Have you been told that if you want to change things you need to step outside your comfort zone? Did it make you wonder “Why would you step outside your comfort one- it’s comfortable there!” Well, you’ve got a fair point. What is the Comfort Zone? There are important reasons we’ve established our comfort zone and choose to stay in it a lot of the time. In the comfort zone we know what to expect. This means our brain can run largely on autopilot using familiar patterns to plan responses to...

Opening the news can feel overwhelming. Like you’re drowning in story after story of misery. The reel can scroll on forever, showing scenes of misery, anger, hopelessness. With more people having a smart phone in their pocket, it is easier than ever to check the news or catch up on events at any time of day. Gone are the days when we got the news in regulated time slots on the radio or tv, when a helpful presenter would tell us that was all the headlines for now. It's not surprising that...

Walking into a therapy room to sit with someone you don’t know well and tell them about the ways you are struggling in life can be daunting. Having a furry friend alongside you can make it easier. Lots of us know that seeing a dog in the street can make us smile, or may even have heard that stroking a cat lowers our blood pressure. But you might not be aware of the impact of pets in therapy. Therapy animals A therapy animal is an animal that has been trained and assessed to take part in a...