Letters From Therapy Podcast

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.comWelcome to The Bloom Sessions! And an extra warm welcome to new subscribers! Here we can gently explore your inner world with therapeutic journaling and self discovery exercises. Let’s release unhelpful patterns, challenge limiting beliefs and foster healing, change, and personal growth!Hi friendsI’m popping an extra post in this week because one of my paid members requested a post about self-acceptance, so I thought I’d re-share this one from last year, with a few edits.One of you requested to listen to audio for my posts, which made me realise you may not be aware that if you get the Substack app there is audio for every single one of my paid posts, if you prefer to listen instead.These requests came through my reader survey, so if you haven’t yet responded, you still can here, and I’d be grateful for all your thoughts and feedback, so I can make letters from therapy really good for you!And don’t forget you can get all my Winter Roots posts here, the last one is on Sunday, with thoughts, guided meditations, exercises and therapeutic journalling to set you up for the year ahead. Now on to today’s post!For many of us, January can be the hardest month of the year in the northern hemisphere. It’s cold, dark, damp and long. Despite this, I enjoy taking time to rest, as get tingles as I look forward at this threshold time. I sip extra tea as I tap away at my keyboard, my knees cosy under a blanket, my toes tucked inside fluffy new slippers while I dream and cook up plans.This turning point in a year is a great time to start practicing radical self acceptance, which is our topic today.Radical Self AcceptanceOver the last few years, adjusting to my changing body after Long Covid left me feeling vulnerable and frustrated. For a long time, and even now I found myself unable to do many of the things that I used to, including ordinary tasks, taking trips easily, and having to stop my work as a therapist, effecting my finances and sense of security. In the past, crippling grief, subsequent divorce, and the silent ostracism that followed left me feeling low. At times, my inability to meet anyones expectations, including my own, has brought overwhelming emotions. There’s a lot to push away. On the back of all this, I know am also strong, kind, more creative than ever, and I know I also have so much beauty and joy in my life, and in myself. That includes my writing here, and the community it has brought.I bet you hold so much in your heart too. This is what being human is.I could beat myself up about my shortcomings, my ‘failures’ and when I was younger, I did. Or I can practice radical self-acceptance. Radical self-acceptance is the practice of fully embracing who you are, including your strengths, flaws, and everything in between.What Stops Us Accepting Ourselves?I don’t push myself or my experiences away.Self-acceptance is often hindered by deeply ingrained beliefs of how we should be, from family, teachers, friends or even made-up stuff of our own. We may feel pressure from societal expectations, our culture, what we see and hear online, or that pesky inner critic that convinces us we need to be "better" to be worthy. (Meet mine, Brenda, here).This mindset creates unnecessary suffering and keeps us stuck in cycles of shame and self-rejection. We must learn to confront these internal barriers with compassion, mindfulness, and an understanding that our worth is inherent, not conditional.Radical self-acceptance frees us from the exhausting pursuit of perfection, allowing us to live more authentically, despite everything.These tips and therapeutic journaling prompts are designed to help you explore and deepen your relationship with yourself, through the lens of radical acceptance.“Change occurs when one becomes what he is, not when he tries to become what he is not.” Arnold BeisserBut How Can I Accept Myself When I Am So Obviously Flawed?Fully accepting yourself doesn’t mean ignoring or excusing harmful behaviours, or pretending you don’t have flaws. Instead, it involves recognising and holding space for your humanness — your strengths, weaknesses, mistakes, and efforts to grow —without shame.How to Navigate Self-Acceptance When You Have Done "Bad Things"See the original post for the full session! Kate x

I’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about mental health and self-discovery, for you to flourish in a life you love. When we cultivate compassion, resilience and understanding, we also create a more harmonious world. Upgrade here for personal growth tools, therapeutic journaling and exercises, and if you’d like to support my work. Thanks for being here!Hi friends,It’s grief awareness week in the UK this week, and this time of year, with all the festivities and pressure, is when grief can feel the most profound. Grief is one of life’s most challenging experiences, and it’s likely to come to us all. Yet it’s often misunderstood or avoided.Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a relationship, or even a part of ourselves, grief can feel overwhelming and isolating. Understanding the many forms grief can take, and how it impacts our lives, is the first step toward healing.If you’ve ever struggled to make sense of your own grief, or to support someone else through theirs, read on. You’re not alone, and there is hope in understanding it, and rebuilding a bright future.The Dangers of Unresolved GriefHere in the UK, many of us are still bad at addressing grief, preferring to sweep it under the carpet, or striving for the impossible stiff upper lip (suitable for only those with limited emotional capacity). It works until it doesn’t. Because of this attitude, I hid while I was grieving, to protect others from it. It’s not healthy.If we don’t address and give space to our grief, it can silently take root within us, creating a deep emotional wound that refuses to heal. Unprocessed grief lingers, as sadness, anger, and numbness creep into every corner of our lives. It weighs on our hearts, clouds our minds, and disconnects us from the people and experiences that once brought us joy. Over time, it can harden into resentment or despair, leaving us feeling stuck, unable to move forward, and haunted by a loss that remains unresolved.We may develop issues reintegrating, feel shame, develop depression, anxiety, substance misuse, even physical illness. When we don’t give ourselves the space to grieve, we deny ourselves the chance to heal, and the pain grows heavier.The goal of these posts and therapeutic journaling prompts is to explore and normalise our wide-ranging experiences of grief. The music of our life doesn’t always have to play in a minor key.Here, we can explore griefs challenges, the impact of your loss on you, and use our understanding to help rebuild your life with a sense of meaning.Life After LossI planned to share a photo of a book about grief I bought twenty years ago here, as it illustrates my own complicated grief journey. Naturally I have mislaid it, but it is a book about grief, covered in glittery stickers. I read Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s book On Grief And Grieving in the months after my third baby Holly died in my arms. I had bought it four years earlier when my first baby Rosie was stillborn, but I hadn’t before been able to find the courage to open it.The book cover is decorated in little glittery stickers of cupcakes, kittens and rainbows that my daughter, a toddler at the time, stuck all over it with her tiny, grubby fingers, as I stole a moment to read. She is now at university sticking post it notes in her psychology text books with cleaner hands.While I wanted to stop the world and get off, my only living daughter, bright with life and curiosity, claimed her birthright of my love and attention. I wanted life to stand still. She would not and could not let me.Her cute chubby cheeks would press against mine, leaving smears of wetness, while I smiled through badly hidden tears. My heart stretched across the whole universe, the cavernous, dark emptiness battled with that deep love. My fractured heart still pumped life through me, while my living cherub brought me tiny cups of invisible air-tea.I never looked down at my empty body, hardly at all, for three more years.Elizabeth Kübler-Ross wrote her sticker-covered book ‘On Grief and Grieving’ while she was dying of terminal cancer. She had already supported thousands of people facing their own deaths, and the death of others, both in her work and in her earlier book, ‘On Death and Dying.’After strengthening my psyche in my first three year counselling training, and the compulsory therapy throughout, I was now, at least, able to open the book.We all experience grief differently, for different reasons and during different parts of our lives. At some point, we must acknowledge that all our loved ones will die. You and I too. Everyone. This may sound morbid but I remind you so you can claim your life. Embracing this fact can bring us a greater sense of purpose.Grief: Who; What; How; WhenGrief Can Feel IsolatingOur grief is never the same as another’s, and we must respect these differences. Siblings have different relationships to their parents from each other (siblings in the same family never have the same childhood). Friends have different relationships with each other. One partner may grieve differently to a lost child than the other.It’s often hard when people say ‘How are you?’ After loss. You have to collude with the absurdity of the question. How can we answer such a question, with intense, crushing pain knotted though our brains? I advise telling the truth.I enjoyed reading this post by Melissa about what to say to someone who is grieving here in her post Tactical Kindness.Disenfranchised GriefWhen our grief is not validated by others, like when I lost my first baby in late pregnancy, or through childlessness (see Jody Day and Afterglow by Katie Dunn) - there’s a double whammy while we cope without support or recognition.One family member called me selfish during an intense wave of grief sometime later, when I was at rock bottom and unable to cope. Talking to my then therapist about my grief for my baby she said to me:‘Can’t you just do something else?’Really?There are those emotionally attached to a public figure they never met who died, or had an affair with the deceased so were unwelcome at the funeral, or feel intense grief for an ex partner or a beloved pet.Sandra Pawula writes about the death of her cat in her post Finding the Beauty in Loss Wild Arisings by Sandra Pawula , and Emma Lightfoot researched the meaning of grief to pet owners.Complicated GriefWe may experience ‘prolonged grief’ and struggle to move forward long after the loss. Intense longing, disbelief, and inability to engage in daily life persist beyond what is expected, interfering with normal functioning.This may arise from being very dependant on the deceased, like a spouse or parent, a sudden or traumatic loss, having no social support, or the presence of previous mental health issues.Maybe we have a history of trauma, like prior abuse or neglect, so a complicated relationship with the deceased, or ambivalence, or other unresolved conflicts. We may feel delighted that a horrible person passed away, and unable to express this as they were squeaky clean in public, and treated us differently to everyone else. We might shout ‘good riddance’ in the kitchen when no-one is listening.Perhaps we lost someone to suicide. Should we have done something differently?If our loved one died after an accident we were involved in, we may also feel survivor guilt.If the death was traumatic for them or us, or despicable, like murder, manslaughter, or medical negligence, our shattered minds may find it even harder to piece any sense together in the aftermath.Delayed GriefSometimes grief only appears years or decades later. Maybe because other things were in the foreground, we were traumatised, we were so busy with work or family issues, bringing up small children, or anything that prevented us being ready to feel those powerful emotions.My own grief waves still come, twenty years on, though only a few times a year now, not a few times a day.The Absence of GriefI’ve had therapy clients feel nothing when a close relative died, and that’s fine. Perhaps it will come one day, and perhaps it won’t. It really is fine. If you aren’t strongly attached to someone, or if dying for them is ‘right’ like a very elderly person who lived a beautiful life. Honour and accept your feelings as they are, not how you or others think they should be.Grief without DeathGrief is about loss, not death. We may experience grief when a relationship ends, when we lose a friend, a job, our home, or through periods of change. We can lose someone we love to a partner we dislike, through relocation, to alcohol or drug abuse, to mental illness, Alzheimer’s or dementia, or an extreme ideology. Some may grieve when a close relative or friend transitions to a different gender identity. Even though we may accept them as they are wholeheartedly, we may still feel loss.Visit Alexis Damen for her letter to Alzheimer’s and Edie Morgan who writes on the same topic.Kate Stirling wrote about the grief she experienced after her divorce, something I experienced too.There is the grief for your troubled country bombed to ruins, or profound shifts in culture or politics, as many of us experience across the world now.And what if you were never loved as you should have been, or you hadn’t had the childhood you deserved? We must mourn this loss, so we can rebuild, and re-write our story.Grief For Our Lost FutureLife is full of sliding doors. I wrote about how my life changed over time, after loosing my babies shortly after marriage in an early post here (it is personal, so for paid subscribers). When loss is life changing, there are added layers of grief, and a seismic adjustment to a new life.Anticipatory GriefWhen we know someone will die, we may experience the bereavement in advance of the death we know is coming, bringing grief forward. Anne writes about her husbands degenerative brain disease in her The Future Widow publication.Secondary LossesThese are the ripple effects of a primary loss, such as the repercussions after the death of a spouse or ch

I’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about personal growth, for you to flourish in a life you love! Upgrade here for the Bloom Sessions, The Soulful Metamorphosis series, the Heal Your Past series and to support my work! 🤍Gratitude that Lights the Dark ✨Hi friends When Otis Redding lost everything, had nowhere to turn, and nothing to live for, he later wrote about it as he sat on the famous dock of the bay.I left my home in GeorgiaHeaded for the Frisco Bay'Cause I've had nothing to live forAnd look like nothing's gonna come my waySo, I'm just gon' sit on the dock of the bayWatchin' the tide roll away, oohI'm sittin' on the dock of the bayWastin' time What is There to Be Grateful For?The power of practicing gratitude is splashed across the internet like tiny flowers growing from cracks in the tarmac as you wait for the bus on a rainy Monday morning.But how can you feel grateful when you’ve just been dumped? Or your family don’t appreciate you. Maybe you’re in pain, and no-one seems to care. Your daughter says there are paedos in the Library, and is that mould growing up there? Why am I so tired all the time? Why will no one buy my stuff? And anyway, the world is in chaos and we are all going to die, so what’s the point?Maybe for you, gratitude can just f*ck right off, and take Otis’ insufferable ear-worm and this post with it. I have no argument with this if it’s working for you.Looks like nothing's gonna changeEverything still remains the sameI can't do what ten people tell me to doSo I guess I'll remain the same … Otis ReddingChanging The StoryTaking care of our mental health needs work because not only did all those shitty things happen to us, our modern, global, news-informed life is totally unnatural. It is not what we evolved for: the whole world is too big for our small brains. The internet imposes impossible expectations on us. Many of us lost the care of ‘the village’ generations ago, and we may never have had our emotional needs met.After Pandora did the biggest oops in mythological history, she watched in terror as all evil spiralled from the box she had opened and out into the skies and across the world.Her regret may well have lit with gratitude when hope glinted out from the bottom of the box.Our minds are unruly, though adaptive. We have agency over how we see and respond to life’s happenings. Yes, there is loads do, and conversations to have, and no, life isn’t fair. All those things happened and are happening, but you can face it all better when you’re enveloped in the shimmering swirls of your own gratitude.We can recalibrate our minds negativity bias (maybe you heard that our mind sees things six times worse than they are). This evolved to keep us safe, though most of us are safer than our inner lizard-brain self knows. Gratitude is one way to let it know.It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.Cultivating Gratitude with Difficult Emotions* If your mood is low, acknowledge your feelings. Get support from an understanding friend or a professional. Review your thoughts and behaviour, in case you can make a change. Be kind to yourself. Experiment with finding things to be grateful for, in amongst the pain, like those flowers in the cracks.* Cultivating gratitude can bring up regret, for the wasted energy focussed on trivial things, bearing grudges, material possessions, a sense of entitlement. Or there’s unaddressed addiction, the sloth of wallowing, the cruelty of comparison or your disregard of your own beautiful self.* When practicing gratitude, notice any unhelpful scripts, patterns, stories and thoughts that come up. Greet them with curiosity and loving kindness, like you would a moody child with a sore finger. Write them out ready to explore.* Perhaps the safety of gratitude makes a space for hidden rage, sadness, difficult memories, or grief that need your attention. Once we are aware, we can heal, move through it, and let it go.The things we are grateful for are our soft landing when we fall.When you go into a garden, do you spend more time looking at thorns or flowers?Finding the LightCarl Rogers, who founded person centred counselling and psychotherapy working with post-war traumatised veterans in the 1950’s, taught us how a forgotten, solitary potato left in a dark shed will grow a shoot towards a tiny crack of light.Gratitude Builds ResilienceIf praying to Saint Jude, the Patron Saint of Lost Causes isn’t working, gratitude will strengthen your tired soul with its bright light.* Gratitude is oil that prevents the corrosion of dark, sabotaging thoughts.* It kisses our self pity goodbye.* Gratitude replaces shame with love.* Gratitude lights our pathway through the darkness.* Gratitude shifts lack into abundance.* If you tend to catastrophize everything, gratitude gives you balance.* Gratitude is generosity.* Gratitude is free.When we embrace what we have, rather than focusing on what we don’t, we build resilience to cope with hard things. Gratitude helps us do hard things.We can sing songs, instead of just rolling off the dock of the bay, and plopping into the sea.