Francesca Nuttall CBT

Francesca Nuttall CBT 🌷CBT Psychotherapist & Social Worker
Therapy for women who hold it all together.
📍East Lancs | Online UK
- Coming soon, currently on mat leave -

Let's talk about POSTPARTUM INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS...Yet another wild part of the postpartum journey 😬The thoughts that can ...
27/08/2026

Let's talk about POSTPARTUM INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS...

Yet another wild part of the postpartum journey 😬

The thoughts that can feel so scary you’re afraid to tell anyone about them.

Intrusive thoughts can take the form of disturbing images, urges, or “what if…” thoughts.

And they can feel incredibly vivid and real.

But having a thought is not the same as wanting it to happen.

Intrusive thoughts are unwanted.

They tend to be the complete opposite of what you value or what you would ever want to do.

We call this 'ego-dystonic.'

The fact the thought scares you is a good sign - a sign of just how much you don’t want it to happen.

How you respond to the thoughts can become problematic. And CBT can absolutely help with this.

If you are finding intrusive thoughts particularly distressing. Or the way you are responding to them is becoming problematic (checking, avoiding, analysing or seeking reassurance, for example). Please reach out to a professional for support. Please don't feel ashamed.





Imagine your brain and nervous system are a phone and you have three buttons:🚨Threat🏁Drive💆🏽‍♀️SoothePressing the Threat...
25/08/2026

Imagine your brain and nervous system are a phone and you have three buttons:

🚨Threat
🏁Drive
💆🏽‍♀️Soothe

Pressing the Threat and Drive buttons too often can reaaaaally drain our battery leading to depression and burnout.

Some aspects of Threat are harder to avoid such as stressful life experiences, but did you know things like self-criticism activate our threat system?

So each time you beat yourself up in your mind and have thoughts like:

'What is wrong me with'
'I've failed'
'It's my fault'
'I should do better'
'I'm so stupid/weak/______'
'Everyone else has it figured out but me'
'I always mess up'

You are pressing your Threat button.

But tapping your Soothe can gently recharge your battery. And one way we can do this to counter those critical thoughts is via self-compassion.

This might not come easy to you, especially if you have spoken to yourself in this way for a long time. So imagine you're talking to a child you care for greatly - how would you speak to them? What would you say and in what tone?





Your avoidance isn’t random. Your brain learned something.Your avoidance can be really difficult to spot too, which is w...
19/08/2026

Your avoidance isn’t random. Your brain learned something.

Your avoidance can be really difficult to spot too, which is why trusting a trauma informed therapist to help you identify the things you might be avoiding is so important.

It can be anything that signals any kind of potential danger to your brain that has been doing an incredible job of keeping you safe...

Reminders
Places
People
New relationships
Films
Smells
Feelings
Photos
Crowds
Thoughts

And the ways we can avoid can be extra creative too...

We might physically avoid exposing ourselves to these things, we might try to avoid using alcohol, or by keeping ourselves busy or overworking.

Why we avoid and the consequences can be complex and require support from a trusted therapist (Instagram is not a substitute for therapy 😉).





Hypervigilance in SEN parenting... Always thinking one step ahead.Constantly scanning, anticipating and preparing.Unable...
10/08/2026

Hypervigilance in SEN parenting...

Always thinking one step ahead.

Constantly scanning, anticipating and preparing.

Unable to relax, even when there is nothing immediately wrong.

Can you relate?





10/08/2026

My 5 top tips to help with insomnia.

This can be insomnia in general or postpartum insomnia. Postpartum insomnia can be triggered by various factors including general stress of motherhood, hormonal changes, and the sleep disturbances that come with having a baby. It can feel incredibly frustrating when all you want to do is rest, so please be kind to yourself and trust this will pass 🩷

1. Create an environment conducive to sleep. Dark room, black out blinds, comfortable temperature... But most importantly, remove all clocks including your phone 😉

2. Cut the caffeine 8 hours before you plan to go to bed (or completely 😉)... Caffeine + anxiety = poor mix

3. Get in bed when you genuinely feel tired and not too early to 'bank sleep'... Even if you had a rubbish night's sleep the night before 🩷 going to sleep before you're ready can make it harder to fall asleep and in turn create more frustration!

4. Try not to panic 🫠 panic + worrying thoughts = adrenaline. Adrenaline makes us more alert and can take 30 mins to leave our body. More adrenaline = longer to leave our system. Try deep breaths, box breathing, or doing something else for a while like reading to shift your focus of attention.

