Real conversations about how you feel
Almost every medium-sized UK employer pays for an Employee Assistance Programme, and almost nobody uses it. Here's what's actually behind that phone number in your benefits pack — what it can help with, who sees what, and what to say when you finally ring.
Therapy breaks can leave a surprisingly loud silence, even when you saw them coming. This is a practical guide to preparing for the gap, handling the wobbles, and knowing when to ask for more urgent help.
Some dates send a wobble through the weeks before they arrive — a loss, a breakup, a diagnosis or a traumatic memory. This is a practical, gentle guide to spotting an anniversary reaction early, getting through the day with support, and knowing when to ask for more help.
A therapist can say the wrong thing. Sometimes it's a clumsy phrase, sometimes it's a misread that lands like a slap. Here's how to name the sting out loud, walk through the awkwardness, and come out the other side with a relationship that's genuinely sturdier.
That between-session task is still sitting there, untouched, and your next appointment is looming. Here’s how to talk about the blank page without turning it into a confession — and why a good therapist will meet you with curiosity, not a red pen.
Phone anxiety is real, especially when the call is about your health. This is a practical, low-pressure script for booking the GP, therapy or dentist appointment you've been circling — plus what to say if you blank, cry or get stuck on hold.
Waiting a day before a hard conversation can save a friendship — or quietly bury the thing that needed saying. Here’s how to work out which one you’re actually doing, with scripts for mates, family and your manager.
Therapy jargon can make a useful conversation feel like an exam you didn’t revise for. This is a permission slip to pause, ask what a word means, and keep the thread yours. No nodding required.
Christmas can feel impossibly bright when someone is missing. This is a gentle, practical guide to naming that person without turning the day upside down — with low-pressure scripts, ways to protect your energy, and UK support options if you need them.
Group chats can be a lifeline, a laugh, or a low-grade source of dread — often all three in the same week. Here’s a practical, kind-eyed audit of the chats that make up your everyday support network, with scripts for resetting the norms and signposting for when a chat can’t carry it alone.
Being the friend everyone calls first can feel like a privilege — until it starts to cost you sleep, headspace and your own support network. Here’s how to keep listening kind, mutual and sustainable without turning your friendship into an unpaid therapy service.
You’ve finally said you’re struggling, and someone immediately offers a podcast, a spreadsheet and a cold-water swim. This is a guide to asking for the support you actually want — listening, distraction or practical help — without sounding ungrateful.
You don't have to hand over your whole history to get a bit of breathing room at work. Here's how to have a short, boundaried conversation with your manager about your mental health — what to say, what you're not obliged to disclose, and how to ask for adjustments without it turning into a review of your performance.
The first therapy appointment can feel like turning up to an exam you didn’t revise for. Here’s a calm, practical guide to what actually happens, how to prepare without over-preparing, and the simple phrases that can get you talking when your mind goes blank.
Some days the honest answer is ‘I can’t do this today’ — and that’s allowed. Here’s how to offer a small, respectful pause without vanishing, plus UK-friendly scripts for text, phone and face-to-face conversations.
Being the one everyone calls can feel like love, duty and a second job all at once. Here's how to stay warm and caring without staying permanently on call.
You finally said it out loud — and now you want to crawl under the duvet and pretend it never happened. That post-disclosure panic is common, uncomfortable and survivable. Here’s how to get through the first 48 hours without retracting, over-apologising or spiralling.
That heavy Sunday evening feeling is common, but it is not always a warning sign. Here is a gentle plan for listening to week-ahead dread, talking it through, and knowing when to ask for more support.
Money worry is both practical and painfully private. This is a gentle, UK-focused look at why debt and mental health get tangled — and how to start talking about both without drowning in shame.
Group chats can be brilliant at catching us when we wobble — but they are not therapy. Here is how to show up for friends without becoming their unpaid, unqualified crisis line.