“We cannot direct the winds, but we can adjust the sails.” Irish ProverbGratitude Beckons Winds of ChangeChange can feel scary. It can threaten those who wish us to stay the same, including ourselves.The caterpillar’s unforeseen crisis while her body reorganises into a chrysalis is forced to embrace the terrifying unknown. She has to let go.To let it be.You know the end of that story. 🦋Gilding My Life with Daily GratitudeWhen my newborn baby with dodgy genes lay dying peacefully in my arms, twenty years ago, I gave her the middle name ‘Joy.’ I was so grateful and joyful to be able to hold her, if only for a moment, and for her to show me how lucky I am to exist at all.My daily gratitude practice gilds the difficult parts of my life. I say six things I am grateful for out loud as I sip my morning coffee every day. It is six, to counter the pesky negativity bias. This works for me, though if you’re more organised than I am, and want to drill it in, write it in a little book. Then you will have a beautiful collection of wonderful things, to light your way when darkness falls.Otis Redding died in a tragic accident a few days after recording Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay. He didn’t know it would be a unshakeable hit, and intended to re-record it as it wasn’t even finished. He never knew about the millions of tapping feet he’d set off, or the fifty years of novice whistlers he’d free. He didn’t know how much he inspired us to appreciate how beautiful everything is, even when all is lost.What six things are you grateful for today?I am so grateful for you. Thank you for being here! Don’t forget to press the heart, to let me know you’re reading! It really helps.Much loveKateP.S. See how far you’ve come!On Sunday, our paid post is about learning from regrets and abandoned dreams. See you then? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com/subscribe

I’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about personal growth, for you to flourish in a life you love! Upgrade here for the Bloom Sessions and to support my work! 🤍 Dear friends,Before we get into today’s post, my updated 80 page Intentional Living Workbook to keep forever is still on offer with 60% off! If you feel stuck and ready for actionable self-discovery work to feel clear and confident in every aspect of your life. Click to learn more.🌿Download Your 80 Page Intentional Living Workbook here!Back to today! If you’re here reading this, I guess you may be a deep thinker like me. I’m often reflecting about atoms and earth, time and space, love and souls, and why my neighbour pretended she didn’t see me last week.In between, I wonder where all the odd socks are, if dusty corners are acceptable in society, and what ‘fridge surprise’ to cook for dinner.If your head is often in the clouds, you’ll need to keep your feet on the ground. This giant rock we live on has produced life, including yours and mine. Let’s not forget about our ancestors who go back thousands of years, who used the earth for homes, food, shelter and inspiration - as we do now, though more intimately, and elementally, with their hands dirty.When loved ones die, we sprinkle earth into their graves, or scatter their dust into the winds. Maybe you’ve done this too. We send them back to nature where they came from, rejoining them with the earth that bore them.Modern life is a far cry from how our ancient ancestors lived, for both good and bad, and far from what our minds and bodies evolved for.When we are distressed, we can detach from our beloved earth and spiral in thought and feeling, losing ourselves in intense emotion. Chaos reigns.Though horrible, this is normal, as our psyche reorganises against an event, a change, a realisation, an intense bereavement. Our mind’s structure sometimes needs to go through a seismic shift, like mine did after my little babies died all those years ago.The pain is what we feel while our mind updates to a new reality. It can feel like a volcano erupting as tectonic plates shift against each other, and form a new structure.It’s not normal if we feel like that all the time, like those who suffer with anxiety disorder, or because they have become so engrossed in a story of life that they are detached from reality. (In extreme cases, this is the chaos of psychosis).When there is an earthquake, people often feel like they are going crazy, as they feel the ground beneath their feet literally move and yet it is still there.When life is unstable, you don’t have to be.I know many of you enjoyed my ‘30 Second Calm Reset’ post, and the ‘The World Will Hold You,’ to make good use of your breath and your senses, to make sure you keep your s**t together.Todays post is another simple tool if, like me, your head is often on the clouds, or if things get on top of you (and I don’t mean the missing socks).Grounding with your Feet ExerciseThis simple exercise cuts through spiralling thoughts and dis-regulated emotion, whether there is an obvious cause or not. It is another quick way to become present, wherever you are. You can read it, then try it.Stand up if you can. Feel your feet weighted on the solid ground as it supports you. Notice the strength of the earth beneath you. Notice the point of contact between your feet: toes, heels, soles, and the ground.Imagine the earth’s strength rising into you. Notice the strength of your own body - your feet, your legs, hips, spine, torso, all grounded in this space, tall and strong with the earths energy rising up through you.If you are sitting, you can feel the ground and the support of the chair beneath you. Do this for a minute or three. At home, at work, in the forest or with chaos all around you.(Bonus points if you do this outside in bare feet!)That’s it.You and your earth, strong, solid, together, made of the same stardust. You, swirling too with your unique and beautiful life and soul.Thanks for reading! Let me know your here by pressing the like. So, how did you find it? Tell us how you got on in the comments? Do you know any other grounding techniques that help you? With love,KateP.S. Feel free to share this post or restack on Substack. This helps me reach more people who may enjoy this! 🌿Get the updated 80 page Intentional Living Workbook here! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com/subscribe

I’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about personal growth, for you to flourish in a life you love! Upgrade here for the Bloom Sessions and to support my work! 🤍Hi friends,This was my most popular post last year, so I thought you might like to read it again!When dark forces swirled around my life, I became a good catcher. I wasn’t always. As curveballs flew around me, like redundancy, loss, ostracism, and bullying, I got buried under the rubble.Not now.We know life is beautiful, though studded with unpredictable shocks and crushing disappointments. With grief. With pain. Abuse and mistreatment in our own lives and around the world march on. The turning of blind eyes twists the dagger. We can end up with lurking unfinished business (see my recent posts) if we aren’t able to cope well.If we lack resilience it can be hard to come back from the edge and find ourselves again.When I lost my babies all those years ago, the whole of existence tumbled through my soul at once, Dante’s Inferno raging inside, while I stumbled on with my pasted-on smile.In my young life, I never imagined I would be the unlikely statistic who walked out of the maternity ward to a chorus of newborn babies crying, while my own daughter’s body was wheeled to the morgue.I would never have predicted that I would be the one people turned away from. That I would one day be bullied, by a psychotherapist, no less.I couldn’t have predicted that it would be me, a healthy-eating, running yogi, who developed a new disease with no treatment after a once in a life time pandemic.How can we build resilience to survive the hard things we experience and have our souls still sing?By creating a safe ground for ourselves, we can stand strong while lava shifts the sands around our feet, until we find our way forward.How Can We Build Our Resilience in an Uncertain World?* We could make sure we feel good enough.It takes work in our modern world to fully accept ourselves, which is why I share all this with you.* We could make sure we are well regulated.We have strong bones. We have flexible muscles and soft tissue. Tendons and brain. All fed by a network of nerves signalling to us truth - and lies. If your nervous system is still reacting to the past, stay regulated and come home to the wonder that is your body, with my free Simple Tools including Grounding with your Feet, the Simple Calm Breathing Reset, or Anchoring With Your Senses, all to connect with and regulate your body. (I also keep a window of tolerance PDF on the therapy tools page.)* We could reach out for support.We don’t need to do it all alone. Understanding friends, who bring their light to the world too, through their own cracks will light you up.* We could strengthen our boundaries.Once we are aware of ourselves and our needs, we don’t need to be candles in the wind. We can find our edges. Our limits. And tell them to the world. This gives us freedom. We can check in with our emotions to find where to draw the line. I don’t take on clients now, but I do love to write. I don’t drink or go out for expensive meals, but who doesn’t like a free dog walk or a coffee and a chat?* We could keep an open mind.Who knows what the wind will blow into our lives. Dirt or butterflies, let’s be ready for it all. Life rarely turns out the way we planned. There are no neat lines here.* We could celebrate our wins.I embrace my unconventional, oddly shaped life now, rather than hiding. We could remind ourselves that we are valuable by acknowledging what we bring to the world as we did on my last post Celebrate Your Gifts and Contributions.