International Women’s Day – What I've Learned About Women, As A Male Therapist

Today is International Women’s Day.

I’m a male therapist, and over the course of my career around 80% of my clients have been women.

That wasn’t what I expected or planned when I first opened my practice.

When I start...

There is one principle that sits underneath everything I teach.

Nervous system pressure is the accumulated strain your brain and body are managing at any given time.

When nervous system pressure increases, conscious capacity and control narrow.

When conscious capacity and control narrow, behaviou...

This Saturday: A Different Conversation About Men’s Mental Health

This Saturday I’ll be speaking at the Men’s Mental Health Awareness Day. 

I will be talking for about 45 mins from 2:30pm at

The King's Head
41 Victoria Place
Brightlingsea
Colchester
CO7 0HT

I won’t be talking about “opening up more”.

Stress, Anxiety & Nervous System Function

Why This Is Now the Starting Point of My Work

Over the last ten years in practice, I’ve found myself returning to the same question.

Why do so many different problems seem to travel together?

Anxiety.
Burnout.
Low mood.
Weight gain.
Procrastination.
Poor...

The A–Z of Stress & Anxiety

A Nervous System Function–First Approach

For many people, stress, anxiety, low mood, burnout, procrastination, cravings, sleep disruption and relationship strain appear as separate problems.

We look for coping tools when anxiety rises.
We count calories when weight cha...

Z – Zoned Out

Introduction

Within The A–Z of Stress & Anxiety, each letter represents a different doorway into understanding how the nervous system expresses pressure. Some entries describe activation, tension, panic, or urgency. Others describe something quieter and more difficult to name.

Zoned...

Y – “You Don’t Understand What It’s Like” – Relationships

Introduction

Within The A–Z of Stress & Anxiety, each letter names a familiar doorway into distress. Some entries are physical, such as tension or sleeplessness. Others are cognitive, such as rumination or questioning.

This letter turns to...

X – Stress, Anxiety, Libido and Sex Drive

Introduction

Within The A–Z of Stress & Anxiety, each letter represents a different doorway into understanding how our internal system responds to pressure. Some entries are cognitive. Others are emotional or behavioural. This one is physiological and rela...

V – Vagus Nerve

Introduction

In this A–Z of Stress & Anxiety, each letter names a common doorway into understanding how the human system responds under pressure. Some entries focus on thoughts. Others on behaviour, mood, or fatigue.

This letter turns our attention to the body.

The vagus nerve si...

U – Uncertainty

Introduction

Within The A–Z of Stress & Anxiety, each letter represents a common doorway into understanding how our internal system is functioning. Stress and anxiety do not always present as panic or obvious fear. Sometimes they arrive more quietly, as doubt, hesitation, or a loss...

T – Tension (physical)

Introduction

Within The A–Z of Stress & Anxiety, each letter reflects a common way stress first becomes noticeable. Not always as panic or worry, but often as something far more ordinary and easier to dismiss.

Physical tension is one of the most frequent entry points. Tight...

S – Sleeplessness and Stress

Introduction

This entry sits under S in The A–Z of Stress & Anxiety, a project that treats stress and anxiety not as faults to correct, but as signals from an internal system responding to load, pressure, and perceived threat.

Sleeplessness is one of the most common w...