5. Try these affirmations instead:

🙏🏽My body will sleep when it is ready.
🙏🏽I don't need to sleep right now I just need to rest.
🙏🏽I know I'm having trouble with sleeping at the moment but it will pass.
🙏🏽And even if I don't get as much sleep tonight as I would hope for, I know I will be ok because I trust my body.

💙

Some additional tips:
- Try a decent Magnesium Biglycinate supplement.
- Consider seeking help from a therapist to identify your individual triggers. Instagram does not replace therapy.
- Avoid counting how many hours sleep you've had or logging your sleep if this causes you more worry.

Let me know if you found this helpful 🩷





POSTPARTUM INSOMNIA.Your baby is sleeping.So why can’t you?You're exhausted. You finally have the opportunity to rest. B...
10/08/2026

POSTPARTUM INSOMNIA.

Your baby is sleeping.
So why can’t you?

You're exhausted. You finally have the opportunity to rest. But your mind won't switch off. All you want to do is sleep, but sleep won't come.

Your mind feels loud. Constant thoughts about how tired you are and how much you NEED to sleep are on a loop.

You're feeling the pressure, willing yourself to sleep. You know you're exhausted but now you feel wide awake.

You feel on edge. You’re watching the clock. 30 minutes have passed. 1 hour has passed. You cannot get comfortable. Constantly getting up to go to the toilet. You're panicking now because more time has passed and still sleep will not come.

It's a horrible cycle to get stuck in and can feel impossible to get out of.

But I promise you, it can get better.

Postpartum Insomnia is rarely talked about... if this is something that resonates with you, I'd genuinely be interested to hear from you about your experiences (whether it's a like, share or private message!)

And stayed tuned for ways to help change this cycle 🫶🏽





World Breastfeeding WeekEveryone's journey is different, and that's ok 🩷I've had two very different breastfeeding experi...
10/08/2026

World Breastfeeding Week

Everyone's journey is different, and that's ok 🩷

I've had two very different breastfeeding experiences - one was quite frankly traumatic, and the other was strangely plain sailing.

So let me tell you this... If you struggled, if you weren't able to, if you had to prioritise your mental health or your family and stop, it wasn't because of you or anything you did or didn't do. You haven't 'failed'. And it also doesn't matter.

If seeing anything about breastfeeding is difficult for you right now, that's ok. Maybe take a break from socials or reset your algorithm. Whatever you need to do 🩷





Just checking on all the mums who put too much pressure on themselves to do it all, create the perfect day, the best sum...
02/08/2026

Just checking on all the mums who put too much pressure on themselves to do it all, create the perfect day, the best summer...

Take a load off babes, it's Sunday.

xx





Three signs perfectionism might be making parenting harder...🌿 1. You’re always trying to create the “perfect day”You pl...
01/08/2026

Three signs perfectionism might be making parenting harder...

🌿 1. You’re always trying to create the “perfect day”

You plan action-packed days out because you want to make the most of your time together.

A meltdown or change of plan can leave you feeling disappointed or frustrated.

A quiet day at home might even leave you feeling guilty — like you should be doing more.

Pressure to make memories can make it harder to actually enjoy the ordinary moments.

🌿 2. You put pressure on yourself to respond “perfectly”

You have an idealist version of how the perfect parent should be.

You want to be calm, patient and emotionally available. So when you lose your patience, raise your voice or don’t respond in the way you’d hoped, the self-criticism kicks in:

“I should have handled that better.”
“I’ve messed that up.”

It's good to have high standards for how we parent... Until it leaves no room for being human, making mistakes.

🌿 3. Whatever you do, it rarely feels like enough

You can spend the whole day meeting everyone’s needs and still end it thinking about what you didn’t do.

Not enough quality time.
Too much screen time.
Not enough patience.
Should have played more.
Should have been more present.

Perfectionism has a habit of moving the goalposts. You compare yourself to others... "Their weekends look wholesome... their children are cooperative."

🩷 In CBT, we might become curious about the rules and assumptions underneath this pressure:

“I should make the most of every day.”
“I should always be patient.”
“I must to get this right.”
"My children should have a happy childhood."

Parenting is unpredictable and messy. There will be ordinary days, disappointed children, lost patience and plans that go completely out of the window.

Maybe the alternative to perfect parenting is good-enough parenting.

A space for mistakes, flexibility and being human.
Days that are ordinary.
Plans that don’t work out.
Children who are unhappy sometimes.
Parents who occasionally get it wrong.

Bring back 90s parenting I say 🩷





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