http://www.woodlandcounselling.com/

Woodland Counselling, Cardiff (2026)

25/08/2022

In addition to the online work that I have been doing since my private practice began in 2020, I am so excited and happy to begin working in person again too. I will always have a strong belief that online is just as effective as in-person therapy, and how it has it's own unique strengths that will continue to serve us. However, I also believe you deserve to have therapy in the format that feels right for you.

Based in Station House Health and Wellbeing in Cardiff, you can now find me working in this beautiful room overlooking some protected pine trees (perfect for Woodland Counselling!). There is off-road parking, tea and coffee facilities and a calming waiting room, all to ensure that you feel as grounded as possible before our session begins. I look forward to working with you here.

To find out more about the venue, check out

06/09/2021

The second choice that Caroline Myss presents to us is this; we can either pass on our pain or our wisdom.

The concept of multi generational trauma is becoming well known now, and if any of us look back through our generations, I'm sure we would find plenty of it. Your grandparents may have experienced the second world war, your parents may have experienced loss and you yourself may have experienced suffering.

Myss acknowledges that we have pain that might never ease, but we have the choice to share with others either the pain, or the ways in which we learnt to cope and grow through it.

Think about people in your life that inspire you; what have they gone through and how did they get through it? Could it be the way they dealt with life's challenges that make you respect them so much?

What do you think?

31/08/2021

Morning! As September comes around, this means a big shift for a lot of us working in and around the education sector. As this applies to me too, I thought I'd use this as a chance to share some wisdom around choices from the bestselling author Caroline Myss as a five part series.

So beginning today with number 1: You have a choice to live with or without integrity. Among many things, Myss is famous for her bold statement "liars never heal".

Whilst this does mean telling our truth, it also means not compromising ourselves to get others to like us, or asking others to compromise themselves for us. Caroline Myss believes that living our truth matters more than the food we eat or how much we exercise, and the consequences of not living with integrity will eventually impact our health.

Myss acknowledges the desire to compromise our integrity, especially as no one else ever knows the length to which we do so; Myss believes that these secret choices we make every day are the ones that have the impact on our health and quality of life far more so than the large choices such as buying a house or choosing a career. In a TED talk, Myss goes as far as to swap the life choices around for how important they are, and puts these small secret choices as the foundation to which everything else stands.

What do you think about this? Is there truth in this for you?

25/06/2021

Before I became a counsellor, I always imagined the most intimate moment in a session would be when a client says the words "I've never told anyone this before".

Whilst I do experience the privilege I expected to, the most vulnerable words I hear now are "I haven't told anyone this in a long time". Those words speak of trying again, even if the first time deepened the sense of shame and silence. The courage it takes to risk letting someone know the truth a second time is the bravest thing I know.

What was your experience, the first time you told someone about your mental health? We're you silenced, shamed, dismissed, laughed at? Or were you relieved, lightened, empowered to begin healing?

18/05/2021

I wanted to write a quick post on appreciating our emotions, as I understand how easy it can be to feel like a slave to them, and the desire to shut them off. Our emotions are at times deeply flawed, so it can help to remind ourselves of the reason we have them at all.

Emotions serve five main purposes in life:

- they help us to take action: have you ever done something because you felt compelled to?

- they help us to survive: has a gut feeling ever gotten you out of danger?

- they help us to make decisions: have you ever decided upon a course of action, simply because it felt like the right thing to do?

- they help us to understand others and their needs/help others understand us and our needs

- they help us stay close to people we love

So I'd like to ask you a very strange question: how have your emotions helped you lately?

03/05/2021

**Disclaimer: This post is not intended in any way to lay blame on any practitioners themselves. I hold a belief that, aside from some exceptional cases, the professional you're speaking to truly wants to support you to the best of their ability. I've been told many times over how some professionals, such as GP's actually envy the time I get to have with clients, and the pressures that come from trying to reach a conclusion or plan within 15 minutes.**

With that said, I wanted to offer some advice today for anyone who has felt dismissed by a professional regarding mental health concerns. It's strange to think that, whilst I was researching this post, the vast majority of search results I got were for physical ailments. Too many people are left to assume "there's obviously no help out there for me" when it comes to their mental health. This is not only unfair, but it's dangerous.

