from the very young age of 8 years, a girl’s self-esteem starts to deteriorate. So, in the face of all this complexity, how do we help our girls to build and maintain their self-esteem?