* We could get clear on what we can and can’t control.This is the key to riding the waves of uncertainty, and limiting pain. (Paid subscribers see the PDF on the Therapy Tools page).* We could shift into gratitude.I could focus on my babies in limbo, lost to the depths of time, or on my beautiful, living daughter, bright with hope. Read about gratitude that lights the dark on my Substack.* We could look for the good in others.We could see their inner Mother Teresa, Christ, Allah or Buddha, and find them in ourselves.There is so much more good in the world than bad.There is light.There is hope.There is kindness.Feed what you want to growIf your mind hasn’t caught up with events from the past, I have so many materials that help, like the Bloom Sessions and the Heal Your Past series.If you enjoyed this, please press the heart to let me know you are reading - it really helps me! And please share if you think it may help someone else.What can you do today to strengthen your resilience? What has helped you recover in hard times?Much love,KateP.S. If you’d like to keep reading and support my work, please consider upgrading. “You could search the whole world over and find no-one more deserving of your love and compassion than yourself.” Buddha This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com“A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.” AnonJoin me for this beautiful 15 minute guided meditation to renew your body and soul with the abundant energy of the sun. At the time of the summer solstice when the days are at the longest and the sun shines its brightest, we reach turning point in the year. We can align ourselves w…

There is a woman in my dreams who lives in a beautiful house in the countryside.A tranquil home with breathtaking views of sweeping hills, where honey stone walls drip with low hanging wisteria, cocooned by its sweet scent. Lush green grass grows in front. The greenhouse and kitchen garden burst with nourishing sustenance.And I wonder: What would a woman who lives here do every day?She writes, and creates art - tinkering in a workshop, or painting and sketching. She tends to her garden. She picks fresh flowers for her table and appreciates their miraculous beauty, filling her lungs with their scent.As she walks with her dog over the rolling hills, the breeze strokes her skin, and the earth’s strength underfoot brings her power. The breathtaking beauty of her surroundings restore her.Her body is well nourished with simple food. She embraces aging with fondness for every new line, bump, or pain. Care is daily stretching, yoga, gentle exercise and rest. She feels fortunate to understand the miracle of her life. She loves her home.Meditation is a daily practice, calming her into a golden, inner bliss.For those who once clipped her wings, she offers forgiveness.She understands her flaws, her limitations, and still works on herself. A moth may land on her heart when memories of all she has lost return.If demons rise, she acknowledges them, and sends them out into the winds. She sings kindness to her past selves, if regret or pain should rear their head.Friends and family enjoy her home too, relaxing, comforting, or belly laughing together. She welcomes soulful wanderers in, in person and in writing, to reenergise and inspire. To shine a light. She provides a place of love, and solace to restore weary hearts.Gratitude is knitted into her life. She acknowledges her good fortune to have enough; to be safe; to be nourished; to be alive.My dream woman’s life is possible for me right now.I am already her when I choose to be, just somewhere else.I am her in a small suburban flat with a tiny garden, earning less than my peers, but with enough. I feel her feelings, her gratitude, her bliss: it is a practice. I create every day, and I write. I notice nature, just in smaller parks and gardens.I already live as she lives.We exist in a world of infinite possibility.Life is a practice.Maybe you too are closer to your dream than you think....more on Substack This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com/subscribe

I’m Kate, a psychotherapist, and I am excited to tell you about my inspiring guided meditations and visualisations to nurture your soul, accept yourself and find deeper meaning.These ten minute meditations will leave you calm, inspired, content, healed, abundant, joyful, confident and full of wisdom and love!See you there! Kate This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com/subscribe

Dear FriendsWhat piece of advice would you give your 18 year old self?I am lucky enough to be a mother to a lovely daughter, and I wrote this letter for her on her 18th birthday last year and wanted to share it again. Loosing two baby girls either side of her made me so much more aware of how lucky I am to be a mother; it is not something I ever take for granted.Now, she is 19, my experience of motherhood has shifted of course. I recall so many mistakes and memories that swirl with my hopes and dreams for her.All those things she didn’t do or have growing up, because I am her mother. My heart sings for all the unexpected things I gave her instead, and what she created for herself. She is wiser than I was, cooler and braver. And she was always safe and loved. She has her own dreams now, and I want to empower her, and women everywhere, to be herself.This letter holds everything I wish I had known before. It is for her, but also for all our young selves, and to all our sons and daughters.Dear DaughterI am so proud of you!You have so much ahead, a beautiful life you can create as you want. You can choose your path, and will change as you go. Life can be painful, as well as fun and beautiful.Remember that the sky is always blue, and the sun is always shining!Life will throw curveballs and you will catch them, as you already do! Don’t worry if you drop some balls: they weren’t meant for you.Perfect people are annoying!You will have periods of growth and change, and fallow periods where you do very little, and nothing seems that exciting. Embrace it all!Look after yourself. Nourish your body, mind and soul: a little effort goes a long way. We need maintenance like a car, or a garden, but without obsessing about it! This will make you strong so you can follow your dreams and give you reserves when you need to bounce back.Keep in mind where you want to be one day and follow that path. Take care over the rocks, and don’t forget to look at the view!Have fun and be happy! When it rains look for rainbows, when it’s dark, look for stars.You’ll have different friends for different phases or parts of your life. Some deep and meaningful, some fun and frivolous. Let go of people who aren’t meant for you, or when you out grow each other. We can’t all get on and that’s fine!Don’t worry what others think of you. People think about you far less often than you imagine. Notice how people make you feel. Keep them close if you feel good, if not, maybe they aren’t right for you.If you feel you don’t fit in or belong, either it’s because you haven’t found the right people, or because it’s only a feeling you have that may not be true, which you can challenge.Don’t let anyone undermine you, including me! Trust your instincts and your heart. You may have to bend a little to have relationships, friends, and in your study and work life. Just don’t bend so much that you loose yourself!You are funny and kind, empathetic and intelligent. You are beautiful and thoughtful. People love having you around, even if they don’t say it. You are loved! Especially by me.“Don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree!” Einstein.If you feel down, you don’t need to be alone. Reach out to those who love you, like me! Ask for help. It is true that a problem shared is a problem halved. When life, or others are unkind to you, give yourself time and space to heal.No-one escapes pain in life. Process it so you can move on to what’s next.Be kind to yourself.When you go in to a garden do you see the flowers or the weeds?Look for joy every day. Look harder for it on bad days.Think of six things you’re grateful for every day.Always have something to look forward to. Seeing friends, an outing, a treat when you get home.I may have ‘over parented' you, sorry! Because I worried about my difficulties and losses impacting you I probably fussed to much (you can thank my psychotherapy training for that!). This might make you a little self conscious so…Relax! You are good enough and clever enough and kind enough. You work hard enough, you do enough, are beautiful and you have fun enough. Go easy on yourself. Give yourself a break. You are doing so well. See how far you have already come. You really are enough.The universe wanted you in it, and so did I. That’s why you are here!I’m so lucky to have you as my daughter. I am so proud of you. You are a phoenix from the ashes. A lotus flower in the mud. A rainbow after a storm. No pressure though! You’ll be the storm and the mud and the ashes sometimes.You are sweet and unique, fierce and strong.Enjoy your life! I am here for you.I love you!Love Mum xxI invite you to write a letter to your 18 year old self, or to your daughter, son or young person in your life.Do press the heart to let me know you are reading, and feel free to share if you know any daughters (or sons, and anyone in between) who might like to read it!Let us know - what would you say to your younger self or an 18 year old?Much love,Kate This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com/subscribeHi friends!Now that spring is finally here in the Northern hemisphere, this Awaken and Bloom in Spring Workshop will harness Springs powerful sense of renewal, growth, and fresh beginnings to create meaningful change in your life. This Awaken and Bloom Session is a transformative 35 minute pre-recorded workshop to inspire you to channel your beautiful energy where it matters most. As the world bursts into bloom after the stillness of winter, this is your chance to shake off what no longer serves you and step fully into your next chapter. Scroll down to watch the video, read an abridged transcript, or listen to the audio version above. This is for paid subscribers so upgrade here if you are ready to connect with your innate capacity to renew and grow with: * 🌷Two powerful exercises to identify where you are ready to grow and thrive - and actually do it!