Sian Thompson Counselling

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15/03/2026

Sending a quiet hug to anyone who needs one 🤍

Happy International Women's Day 🤍
08/03/2026

Happy International Women's Day 🤍

10/01/2026

People-pleasing isn’t always saying yes to everything or putting everyone else first.

Sometimes it looks like:

• over-explaining yourself
• feeling guilty for resting
• worrying you’ve upset someone when you haven’t
• replaying conversations in your head
• avoiding difficult conversations at all costs
• agreeing just to keep the peace
• feeling responsible for other people’s emotions
• struggling to ask for help
• feeling anxious when someone seems distant
• being “low maintenance” so you don’t feel like a burden

Many people learn these patterns early on as a way of staying safe or connected. At the time, they made sense.

But over time, people-pleasing can leave you exhausted, anxious and constantly scanning for approval instead of checking in with yourself and what it is that you need.

Getting people-pleasing under control isn’t about becoming selfish or uncaring.
It’s about learning that your needs, feelings, and boundaries matter too.

And no...you don’t have to stop being kind to do that 💛

29/12/2025

People who are kind, empathetic, and conscientious often struggle the most in narcissistic or toxic family systems.

Not because they’re weak, but because they have a conscience. They reflect. They care deeply about the impact they have on others. They try to do the right thing, even when it costs them.

In families where emotional safety isn’t present, those qualities can slowly be turned against you. Your empathy becomes “over-sensitivity”. Your need for honesty is labelled as being dramatic or difficult. Your boundaries are reframed as cruelty or rejection. Over time, you may be led to believe that you are the problem.

One of the most painful parts of these dynamics, especially when a parent is involved, is the rewriting of the narrative. Who you are gets distorted. Your intentions are questioned. Your character is slowly chipped away at.

For some people, distance or estrangement isn’t a choice at all. They are pushed out, frozen out, or quietly excluded... and then blamed for the separation that follows.

For others, distance is a choice made slowly and painfully, after years of trying to make things work. Often it comes after realising that staying means continuing to be hurt, blamed, or diminished.

Both experiences can carry enormous guilt, grief, and self-doubt - particularly when you’ve been told for years that you’re selfish, ungrateful, or “too much”.

Please hear this... people who are genuinely unkind rarely spend this much time questioning whether they’re the problem.

Your empathy is not the issue.
Your boundaries are not cruelty.
And whether distance was forced or chosen, it does not mean you failed as a son or daughter.

You are allowed to hold onto what you know to be true about yourself -even when someone else has tried to rewrite the story 🤍

The festive period can be hard for a lot of people - even when it looks like it 'should' be joyful.For some, this time o...
28/12/2025

The festive period can be hard for a lot of people - even when it looks like it 'should' be joyful.

For some, this time of year brings up complicated feelings around family.

That might mean managing difficult relationships, feeling pressure to keep the peace, or carrying a sense of sadness, guilt, or dread.

For others, it can be hard in a different way, because there is distance or estrangement from family.

That absence can bring its own mix of emotions:
• grief
• relief
• loneliness
• or a feeling of being “out of step” with what everyone else seems to be celebrating.

If you’re someone who tends to put others first, this season can be especially exhausting.

Old expectations resurface.
Emotions feel closer to the surface.
And it can be difficult to honour your own needs without feeling selfish.

If you’re finding this time of year difficult, there’s nothing wrong with you and you're most definitely not on your own in the way you feel.

Your feelings make sense in the context of your experiences.

You’re allowed to take things at your own pace.
You’re allowed to protect your energy.
And you’re allowed to feel however you feel about it 🤍

If you’ve spent years putting other people first, setting boundaries can feel deeply uncomfortable.Guilt often shows up ...
18/12/2025

If you’ve spent years putting other people first, setting boundaries can feel deeply uncomfortable.

Guilt often shows up quickly, even when you know logically that what you’re doing is reasonable.

That guilt doesn’t mean you’re being unkind or selfish. It often comes from old patterns where keeping the peace felt safer than expressing your needs 🤎

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