No Ho Ho?

Getting Through the Festive Season with Social Anxiety  I wrote about Social Anxiety in the October 2017 edition of Forrest Rambles and thought that now was a good time to re-visit the topic with a focus on how to get through the festive season. Social Anxiety is an excessive fear of embarrassing yourself and being … Read more

Q&A: Compassion Focused Therapy

Last month saw the release of my first book review and now it’s time for my first Q&A session!  I’m grateful to Tobyn Bell for agreeing to be my ‘guinea pig’ for this, particularly as he is so busy right now traveling around Australia and New Zeland talking about Compassion Focused Therapy. Compassion Focused Therapy … Read more

Health Anxiety

Cancer newspaper

As we have seen from previous editions of Forrest Rambles, anxiety can take many forms, from social anxiety to panic disorder, specific phobias, and obsessive compulsive disorder. Today we turn our attention to health anxiety, which is defined as an excessive fear of having or developing a serious illness. You may have heard health anxiety … Read more

Let’s Get Physical!

Cycling picture

Sport has been all around us recently, with the World Cup, Wimbledon and the Tour de France.  Inspired by this, I’ve decided to use the August Ramble to explore the benefits of physical activity for our mental health. At school I was never the sporty type, but when I was at University and struggling with … Read more

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Girl looking in mirror

This month, inspired by the recent BBC documentary ‘Ugly Me’, I’m exploring Body Dysmorphic Disorder.  Everyone involved in the filming of ‘Ugly Me’ was so courageous, and the programme gave a good insight into the condition and what can be done to help people overcome it. Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD for short), tends to be … Read more

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Neat objects

This month I’m exploring a problem I see a lot of in my clinical work – obsessive compulsive disorder (or OCD for short).  Despite the many Channel 4 documentaries on all things OCD, and the great work that various charities do to dispel the stigma around it, this still, in my opinion, remains one of … Read more

Stress

Stressed Man

Firstly, allow me to say a ‘Happy 1st Birthday’ to Forrest Rambles!  I’ve been writing this blog now for twelve months, and during that time we’ve explored a variety of topics, including what CBT is, depression, social anxiety, mindfulness and the power of love!  May 14th-20th is Mental Health Awareness Week, and the topic for … Read more

Mindfulness

Woman meditating

Welcome to the April edition of Forrest Rambles.  Today I’m going to be looking at Mindfulness as this is a really popular topic at the moment, and it’s recommended by NICE Guidelines as an effective treatment for recurrent depression. I’ve been interested in meditation for about twenty years now, and practice mindfulness on a daily … Read more