sarah ariss

The Power of Words I don’t want to be anxious. I don’t want to be fat. I don’t want to be afraid. I don’t want to wake up every day to the feelings of tight ...

Anxiety and covid-19 As I write this, we are entering the eighth week of lockdown in the UK and we are all experiencing varying levels of uncertainty, anxiety and perhaps other emotions triggered by the ...

People often come to me for help and as they walk into my room they say the words, " I know I have to live with my Anxiety, but ....." It's a belief that many ...

Moving from where you are now, taking a chance on moving forward to new adventures, new shores, can feel scary. Often the leap seems too vast, too difficult, something that other people do, not us. ...

If you are reading this post then the chances are that you have experienced exam failure and your world has or might be about to collapse around your feet... The word 'failure' is a horrible ...

12 Tips for Surviving Christmas Christmas has different meaning for each of us. For some it’s a time of joy, fun and general happy celebration. For others it can be stressful, anxiety-ridden and more of ...

Habit I have never been a creature of habit. I’m more of a spontaneous reactor to a situation. For example, and this is hard for me to admit, I have always tended to just clean ...

When Parties Feel Like Torture I have always hated parties. I always hated having to make small talk and had an overwhelming feeling that I was the dullest person in the room. It was the ...

When Travel Becomes Frightening...   It’s summer time and, all over the country, people are excitedly preparing to travel for their holidays. Some will be flying off to warmer climes, others will head off to ...

Who Suffers From Anxiety? The clients  who come to see me are normal people, just like anybody else. And yet so many of them are suffering from an invisible condition, a condition that they fight ...

How to be Free of Exam Nerves It’s that time of year again, isn’t it? All over the country young people are hunched over their desks trying to revise for exams. Some will be thrilled ...

Perfection Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. One person's perfection is another person's "I'm not good enough." Its all subjective and, ultimately, a movable feast. In my work as a therapist I am ...

PND and Me Perinatal Mental Health is an area that interests me greatly. By this I mean the mental health issues surrounding pregnancy and the year after the birth of a baby. There are various ...

I heard a ping tonight and a message of support came through on my phone. A friend had thought I seemed sad today and she had decided to contact me, just to see if I ...

So...who needs therapy? Its for Americans, isn't it? And for people with real mental health problems? Therapy is self indulgent and a waste of money...Isn't it? Well, of course I am going to disagree with ...

Confidence is something that comes and goes in my life. In certain situations, with certain people I am like a blonde Dawn French - loud, funny and prone to the occasional dance on a table. ...

Positivity is not something that everyone has. When faced with a challenge, or a dilemma, some people's first reaction is "I can't do that!" For example, when I wrote a post about Relaxation and how ...

Relaxation & Mental Health First Aid Relaxation, taking time to be kind to yourself, is a huge part of keeping mentally healthy. Not long ago I went on a Mental Health First Aid course. Its ...

GCSE & A Levels Exam Nerves can be horrible. This post aims to help you overcome them by giving you simple techniques to use. If you, or someone in your house, have exams coming up ...

Everything Happens for a Reason It might seem a bit cheesy, but you often hear people saying, "Everything happens for a reason..." It is something I say myself sometimes, but, you know what? I really ...

What is anxiety? When we say we are suffering from anxiety, what do we mean? How do we feel? For each of us the emotion will be different, but there are fundamental parts of the ...