Abuse and trauma survivors often feel unheard. We have gone along with situations with fear beating in our hearts. We grow up, often acutely empathetic of other people’s plights, and we go to extreme measures so that we don’t offend others. We have little regard for our own feelings. We are still numb with shock [...]

Abuse and trauma survivors fear upsetting others because it equates to rejection. We spend much of our lives caught up in other people’s tides, often giving little thought to our own needs and aspirations. Yet we all deserve to live happy and full lives - so how can we grow our inner strength? Firstly, we [...]

My wonderful late father used to tell his children to always look after number one. It was something he said frequently, and yet decades on, I’m only just realising the value of his wisdom. He had good reason to make these words his mantra: he was an abandoned baby, found outside a pub.  Against the [...]

In times of anxiety or stress, or when caught in the grip of depression, we often find ourselves staring blankly at the wall. Sometimes it’s as though we’re playing out happier times, projecting old memories before us: recreating the moment. Mostly, though, we’re simply staring at nothing, and we don’t even know we’re doing so [...]