* 🌱 A inspiring guided meditation as you stretch towards the light into your full potential.* 🦋 Learn three somatic tools to cultivate confidence and strength.* 🌳 Therapeutic journaling to anchor your insights into real, lasting change.“Thank you so much Kate this was incredibly powerful for me.” RosineIf you’re ready to embrace this season of growth and make space for the life you truly want, this workshop is for you. There may be growing pains, but we can do it! * Watch the Awaken and Bloom in Spring Workshop below.* Don’t forget, The Intentional Living Workbook worth £17 is now FREE for ALL paid subscribers. Please message me for the code if you haven’t had it yet.* Explore the Friday Bloom Sessions to dip into when you like, with therapeutic exercises and self-discovery journaling - continuing after Easter by popular request! (This could save you £1000’s in therapy!)* If you’d like to connect more deeply with your true nature, explore the Guided meditations here.“I’m so glad to have found you on here… you have inspired and helped me in so many wonderful ways. Thank you for all that you do.” EvaYou could stay where you are, and let another season slip by… or you could say yes to yourself. Yes to growth, yes to clarity, yes to the tools that will help you flourish. Imagine looking back in a few months and seeing how much has changed—how much more you you feel. Don’t wait for “someday,” friend! Let’s step into spring together. I can’t wait to see you bloom!For the whole spring season, we will focus on self awareness and personal growth in our Bloom Sessions to embrace this powerful energy and connect with your innate capacity for growth and renewal. It is a little effort, yes, but the rewards can be profound!With love and gratitude,Kate

I’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about personal growth, for you to flourish in a life you love! Upgrade here for the Bloom Sessions and to support my work! 🤍Hi friends The relentless pursuit of self-improvement seems to be a hallmark of modern culture, with media and society always urging us to become better versions of ourselves. Lately, I see so many posts on Substack urgently telling me to grow, to improve, to reach my goals right now. They are so compelling, that I say yes. Yes I want this! And right now, yes! I push myself away.And then I remember, I have you, reader, and two thousand others, and remind myself that I am doing an okay job, or you wouldn’t be here. I often wish I was tidier, more organised, richer, more stylish, a better writer. Thankfully, I’ve managed to reach a point in my life where I just say ‘oh well.’ I have other priorities. Like my daughter’s and my well-being, eating healthily, writing, making inspiring jewellery, and going on exhilarating dog walks with my friends.Maybe you want to improve your figure, but you are too busy saving the world, or spending time with those you love (which also saves the world), so I hope you’ll let it go. Many don’t understand that the desire for self-improvement is undermining our uniqueness, natural qualities and abilities, even overlooking the essence of our being. This is the opposite of aligning with our authentic self. We push ourselves away in our striving for better. When we link our self worth perpetually to future achievements or states, we create the very inadequacy and chronic dissatisfaction we are trying to reduce, on a horrible self-inflicted loop! 🫣This a one way ticket to anxiety, burnout, low self-worth, or clinging to a fixed identity we haven’t even yet achieved, and maybe never will. It is also all rather ego-centric. What a colossal waste of our beautiful energy.Self Improvement is Not GrowthI’m sorry to say, many therapists end up in a terrible cycle of self improvement that can end them up in overpowering narcissism, a fake guru-like persona, with decades of navel gazing and dismantling of what was once a perfectly good self. But that’s a whole other tragedy.Self improvement is not the same as wanting to feel better, if you seek the wonder of self discovery, or you are suffering. We may have incongruent parts that may well hold us back from reasonable wishes like healthy relationships, behaviour or satisfying work. Our self cries out to be seen and held, not improved. If you were to see a good therapist, they are not trying help you improve. They want you to express yourself, to speak your truth, to become your most authentic self. This creates healing, and growth from there is natural. Exponential, even. You do improve, your mood, self worth, satisfaction, resilience, but not because you tried. It was because you stopped trying.It’s my favourite part of being a therapist. My clients come in, tell me their issue, their fault, their symptom, their mistake, and I’ll truly hear it. I listen. I take it in. I sit with it. I chew it over. I try it on. They wait for me to do something, and I don’t. I accept it, and, after a while (sometimes a long while, involving lengthy discussion), they accept it too. And guess what? The problem disappears. We allow it, and it dissolves. This is happening in therapy rooms all over the world. Problems disappearing in puffs of smoke because we were willing to go in to it, listen to it, rather than improve or fix it. * The world urgently needs your authentic self, your voice, your opinions, so please don’t push it away. * Let’s bathe in the peace of feeling we are enough.* Let’s float together on this rock for a moment just like this, amid our own beautiful, messy lives.How to Not Improve YourselfNot self-improving is not about giving up or stagnating, but making peace with where we are now. It is better to understand and accept ourselves than to fix ourselves - which leads to change anyway. When we feel good enough by not trying to improve, we can embrace change without pushing. We could then pursue goals not through striving, but from curiosity and joy.* Let’s find contentment in the interconnected, impermanent universe that led us to being just as we are. * Let’s embrace our inevitable imperfections and our strengths. This is naturally compassionate, bolstering our self-esteem and emotional resilience. * Let’s recognise our inherent unique worth, without the need for constant validation through achievements. * Let’s stay present, so we are attuned to our thoughts and feelings without judgment. * Let’s challenge unhelpful rumination on so-called flaws or future aspirations, or negative self-perceptions.* Let’s remember that perfection is a total BS, unattainable ideal.* Let’s acknowledge that comparison could not be a bigger waste of our time and energy if it tried.* Instead of asking, "How can I improve?" consider asking, "What do I need right now?" * Let’s wish each other luck on our own unique paths, and all the twists and turns we navigate.Which of these can you relate to most? I’d love to know! Do join in the comments! With love,Kate Upgrade to paid to receive all the The Bloom Sessions on Sundays, to help you come home to yourself and feel less alone. Personal growth tools, insights from my therapy room, and self-discovery journalling. Your support makes my writing possible. Thank you!Popular Bloom Sessions for Members: 🌳 Winter Roots Series: Strong Foundations for the Year AheadLiberate Yourself with Shadow Work | Freedom From Procrastination | Find Your Boundaries, Find Yourself | From Imposter Syndrome to Owning Your Worth | Break Free From Self Doubt | All Bloom Sessions Members, feel free to message with topic requests (anonymous).Listen here to 25+ Guided MeditationsFlourish Members: The Soulful Metamorphosis Series | Heal Your Past Course This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com/subscribe

