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Hidden Disabilities, Hidden Needs

HIDDEN DISABILITIES, HIDDEN NEEDS Not all disabilities are visible. We need to make sure that we aren’t excluding people whose disabilities we can’t see. I have a friend who is…

Thinking Outside the Box and Cultivating Creative Thinking

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX CULTIVATING CREATIVE THINKING Welcome back to me after a few months of not writing a blog.  I have a good reason though, I have been writing,…

Surviving the Festive Season

SURVIVING THE FESTIVE SEASON There is no other way to say this, 2020 was a difficult year.  Being confronted with the threat to one’s own health, not only physically but…

Talking to Children: Prevention is Better than Cure

TALKING TO CHILDREN : PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE Early warning – this blog may be a bit long.  I want to push as many helpful tips into this blog…

Zooming in on Who You Really Are

Most of us have been confronted by a situation where we had to stand up and announce to everybody in the room who we are.  Usually the little introduction entails…

Fear and Phobias

I have experienced intense fear a few times in my life and I believe that the fear, together with the adrenaline pumping through my veins gave my mind the clarity…

Forgiveness and Acceptance

Have you ever experienced a situation where you found it impossible to forgive somebody for what they have done to you or to somebody that you love?  What if you…

Make Things Happen with What You Already Have

These past few months I have come across a lot of people who are devastated and completely discouraged due to the carnage that COVID has wrecked on our lives.  I…

Being Grateful and What It Can Do for You

Before I get into the real body of this blog, I would like to thank my family, friends, clients and readers for playing such an astonishing role in my life. …

When last did you Play?

As we grow older, we tend to get flabbergasted in the spin of adult responsibilities and commitments.  We hectically run around, focussing on family, money, work and all the other…

How to live Holistically and Mindfully

Chances are, if you are reading this blog, you heard the buzz words “Mindfulness” and “Holistic living” somewhere.  You might have read other articles and even implemented a few techniques…

Are you becoming more Reclusive?

This blog lies awfully close to my heart as I have noticed more people becoming reclusive during this COVID-19 pandemic.  I have even noticed it with myself and although I…

Change is Inevitable

Change can be scary.  It is like you are travelling the road never travelled before and sometimes that feeling can be combined with feelings of loneliness and apprehension.  We know…

Depression

Depression is such a big subject and to discuss it in detail in a blog will not be possible.  I will, however, try my best to give you plenty of…

Is Good Sleep Really that Important?

We have all hit the snooze button of the alarm a few times some mornings.  We crave that little bit of extra sleep and yet, sometimes sleep is considered a…

Teacher’s Guide to Manage Children’s Anxiety as they return to…

I gave this presentation to a group of educators when I worked with Kidz2Kidz and Cool2beKind and thought that I would make it available to all of you. What is…

Dealing with Someone with Mental Health Challenges

As South Africa is slowly returning to a more normal way of living and doing things, it is a sad realisation that a lot of people do not know what…

The Ripple Effect

I recently experienced tremendous kindness from complete strangers.  It affected me in such an incredible way that it influenced the topic of this week.  We would love to think that…

Be Kind to Yourself and Others

It is a fact that most of us are overly critical of ourselves and of others.  We tend to focus on the negative, see the little irritable things and punish…

Exercises to Boost Your Mental Strength and Why it is…

Just like it is important to do exercises to boost your physical strength, so is it also important to do exercises to boost your mental strength.  To me, mental strength…

Are You Mentally Ready for What’s To Come?

In my intro of last week, I mentioned a few other titles that I was thinking of writing about “from How To Prepare Yourself For The “Big” Release After Lockdown,…

Domestic Abuse is Increasing at an Alarming Rate

Domestic Abuse is Increasing at an Alarming Rate

I had so many different ideas for a blog this week, from How To Prepare Yourself For The “Big” Release After Lockdown, What We Have Learned About Ourselves and What…

Allow your Child to Express Emotions Creatively

How wonderful is it to witness the curiosity of children, their creative way of thinking and doing things, as well as their unique ways of communicating?  As parents, we want…

Maintaining Hope in Turbulent Times

GEM Mental Health Therapy and Coaching has decided to offer Skype Video Calls, WhatsApp Calls and WhatsApp Video Chats in order to reach as many people as possible.  I have also decided to incorporate Counselling via…

Why Therapy might not always work?

Even with the country in lock-down and quarantine, it is important to remember that our mental health still needs to be stimulated and worked on.  You might feel that the…

How to Cultivate Positive Thoughts

It can be difficult to always keep a positive attitude and although we would like to keep seeing only the positives in what surrounds us, it can be the case…

How can you help your loved one cope with a…

To be there as support for family or friends when they are coming to terms with a traumatic experience can be daunting.  And right at the start, I would like…

Is your Anger a Problem?

We have all experienced anger in our lives, may it be towards the IT network that is slow, at somebody else or even towards ourselves and our personal problems.  In…

Feeling Stressed or Overwhelmed?

The word “stress” is such a common concept these days that we fail to realise what it is doing to us, how it affects us and how we react when…

Relationships Need Maintenance

While I was thinking of what to write my blog about this week, my husband peeked into my office and just winked and smiled at me.  It is then that…

Bullying at School, Work, Home

In my practise, I come across a lot of clients that is currently being bullied or was bullied in their past.  It is frightening to witness what long-lasting negative effects…

Self-Esteem and How to Boost It

It’s not always easy to stay positive about how we feel about ourselves in this modern world.  Being constantly confronted with images of “perfection” through social media, we see people…