Maintaining good gut health is important. Digestive problems can not only leave us feeling uncomfortable, tired and sluggish, but also affect our mental health in the long term. Gut health and mental health are closely interlinked. And it’s a relationship that researchers are now beginning to understand. The gut-brain axis Have you ever had butterflies in your stomach when feeling nervous, or had a gut feeling when making a decision? Both of those reactions are down to the gut-brain axis. The

You’re in the therapy room and the therapist asks you how you’ve been feeling since your last session. If you are anything like me, you may struggle to remember what you had for dinner two days ago, let alone to recall events and feelings that you’ve experienced over a longer number of days or how you've been sleeping. Smartwatches and fitness trackers can track large amounts of information in a continuous, real-time and convenient fashion. Can these data reflect how we feel and can we use the

Are you familiar with any of the following: * Feeling like you are losing control or needing to take control of your life, or having difficulty relaxing; * Mood swings; * Trouble sleeping; * Uncharacteristic mistakes; * A sudden lack of confidence; * Feeling sad or down; * Crying for no apparent reason; * Feeling worried or anxious; * Having difficulty focusing or remembering; * Drinking or smoking more; * Erratic behaviour; * Confusion; * Losing or gaining weight; * Poorer per

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented changes to the world of work, including hybrid working. How do we deal with the practical and mental challenges of hybrid working? How a hybrid working pattern can impact your mental health Hybrid working means spending some of your time in the workplace and some working remotely — either from home or from another location, be it a co-working space, a local café or a living room. It may mean working with a child on your lap or at the kitch

GDPR may have come into effect on 25 May 2018 but many clinicians are still unsure as to how compliant they really are. The lead-up to GDPR was stressful for many, but therapists and counsellors faced unique challenges to ensure compliance. Since leaving the EU, the UK operates according to UK GDPR, but this is not materially different to the previous EU version. Now that the dust has settled, we can see a clearer picture of how therapists can navigate GDPR to the benefit of themselves and

Dr Chetna KangTo honour World Mental Health Day, last Thursday we hosted our first hybrid (online & in person) event in collaboration with Dr Chetna Kang. Cheta spoke about what we should expect good mental health to look like, as part of an interactive and energising evening talk, breaking down cultural norms around mental health, as well as bridging science, spirituality and clinical expertise. All too often we self-diagnose and are prone to catastrophising, or we dismiss the signs of a brew