I’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about personal growth, for you to flourish in a life you love! Upgrade here for Friday The Bloom Sessions, self-discovery tools, meditations and if you’d like to support my work. Thanks for being here! Hi friendsIt has been a year since I first clutched my laptop against my broken heart, and hope spilled from my fingertips onto these pages. My mission as I began writing Letters from Therapy on Substack was to share beauty from the therapy room here for you prise open the window and let light shine into your soul.Here, I share the highs, lows, subscriber growth, tumbleweed, going a bit viral, getting paid, conversion rates, overwhelm and what’s next for my publication. You might have to click below to read the full article, which you’ll also find on my Substack Letters from Therapy page.FearI knew starting a Substack newsletter was a big commitment. The decision to start circled in my mind for months. I was driven by a bursting bank of 16 years of therapy knowledge with no outlet. I’d had to stop my therapy work after Covid. I already lost so much in my life, I couldn’t bear to lose this too, it was where much of my sense of purpose and meaning live.HopeI had insights tucked inside every cell in my body from this rewarding work, that I knew could help you connect more deeply with yourself, and find purpose in your beautiful, messy lives, despite everything. I knew how we can feel more whole, embrace all our strangeness, feel more at ease with ourselves, to suffer less, and my beating heart told me I must. Someone told me I could write well, which lit this fire, and here I am.I dreamed of creating something here that would feel like therapy. Using words and tools for deep, transformative experiences that could even change a life. Substack’s unique platform offered me a chance to channel my calling in a new way, to help brave souls like you rise into themselves.“Thank you so much Kate this was incredibly powerful for me.” Rosine FoundationsFinding Substack teachers Claire Venus (she/her) ✨ and Sarah Fay helped me shape this space into something real. Their welcoming communities, along with learning to write better with the incredible Jeannine Ouellette, and finding Substack wisdom from Russell Nohelty David McIlroy, Kristi Keller, Tom Kuegler, Dan Blank and the community on Substack, gave me the foundation I needed. I could to translate my experience into this publication, and produce 80+ posts with thousands of transformative self-discovery journaling questions and exercises. See the contents page here.TumbleweedWriting a newsletter feels cruel sometimes! It really stings when you pour your heart into something and you’re not even sure if it’s reached anyone. Maybe it was the wrong time, or maybe it was just s**t writing. I often have posts with 1,600 views and under 20 likes. Shall I get my coat? As Poorna Bell recently said on notes, if you like a post, please like it. To give feedback, and to let the writer know you’re reading, so they won’t pack it in. But then one of you will comment and let me know how a post impacted you, changed things for you, and I remember why I’m writing.“I feel so much better about myself and accepting me for me. Thank you x” FionaProductivityI created 80+ posts over the year, and I can hardly believe it was me that did that. I managed to keep showing up each week despite fluctuating health, finances, life changes like my daughter leaving home for uni, and a close family member in and out of hospital. My plan for scheduling posts ahead went out the window, but I managed to keep up.I shared my posts on themes of personal growth and creative living, from meditations to the new format of The Bloom Sessions with therapeutic journalling reflections and exercises to help you become, well, you.Sticking to an editorial calendar isn’t for me. I felt stifled by it, so I’m keeping it free. I do have a list though, but like to follow my nose as to what is next, and your ideas if you have them. I now have an embarrassing bank of over 100 drafts which I’ll finish and share over the coming year. I settled on Fridays to post for my paid members, for continuity, but these can also be saved and revisited whenever it suits you. I always reply. I share free posts when I can (I do like a Sunday post, when I have more time to reply to comments), free posts will likely be every other week.My highlights are the new Bloom Sessions, my series on grief, and the Heal Your Past series. My most liked post is about resilience: When Life is Unstable, You Don’t Have to be, and an early post I reshared, Taking the Road Less Travelled is a favourite.“As I came to the end of regular therapy, I knew I would need a little scaffolding around me, and feel that’s just what you give me. So thank you. For being brave, consistent and supportive to me. I am very grateful.” Vanessa Delight Finding you all here is like finding a family. 2,000+ beautiful human souls like you chose to press ‘subscribe’ in 2024. (Yes, some of you are probably bots, but hey, even bots need love! The people who make them certainly do.) All of us are here, finding our way to flourish with integrity in this difficult world. You are nestled into the chambers of my heart, and it beats stronger now.The testimonials and comments you share often feel like popping candy to a child hunched on a dreary corner under grey skies. They are the light that keeps me going on tough days. My paid members are a kaleidoscope of courageous butterflies, who create ripples of beauty and truth not only through your own souls, but out across the world, in 73 countries. In these dark times, we truth seekers are the ones shining our light ever brighter, and keeping us all from the abyss. The soft breeze from your wings drives me forward.KinshipThe friendships I've found here are pure gold, including irl friends, and so much camaraderie between Substack writers on notes. Through Claire Venus (she/her) ✨ Sparkle community, I found incredible souls like Emma Simpson , Antonia Taylor , Kate Darracott , Amber Horrox , Sue Reed and Mika .Suzy Walker’s Heart Leap community zooms keep me accountable, even when I loose my flow, or life gets in my way.I connected with therapists like Dr Vicki Connop , Chris Guillebeau , Kelly Flanagan , Eve Menezes Cunningham , and Eliza Butler.I met I Need to Finish This Before I Die by Amy Beeson , Eva Lydon , Ruth Cooper-Dickson , Una , Lauren Powell , Emma Simpson, Claire Venus (she/her) ✨ and Kate Darracott and others at a talk with author Emma Gannon and Farrah @Substack. Amy and Kate now organise meet ups for Substack writers in London and Surrey to connect and inspire each other. We're all walking this path together.RecommendationsI am blown away that 60 publications now recommend Letters from Therapy. Special shout out to my top referrers Louise Stevenson ,Kate Darracott , Janine Agoglia , Mika , Eliza Butler and Vanessa Simpson .I bumped into old friends and acquaintances on Substack from my creative days on Instagram like Vanessa Simpson , Emily Quinton , Louise Tilbrook , Emma Connolly , Juliet Thomas , Becca Cherry and Amie McNee.“I’m so glad to have found you on here… you have inspired and helped me in so many wonderful ways. Thank you for all that you do.” Eva Time, Money and ValueI spend more on chocolate each week than the cost of my paid membership. On Substack, we believe writers should be paid for our work. On the other hand, much of the services offered here are ridiculously cheap compared to other contexts, often costing tens or hundreds of times more elsewhere. We need big subscriber numbers for these low prices to work. Pricing is hard when the value is priceless, you want to be generous, and yet you are hoping to make a living.Because some people dip in and out of subscriptions, and I know that self discovery work often doesn’t happen in one sitting, I make my annual subscription half the price of my monthly to encourage people to stay and give it a go, and feel the difference. They get workbooks and all sorts so it’s great value from the start. Just like you, I have hopes and dreams, like earning a full income again one day. To make a good living, I’ll need to find 500-1000+ true fans (paid subscribers): only 930 to go! Maybe unrealistic dreams are sometimes possible. I take a very long-term view. Very, very long. My goal is to continue to write weekly and add value here, and become a bestselling Substack publication this year, with 100 paid subscribers. As Substack guru Claire Venus (she/her) ✨ often says: We have time. We have so much time. “Thank you, Kate, this is so useful, it has led me to deep reflection.” JaneOverwhelmMy brain is bursting with ideas, hence the hefty drafts folder. My phone notes app smokes with more. I won't overwhelm you with extra posts because that only passes that overwhelm on to you. I unsubscribed from some newsletters that post too often, as I can’t keep up. Are you the same? Quality over quantity. Deeper, not wider. It takes me about 2-3 full days to complete a post like this. Even shorter posts sometimes take just as long. I’m working on reducing this but I don’t want to cut corners: I don’t see the point in writing for writing sake. Given the topic I write about, it has to have value and meaning. I want to transform how you think and feel about yourself for the better, because that, and you, are what keeps the world vibrant, loving, and hopeful.The amount of brilliant writing here sends my head spinning, so I’ve learned to read a few favourites, and let go what I can’t read, as it’s impossible to keep up with everything.HealingThis space has been healing for me too. Losing my therapy practice felt like losing a limb. But pouring these ideas onto these pages helped me find my balance again. Your presence allows me to keep my calling, my sense of purpose alive.Sharing personal experiences, especially that post about lifelong grief, and the viral note I ment