1. Write them a letter: A short appointment creates a lot of pressure on both sides, so writing a letter can allow you to express the full extend of what you're going through.

2. Have an outcome you're hoping for in mind: Would a diagnosis help you? Do you feel medication is the right choice for you? Or to speak to a counsellor? Considering this beforehand can help during the appointment.

3. Think about your language when describing your symptoms: are you using words such as "a little", "a bit" or "sometimes"? You are the best person to describe what you're going through, but it might be worth noticing if you're downplaying your experiences.

4. Ask for support from family/friends: It's really hard to advocate for ourselves, especially when we're feeling vulnerable. This is where a loved one can really help.

5. Ask for a different staff member: Depending on the setting, it's understandable (and often common practice) to ask to speak with a different professional, especially if you felt dimissed by your first.

6. Get a second opinion: getting a second opinion has been a very accepted practice for a long time when it comes to physical health. The first professional you spoke to might not be an expert on your experiences, so why not speak to someone else?

27/04/2021

I hope you managed to see the magnificent last night. If not, it'll still be spectacular tonight and it's the first of two supermoons this year.

My Mum, who was a midwife, always used to look at a full moon and comment on how many women were likely to go into labour that night.

Full moons are believed to have a disruptive affect on us emotionally, leaving us feeling irritable, anxious, depressed and behaving erratically.

Full moons are also believed (and researched) to affect sleeping patterns.

During a very busy Monday, I completely forgot about the , crawled into bed as usual and drifted to sleep, only to find myself awake again just before midnight with a racing mind and heartbeat. It took getting out of bed and staring at the moon for what felt like an age to quieten down and return to rest. Curiosity got the better of me, so I looked it up this morning and found out that the moon was at its fullest at 11.32pm last night.

Do I have concrete evidence that the supermoon woke me? No, but would you have believed that looking rapidly from side to side ( ) could help process trauma before it was studied extensively and found to be one of the most successful treatments? Maybe we haven't scientifically proven everything there is to know yet about the moon's affects on us yet. Maybe we never will.

So why believe in something you cannot, and may never be able to prove? Because why not!

20/04/2021

One of the most beautiful things that has come out of Gabor Mate's work is, in my opinion, the opportunity to see more than just a "character flaw".

06/04/2021

I hope you have had some time to rest recently and enjoy the air beginning to turn warmer. I wanted to show you this photo I took over the Easter break to help me share an analogy with you.

Imagine your utmost priorities in life are the large shells you see - your family, your partner, your friends, a lifelong goal of yours to name a few examples.

Now imagine the smaller shells as lesser, but still important priorities - your job, your home, your hobbies.

And now, imagine the sand as the least important priorities in your life - cleaning, making the bed, getting yourself ready for the day.

These examples I've given you are just that, examples. Only you can come to know what your priorities are.

Ask yourself these questions (and share in the comments!): What priorities do I think about when I first wake up in the morning/keep me awake at night? What priorities do I fill my everyday life with? Would my life look like mostly sand, or shells? What priorities have I been neglecting recently? And the most important question; what priorities will I wish I'd spent more time on when I look back over my life?

All beaches have a mixture of sand, water, pebbles, rocks, shells. A full life includes all levels of priority, and we all neglect different priorities from time to time; these questions aren't meant to be asked just once.

24/03/2021

(plus one day).

I remember going for a walk the day after lockdown had been announced in the UK and took this picture. I remember thinking how unnatural it looked, and how our patterns of established behaviour (and sense of safety along with it) had been changed in the blink of an eye.

It's worth remembering that trauma doesn't always tick by with the clock. A lot of people are commenting on how this year has gone quickly and lasted an eternity. If some memories you've had from this year still flash through your mind like they happened yesterday, then it could be trauma related.

A year isn't a very long time in terms of processing grief either. If you have suffered a loss of a person you love, security, a job, a home, friendships, then you may have not yet begun to reach the acceptance stage. And this may be because you haven't yet been able to form a meaningful life beyond your loss.

Taking care of yourself will never stop being important. Please seek help in whatever way feels comfortable to you.

Woodland Counselling

25/08/2022

06/09/2021

31/08/2021

25/06/2021

18/05/2021

03/05/2021

27/04/2021

20/04/2021

06/04/2021

24/03/2021

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Practice

Shortcuts

Share

Listing takedown request