In the news

The government’s ‘Be Ready’ campaign asks households to prepare for three days of disruption. Sensible advice, but for some people a vague ‘what if’ can switch a background worry up to something very loud. A counsellor’s look at emergency preparedness anxiety: why unspecific warnings feel bigger, how to tell preparing from living on edge, what research says about feeling capable, and who finds this hardest.

Mental Health UK's latest Burnout Report found that two in five workers aged 18-24 took time off this year due to stress, nearly double the rate overall. This isn't about young workers being less resilient — it's about money worries, redundancy fears, isolation, and an early-career stigma that keeps struggling hidden. This piece also looks at Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs), a genuinely useful, confidential resource many workers don't realise they already have.

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. This year's theme, Changing the Narrative on Suicide, asks us to simply start the conversation. Almost three in four people who've experienced suicidal thoughts have had them interrupted, most often by someone close to them noticing and saying something. Here's a gentle, resource-focused look at why that conversation matters, how to have it well, and where to find support if you need it today.

A client recently mentioned using AI between our sessions to research something we'd discussed — and I didn't mind at all. It got me looking properly at what the research says about AI and therapy: real evidence of benefit for purpose-built tools and between-session support, alongside genuine, well-documented risks around crisis handling, over-reliance, and young people in particular. Here's a balanced, evidence-based look at where it helps, where it doesn't, and why I'm not

Andy Burnham became PM the same week my professional body called for counselling to be treated as core NHS infrastructure. This isn't about politics — it's about a harder truth: GPs aren't the problem, and short-term therapy genuinely helps many people. But even the community charities built to offer something longer-term are being squeezed into the same brief model, leaving people with deep-seated, longstanding issues fewer places to turn.