Hi friends,Happy New Year!It’s been such a pleasure writing this newsletter for you for the last year. It means so much that you enjoy reading my posts! I guess you’re here because, like me, you are on the path of self-acceptance, self-awareness and emotional well-being. This can be challenging though, so I’m adding a new weekly feature to my publication, The Bloom Sessions! 🌱🌷In this post, I’ll outline what The Bloom Sessions are, how they will help you and why it matters!“This is absolutely wonderful! It reinforces and echoes exactly the things that my awesome therapist says to me too! So sensible, helpful, down to earth, actionable! Thank you so much and I am going right now to subscribe!” LinnYou are Invited to The Bloom Sessions!You’ll know by now that looking after our mental health takes a bit of effort in our modern world, just like looking after our bodies, homes and relationships. If we aren’t aware of our unchecked thoughts, outdated patterns, and unexplored emotions, and how they may be shaping our lives - we can end up confused and suffering.Life can be tough, so this work is necessary and beautiful, not to mention illuminating and fun! Encountering and living life from our true self brings satisfaction, acceptance and meaning.It’s natural for us humans to want to grow, and also to protect ourselves. Most of our issues stem from the adaptations we make as we protect our precious sense of self in difficult circumstances, relationships and environments we have lived through. The protective mechanism can hinder us if it is over-protective, misaligned or outdated. It is often this, as well as gaps in our psyches, that can cause anxiety, low mood, keeping ourselves small, hiding, clinging to the same old patterns, confusing emotions, and so many more processes that may not serve us.When we connect with ourselves in curiosity, we encounter the vibrant beauty of our light, our life force. This can even feel exhilarating. Eep! ✨I’ll guide you in self-directed explorations of your thoughts and feelings with honesty, compassion, and curiosity. And I’ll cheer you on from the other side of these words.“Thank you for these wise words. I am going on a self discovery journey, just changed career but not sure I have made the right choice, and peri-menopause also isn’t helping. Your writing encourages me to carry on learning about myself and finding my light bulb moments. Thank you.” YeanTending Your Garden 🌱Did you ever read or watch the secret garden? When we come across an old gnarly secret doorway we may feel apprehension about what is behind it. Perhaps a sliver of courage and curiosity allows us to creak the door open, and we discover more than we imagined. What’s inside isn’t something to fear, but something beautiful - because it’s you! Bear with me…Some parts of our garden are overgrown and need pruning or weeding. Others need water, and sunshine, new soil and food. We can explore and discover what’s there, gorgeous flowers, glades, waterfalls - lost treasures of our own minds.We can weed anything we don’t want, unhelpful patterns, old stories, limiting beliefs, out of date emotional responses and thoughts. We can clear it and bring it to life, discover it’s beauty and plant new things, like courage, confidence, healing and meaning. We will water and tend, until our garden blooms!Our garden can then stay strong through storms, through winter, through droughts, and everything in between.Thanks for bearing with me through the analogy!“Thank you so much Kate this was incredibly powerful for me.” RosineThe Bloom Sessions 🌱🌷* Friday posts to use as self-directed sessions to gently explore your inner world in a way that can lead to healing, change, and personal growth. (3/4 Fridays with a review/catch up/action week, and I’ll break for school holidays).* Until Easter for now, and if you enjoy it, I’d love to continue!* I’ll create and share transformative therapeutic journaling and self-discovery exercises around topics often explored in therapy to create psychological shifts. You can uncover and release hidden patterns that could be harming you, challenge limiting beliefs that hold you back, and gain clarity so you can bloom into yourself.* An anchor to give yourself a routine for illuminating self-discovery work, around 20-40 minutes a week in the quiet comfort of home.* Suggest topics that are true for you so I can include them.* You aren’t alone! Join in the confidential comments to share progress, get accountability and ask me anything. I’ll be there!* You’ll finish each Bloom Session with a shift, an insight and an action plan.Over time, you can reframe your struggles, build resilience, and unlock new perspectives, empowering yourself to make meaningful changes. Or maybe you need to come home to yourself, change can mean acceptance and release. Either way, you’ll feel more congruent, more authentic, more accepting, more free to bloom into your true self.“As I came to the end of regular therapy, I knew I would need a little scaffolding around me, and feel that’s just what you give me. So thank you. For being brave, consistent and supportive to me. I am very grateful.” VanessaThe Bloom Sessions will help to:* Challenge negative thoughts* Break through limiting beliefs * Build resilience* Grow self worth* Improve mood * Embrace our imperfect selves* Lessen anxiety * Integrate our shadow side* Align our actions with our hopes and dreams* Gain clarity in all our choicesThe gentle work we can do also has a ripple effect across our loved ones and communities too. As you bloom, you give others permission to do the same. And we can all move forward together!“Thank you Kate. So glad I came back to your membership. I was feeling lost for a while.” ClareAbout meI’m Kate, a psychotherapist and counsellor in the UK, with a Professional Diploma in therapeutic counselling, a MSc in Contemporary Gestalt Psychotherapy, a Certificate in couples counselling and in counselling young people. I worked with clients of all ages for about 16 years, and witnessed first hand the power of this type of enquiry, and the transformation it can bring. I draw on this work to create these sessions for you to use in this gentle, self-directed work.So I hope you’ll become a paid member if you haven’t already, and join me on Fridays. Start with the new year journaling sessions below, or I’ll see you next week. If you want to stay a free subscriber you are welcome, I’ll still be writing some posts for you too.Let’s make 2025 your year to bloom!Thanks for being here! With love and gratitude,KateYou’re welcome here, whatever has happened, wherever and whoever you are! If you are distressed, or find this kind of reflective work upsetting, you might do better with the human closeness of one to one therapy. Ask your your doctor, Or search here if you are in the UK.“I’m so glad to have found you on here… you have inspired and helped me in so many wonderful ways. Thank you for all that you do.” Eva This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others." – CiceroHi friends, It can be hard to feel grateful when things are going wrong, tornadoes of uninvited problems arrive, or you’re suffering emotionally or physically. But even in dark times, gratitude will strengthen your tired soul with its bright light. I wrote about gratitude earlier in the year here:Practicing gratitude got me through the grief following the death of my babies, and when I contracted debilitating long covid and was fearful for my life, my career, my finances and my future. I think it prevented me from withering away.If you are having a bad day, or if you are losing perspective on the beauty of yourself and your life and the world around you, this beautiful, uplifting meditation will relax and restore you. It might seem strange at first, but I promise you’ll love it!* Gratitude is oil that prevents the corrosion of dark, sabotaging thoughts.* It kisses our self pity goodbye.* Gratitude replaces shame with love.* Gratitude lights our pathway through the darkness.* Gratitude shifts lack into abundance.* If you tend to catastrophize everything, gratitude gives you balance.* Gratitude is generosity.* Gratitude is free.When we embrace what we have, rather than focusing on what we don’t, we build resilience to cope with hard things. Gratitude helps us do hard things.This is the last in my second series of short guided meditations: a practice shown to improve mental health and well-being. These meditations formed part of my Therapy Toolbox course a couple of years ago, and are a great way to slip into a relaxed and calm state of mind in a short space of time.This series includes:Mindfulness Meditation: Following the Breath; A Peaceful Sanctuary Visualisation; Deep Relaxation Body Scan; Kindness for the Overthinking Mind Meditation; Meet your Inner Guide Visualisation; Gratitude MeditationListen whenever you like on Substack, or if you prefer, on Apple Music or Spotify or your podcast app.You’ll find more guided meditations from the first series here, including: Healing Waters, Forgiveness, Cultivating Joy, Self Acceptance, Inviting Financial Abundance and Sunlight Energy.Upgrade if you would like to cultivate calm and inspiration whenever you like.Let me know how you find this meditation to foster gratitude, and listen whenever you like.With love and gratitude,KateNot a paid member yet? No problem. You are welcome to read my free work on my Substack homepage. If you’d like more, including these meditations, feel free to upgrade and join my community of like-minded people creating a more harmonious world, starting from within. ✨

