Low self-esteem can feel like a fact about who you are. It often speaks in a flat, certain voice: “I’m not good enough,” “I always mess things up,” or “People will see I’m a fraud.” Self-doubt is often kept alive by beliefs, rules, avoidance, self-criticism, and selective attention. Once those patterns become clearer, it becomes possible to respond to them differently. The vicious cycle of low self-esteem CBT views low self-esteem as a cycle. At the centre are negative core b

When a child cannot get through the school gate, the problem is rarely “won’t”. More often, it is “can’t, yet”. For many neurodivergent children, school avoidance is a sign that the demands around them have become bigger than their current capacity to cope. This can leave parents stuck between two pressures. On one side is a child in distress, sometimes panicking, shutting down, melting down, or becoming physically unwell. On the other is the legal duty around education and a

A person with body dysmorphia may spend hours worrying about a “flaw” that others barely notice, or do not see at all. To everyone else, the concern may seem small. To the person living with it, it can feel urgent, shameful, and impossible to ignore. Body dysmorphic disorder, often called BDD, is a mental health condition marked by persistent distress about perceived defects in appearance. These worries usually centre on one or more body parts, such as skin, hair, nose, weigh

A small change in someone’s tone can feel like a verdict. A delayed reply can feel like abandonment. A mild comment can stay in the body for hours, even when the mind knows it was not meant as rejection. For many people with ADHD, this is not “being too sensitive” in a simple sense. It can be part of a wider pattern often called rejection sensitivity dysphoria, or RSD. The term describes intense emotional pain linked to real or perceived rejection, criticism, failure, or disa

What are phobias? A phobia is an intense and persistent fear which is usually out of proportion to the actual level of danger. However, the fear is real! They can be really debilitating and can leave you feeling really stuck or at the mercy of your fears. Common phobias include fear of: Flying Needles or medical procedures Vomiting Dogs, spiders, birds, snakes, or insects Heights Driving Lifts or enclosed spaces Open spaces or crowded places Blood or injury Thunderstorms Chok

The Channel 4 documentary 'The Great ADHD Myth?' appears to examine the rapid surge in diagnoses through a critical lens, framing the debate over whether the condition is a genuine neurobiological disorder or merely a reaction to modern pressures. The programme emphasises the lack of a definitive blood test or brain scan to question the physical validity of ADHD. It suggests rising symptom levels could be attributable to environmental factors such as screen time and digital o

A missed meal, a late-night binge, a sudden food rule, a forgotten grocery shop. On their own, these moments can look ordinary. In the context of ADHD and eating disorders, they may point to a deeper pattern where attention, emotion, appetite, impulse, and body image all pull in different directions. ADHD is usually described through inattention, impulsivity, restlessness, and difficulty with planning or follow-through. Eating disorders are often described through food restri

Do you look organised, calm, and capable on the outside while working painfully hard to hold the whole performance together? ADHD masking means changing your behaviour to cover up ADHD traits. It can look like rehearsing social interactions, hiding fidgeting, copying how other people organise themselves, or spending hours making a simple task appear effortless. Masking is not lying. It is usually a survival strategy. Many people do it to avoid criticism, fit in at school or w

The start of term can look cheerful from the outside. New shoes, sharpened pencils, fresh timetables. Inside a family home, it can feel very different. For a child who struggles with anxiety, low mood, sensory overload, separation worries, autism, ADHD, PDA traits, trauma, or another neurodivergent profile, going back to school can feel huge. For parents and carers, it can bring a knot in the stomach weeks before the first bell rings. You might be wondering whether your child

Perimenopause can feel like someone has changed the settings on your body, sleep, senses, mood, and capacity, without giving you the manual. For autistic women, those changes may be even more confusing because they can overlap with autistic traits, burnout, ADHD, anxiety, trauma symptoms, or long-standing sensory sensitivities. The evidence on perimenopause and autism is still limited. Autistic women and other autistic people who go through ovarian hormone changes have often

Eating disorders are often described through the lens of body image, dieting, and weight. That view misses a large part of the picture, especially for autistic people. For some, food restriction is less about wanting to change appearance and more about sensory distress, anxiety, routine, burnout, or the need for predictability. This overlap matters because it can affect diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. An autistic person with an eating disorder may not fit the common stere

Trauma therapy can feel daunting when weekly sessions seem too slow, too spread out, or too hard to fit around life. Intensive EMDR offers a different format: focused therapy delivered over longer sessions, or across several sessions close together, with the aim of helping the brain process distressing memories more efficiently. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. It is a well-established psychological therapy best known for treating post-traumatic

Burnout can feel like your brain has finally refused to cooperate. The messages pile up, the laundry stays where it is, simple tasks feel strangely heavy, and even things you care about can start to feel impossible. For people with ADHD, that crash can be especially intense. ADHD already affects attention, motivation, emotional regulation, time awareness, sleep, and energy. Add long-term stress, masking, sensory overload, work pressure, family demands, or years of trying to “

OCD is often reduced to jokes about neat shelves, handwashing, or being “a bit particular”. However, this could not be further from tghe truth. Obsessive compulsive disorder can be highly distressing, time-consuming, and deeply misunderstood. It can affect how someone thinks, feels, behaves, works, studies, parents, socialises, and rests. At its core, OCD involves obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted thoughts, images, urges, or doubts that feel intrusive and up

Chronic anxiety can make ordinary life feel like a there is constantly a series of alarms going off. It’s exhausting when a left-on-read message ruins your afternoon, or when your body treats an ordinary calendar invite like a crisis. That persistent physical alertness and mental over-planning aren't just 'overthinking'—they’re a nervous system stuck in overdrive. Understanding how your thoughts, physical sensations, and behaviors loop together is the first step to finally fe

Most people know how to be kind to a friend. Fewer people know how to offer that same compassion to themselves when they make a mistake, feel overwhelmed, or fall short of their own standards. Self-compassion is often misunderstood as softness, self-pity, or letting yourself off the hook. In reality, it is a practical emotional skill. It helps you face difficulty without adding shame on top. It can make it easier to learn, recover, apologise, try again, and care for yourself

When life feels overwhelming because of painful memories or difficult experiences, finding the right support can make all the difference. Trauma therapy offers a path to healing, and one approach that has gained recognition for its effectiveness is EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. What Is Trauma Therapy and How Can It Help You? Trauma therapy is a specialised form of psychological support designed to help people process and recover from distressing even

When anxiety takes hold, it can have a profound effect on ordinary family life. A child refuses to go to a birthday party. They ask for the tenth time whether they will be sick. They cry before school, freeze at bedtime, or need a parent to check every detail before they can move on. Most parents respond with warmth, logic, and protection. That makes sense. No one wants to see their child distressed. Yet with anxiety, the most loving response in the moment can sometimes keep

Lately, it seems everyone is asking the same question: “Is it just me, or does everyone have ADHD now?” Sometimes it’s a partner, a parent, or a manager venting, and the term is used to excuse a lack of effort, work ethic, or lower standards. Other times, it’s a client looking at their own brand-new, late-in-life diagnosis with a heavy dose of scepticism—wondering whether they actually have a neurodevelopmental condition or are just bad at being an adult. And honestly, it’s a

As parents, the words we use every day do more than just communicate instructions—they shape how our children understand themselves, their worth, and their place in the world. Traditional approaches to raising and supporting neurodivergent children have often relied on a medical model that frames differences as deficits, disorders, or problems to be fixed. Neuro-affirming language offers a different approach rooted in compassion and evidence. It validates your child's lived