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Like many people, my plans have all been thrown up in the air by the lockdown. My sabbatical from the Fire Service has been put on hold and I have been moved to a new station. My counselling teaching has been suspended as has the work I was doing in schools and at the Dreadnought centre.

I am having to find new ways to work and to connect with people. I am available to work with clients using technology – Zoom, Skype or phone call sessions each have advantages that I had not previously realised. As a counsellor, I am concerned about peoples mental health during these difficult times and I am pleased to discover there are new ways I can work to continue supporting clients.

Like most people, my life has been thrown up in the air by the chaos being caused by the Corona Virus. We are all held in suspense, waiting to see how we land. I hope we can try to remain calm over the coming months, which no doubt hold many testing difficulties for us all. Looking out for others and striving to be collectively kind can only help in situations such as this. No one can survive alone – we are all in this together.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to signpost to the Headspace website – which is currently offering free meditation resources to try to help people cope with the crisis. While meditating can’t take the situation away, it may help us to keep a sense of perspective and connection to others, during this bewildering and uncertain time.

The benefits to our mental health that can be gained from spending time outside in nature are well documented. Studies have shown that contact with natural environments can help with depression and anxiety as well as contributing to our over all well being.

With this in mind, I have been determined to continue to make the most of our beautiful Cornish landscape, despite the recent stormy weather. Horizontal rain and storm force winds have made my usual coastal haunts more dramatic, but less than comfortable. Often I have sought shelter from more protected inland options- with the benefit of discovering some great new places. A lesson from nature that difficulty can sometimes lead to change.

Thank you for looking at my website and welcome to the first of my blog posts. I intend to use this space to talk about aspects of my life that are especially relevant to my work as a therapist. It is also my intention to highlight and signpost topical and cultural points of interest relating to all areas of mental health.

So…here goes. This week I have arranged to take a sabbatical from my post as a Fire fighter with Cornwall Fire and Rescue service, starting at the end of March. This is an exciting time for me, as it is going to give me more time to concentrate on my counselling work. I am also really looking forward to starting teaching the new level 2 counselling skills course at Camborne College, beginning on February 26th.

Thanks again for reading and I hope you will look again soon. My next posts will feature some pictures taken by the photographer Annie Bungeroth, in keeping with some thoughts on the benefits for our mental well being of getting outside into nature.