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.comI’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about mental health and self-discovery, for you to flourish in a life you love. When we cultivate compassion, resilience and understanding, we also create a more harmonious world. Upgrade here for transformative journaling prompts, empowering tools, workbooks and guided meditations and visualisations like this one.I sometimes get caught up in the chaos of daily life, in old unhelpful patterns, and can lose my way. I know that I have great wisdom inside me, though I often disconnect from it. Then I feel lost in the noise of external expectations and internal doubts. This can lead to confusion and stress, or disconnection from my purpose, goals and what is most meaningful to me.Do you ever feel the same?Taking the time to connect with your inner guide through meditation can bring profound clarity, peace, and a sense of direction. I invite you to quiet your mind today, and tune into your voice of wisdom, intuition and empowerment that resides inside you in the form of your inner guide. Listen now!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.comI’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about mental health and self-discovery, for you to flourish in a life you love. When we cultivate compassion, resilience and understanding, we also create a more harmonious world. Upgrade here for transformative journaling prompts, empowering tools, workbooks and guided meditations and visualisations like this one, an…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.comI’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about mental health and self-discovery, for you to flourish in a life you love. When we cultivate compassion, resilience and understanding, we also create a more harmonious world. Upgrade here for transformative journaling prompts, empowering tools, workbooks and guided meditations and visualisations like this one, and if you would like to support my work. Hi friends, Body relaxation is essential for our mental and physical health. When we relax, we activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which counteracts the stress response, allowing the body to enter a state of rest and recovery. This shift lowers cortisol levels, reduces muscle tension, and enhances digestion, contributing to overall physical health. Meditations like this help manage anxiety, reduce symptoms of stress-related disorders, and improve emotional regulation. It brings you back to base.Regular relaxation strengthens neural pathways associated with calm and resilience, reinforcing a body-mind connection that promotes well-being. Relaxation practices help us reset, bringing balance to both the nervous system and our mental state, making it a powerful tool for sustaining health and vitality.“Relaxation is a skill that can be learned and cultivated with practice, leading to a more balanced and fulfilling life.” Jon Kabat-ZinnBody Scan MeditationThis short, relaxing body scan meditation is a type proven to be as good for calming our mind and body than valium or diazepam! And of course, totally natural. This is part of my second series of short, guided meditations : a practice shown to improve mental health and well-being. These meditations formed part of my Therapy Toolbox course a couple of years ago, and are a great way to slip into a relaxed and calm state of mind in a short space of time. This series includes: * Mindfulness Meditation: Following the Breath* A Peaceful Sanctuary Visualisation* Deep Relaxation Body Scan * Kindness for the Overthinking Mind* Meet your Inner Guide Visualisation* Gratitude MeditationListen whenever you like, and return daily to hardwire a calm, relaxed body. Available on Substack, or if you prefer, on Apple Music or Spotify. You can find more guided meditations from the first series here, including: Healing Waters, Forgiveness, Cultivating Joy, Self Acceptance, Inviting Financial Abundance and Sunlight Energy. Upgrade if you would like to cultivate calm and inspiration whenever you like! Thanks for reading, friends. Do you need to build more deep relaxation in your life? Let me know in the comments, and let me know how you get on!Enjoy! With love and gratitude,KateNot a paid member yet? No problem. You are welcome here and read my free work on my Substack homepage. If you’d like more, including these meditations, feel free to upgrade and join my community of like-minded people creating a more harmonious world, starting from within.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.comI’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about mental health and self-discovery, for you to flourish in a life you love. When we cultivate compassion, resilience and understanding, we also create a more harmonious world. Upgrade to a paid subscription here to listen, for transformative journaling prompts, empowering tools, workbooks, and guided meditations and visualisations like this one, and if you would like to support my work. Hi friends, Developing inner peace creates a calm, steady foundation that helps us handle life’s ups and downs with greater resilience. When we cultivate inner peace, we’re less affected by external stresses, criticism, or the need for constant approval. It builds our ability to respond to challenges from a place of calm rather than reacting impulsively, and creates room for compassion for ourselves and others. It also frees us from the weight of unnecessary worries, helping us find fulfilment and strength, regardless of life’s changing circumstances.“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” ― Ralph Waldo EmersonThis is a beautiful visualisation where I’ll invite you to create a peaceful sanctuary in your minds eye, to return to whenever you need to cultivate calm and inspiration. This is part of my second series of short, guided meditations: a practice shown to improve mental health and well-being. These meditations formed part of my Therapy Toolbox course a couple of years ago, and are a great way to slip into a relaxed and calm state of mind and body in a short space of time.This series includes: * Mindfulness Meditation: Following the Breath* A Peaceful Sanctuary Visualisation* Deep Relaxation Body Scan * Kindness for the Overthinking Mind* Meet your Inner Guide Visualisation* Gratitude MeditationListen whenever you like, and return daily to hardwire these concepts into your soul. Available on Substack, or if you prefer, on Apple Music or Spotify. You can find more guided meditations here, including the first series: Healing Waters, Forgiveness, Cultivating Joy, Self Acceptance, Inviting Financial Abundance and Sunlight Energy, Upgrade if you want to cultivate calm and inspiration whenever you like.What can you do in your home to cultivate a more peaceful environment, even if only in one corner? Enjoy! With love and gratitude,KateNot a paid member yet? No problem. You can read my free work on my Substack homepage. If you’d like to try these visualisations, more posts and additional therapeutic self-discovery work, upgrade and join my community of like-minded people creating a more harmonious world, starting from within. You’ll also support me to be able to keep writing.“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” ― Siddhārtha GautamaYou may also like:

Hi! I’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about mental health and self-discovery, for you to flourish in a life you love. When we cultivate compassion, resilience and understanding, we also create a more harmonious world. Upgrade here for transformative journaling prompts, empowering tools, workbooks and guided meditations, and if you would like to support my work.Hi friends,Today’s topic: dreams. I’ll take you through this whistle-stop tour on how to interpret your dreams, covering views of Freud and Jung, Gestalt dream work (my favourite), dream emotions, nightmares, night paralysis, sex dreams and not dreaming. Maybe you’re less weird than you think!Unlocking Your DreamsI’ll spare you the details of my own strange dreams, but if you are anything like me you have woken up in the morning thinking ‘What the…’ as bizarre memories of your own making linger on, leaving you scratching your head. Or maybe you’ve woken up laughing, your heart racing, blushing, or drenched in shame?Dreaming is a healthy part of the minds integrating process as it organises experiences of our waking lives, past and present. Although I am no expert, as a psychotherapist, I've seen how exploring dreams can offer powerful insights with clients and it is always pretty enlightening for them. So today, let’s look at what different perspectives in psychology tell us about dreams. Listen to learn more!What are your thoughts and experiences on dreams?Paid subscribers can find 8 journaling questions to explore dreams in the Members Therapy Toolbox Page.Sweet dreams!If you enjoyed this post, do press the heart so I know you are reading, and share with anyone else you think might enjoy it!With love and gratitude,Kate This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit lettersfromtherapy.substack.comI’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about mental health and self-discovery, for you to flourish in a life you love. When we cultivate compassion, resilience and understanding, we also create a more harmonious world. Upgrade here for transformative journaling prompts, empowering tools, workbooks and guided meditations like this one, and if you would like to support my work.Hi friends, Welcome to my new series of guided meditations and visualisations for my paid members, which I’ll post every Monday evening (UK time), for the next six weeks. If you haven’t joined already, you are welcome, and can upgrade here.Let’s start at the beginning with this short, classic mindfulness guided meditation, to focus the mind by following the breath. The more we practice, the less we get caught in unhelpful stories, and the more we cultivate calm. If you don’t like to follow your breath, try one of the visualisations instead.Guided meditations and visualisation are shown to improve mental health and well-being. These meditations formed part of my Therapy Toolbox course a couple of years ago, and are a great way to slip into a relaxed, calm state of mind in a short space of time, no matter what is going on in your life.This series includes: * Cultivating Mindfulness: Following the Breath* A Peaceful Sanctuary Visualisation* Deep Relaxation Body Scan Meditation* Kindness for the Overthinking Mind* Gratitude Meditation* Meet your Inner Guide VisualisationListen whenever you like, and save to return and hardwire it all into your soul. Listen on Substack, or find me on Apple Music or Spotify. Explore more guided meditations here including: Healing Waters, Forgiveness, Cultivating Joy, Self Acceptance and Sunlight Energy - listen now.“Be where you are; otherwise, you will miss your life.” - BuddhaEnjoy! With love and gratitude,KateNot a paid member yet? You can read all my free work on my Substack homepage, some with audio. If you’d like more, upgrade and join my community of like-minded people creating a more harmonious world, starting from within!