“Autism is as much a part of humanity as the capacity to dream.” - Kathleen Seidel Every April, we see a lot more discussions being had around autism. And while awareness is key, what matters most is genuine acceptance of autistic people and ways of being. Neurodiversity is a term that describes the natural differences in how human brains work. There is no one single “correct” way for a brain to function. Instead, there is a wide range of ways that people perceive, process, a

By Shelly Mcalonan Parenting becomes especially challenging when a child falls out of routine, especially a child with additional needs. Irregular sleep, mood swings, and resistance can leave parents feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. In these moments, it’s easy to focus only on correcting the child—but the key often lies with the parent. Children need consistency to feel safe, and they are highly influenced by their parents’ emotional state. A stressed parent can increase a

By Murray Mackenzie We often treat health like a separate to-do list, “ I need to remember to meditate,” “I should do some yoga”. The stress of remembering to attend to health adds to our cognitive load. When our mental RAM is full, we can hit a wall of mental exhaustion before the day has even truly started. One way of cognitively offloading is to practice habit stacking. Instead of using precious will power to start a new habit, we can piggyback it onto a neural pathway

By Noel Daly AI assistants - ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity etc. - are ever-present and they are becoming increasingly good at a variety of high-level tasks. Undoubtedly, they are going to replace and transform a vast amount of jobs. And while they are excellent at parsing information and doing administrative tasks, they are terrible when it comes to mental health support. This is because they offer reassurance. Reassurance is a surefire way to eradicate emotional resilience. Fo

We all have patterns in how we think! But sometimes those patterns trip us up. In CBT, these are called “unhelpful thinking traps,” like jumping to the worst-case scenario or assuming we know what others think. They can quietly shape how we feel and react, often making things seem worse than they really are. The good news? Once you can spot these traps, you can start to challenge them. That awareness gives you a bit of space to think more clearly, feel more balanced, and resp

Eating Disorder Awareness Week may have just passed, but the conversations it encourages are worth continuing year-round. Eating disorders affect people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. They are also frequently misunderstood, minimised, or missed entirely, which is part of why awareness matters so much. Perhaps the most important thing to understand is that eating disorders are not really about food. At their core, they are complex mental health conditions bound up with

March 30th is World Bipolar Day, a global initiative dedicated to raising awareness and challenging the stigma that still surrounds bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is a mood condition characterised by significant shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels. These shifts typically move between periods of depression and periods of elevated mood, which can involve mania or hypomania. It affects people across all walks of life, and yet misconceptions about it remain surprising

St Patrick's Day is one of those holidays that brings people together. Parades, get-togethers, shared traditions. For many people, that sense of community is welcomed. But it's also worth acknowledging that big social occasions aren't universally easy. Crowded spaces, drinking-heavy environments, and the unspoken pressure to be "on" can stir up anxiety, loneliness, or just plain exhaustion. If you're managing depression, social anxiety, grief, or sobriety, a day like this can

By Tara Kearns Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is widely recognized for its effectiveness in treating mental health difficulties including anxiety, trauma, and depression. However, neuroscience research shows that CBT not only changes thoughts and behaviours; it also brings about real and measurable changes in brain function. In people with chronic anxiety or trauma, the brain’s alarm system - the amygdala - is over sensitive and constantly alert. This leads to hypervigil

By Murray Mackenzie Regulatory self-efficacy (RSE) is an internal belief in your ability to manage your own thoughts, feelings and behaviours in order to stick to a plan or achieve a particular goal. It’s less about willpower than it is about your belief that you can consistently execute the steps involved in changing a habit. When New Year resolutions falter, it’s often more to do with low RSE than lack of desire. Albert Bandura, the psychologist who constructed the theory o