Timber Therapy

13/11/2025

Today we used this hand plane to turn a rough, laminated timber panel into a smooth, consistent shelf. Every pass of the blade peeled back a layer, revealing the character hidden beneath. It’s a simple process, but it mirrors something deeply human.

Real growth doesn’t happen in one clean cut — it’s the steady refinement of experience, layer by layer, moment by moment.

Our nervous system works the same way.

Each challenge, setback, or reflection shapes the way our brain regulates and responds. Like timber, we adapt under pressure, the grain might shift, but the structure strengthens. Over time, with attention and care, the rough edges smooth out and the shape of who we’re becoming starts to make sense.

That’s the work, in the shed or in the mind. You show up, stay present, and keep taking those small, deliberate passes until the piece and the person feels right.

12/11/2025

Our thoughts are like cattle, once they start moving in one direction it’s hard to stop the stampede.

Therapy helps close a few gates, open others, and redirect that momentum toward greener pastures.

It’s not about silencing the noise in your head, it’s about learning how to guide it. To notice when our thoughts start running wild, to pause, breathe, and choose a different path.

Over time, those new routes become the well-worn tracks of calmer, clearer thinking, proof that even the busiest mind can find stillness when it learns to lead, not follow.

11/11/2025

Experience is accumulative. The work you put in does not vanish just because you stumble for a day.

If you have been grinding toward a goal, whether it is getting fit, staying sober, building your business, or showing up for your family, one slip does not erase the 300 days you have already invested. It does not reset the clock. It adds to it.

Think about a man who has gone 300 days without drinking and has a tough day. That day does not wipe out the 300 days. It is 300 days plus one.

The work you have already done is still there, the lessons still there.

The habits, the perspective, the strength you have built, none of it disappears.

What matters is the choice you make today.

Today is another chance to keep moving forward, not a restart from zero.

Life and progress work like compounding interest.

Every day you put in effort, every day you learn, every day you show up, it stacks. You fall short sometimes.

That is part of the process. It is a data point, not a defeat. You do not throw away the ladder because you missed a rung. You climb the next one and keep going.

11/11/2025

There’s a difference between isolation and solitude.

If you’re a man with a partner, a family, or kids who look up to you, that difference matters more than you think.

Solitude is intentional.

It’s when you take time to get your head straight, to process the noise before it spills out sideways. It’s a reset. You step away so you can step back in with clarity, patience, and presence.

Solitude sharpens you.

It’s the quiet time where you reflect, recalibrate, and come back to your people better than before.

Isolation looks similar on the outside. However, it’s a completely different beast. Isolation is pulling away because you’re tired, frustrated, or running on empty.

It’s skipping conversations, zoning out when your partner’s talking, or being in the same room as your kids but miles away in your head.

It feels like self-protection, but it’s actually corrosion.

It slowly breaks the bridge between you and the people who matter most.

You’re not tired of living, you’re tired from not living.

You’re doing the grind without connection, from giving to everyone else but never refueling yourself. When that happens, your fuse gets shorter, your empathy fades, and the house starts feeling more like pressure than peace. That’s not weakness. It’s a sign you need solitude, not isolation.

So, take the time. Go for a walk. Listen to the music. Go train. Sit in the quiet. Write, breathe, think. That’s solitude.

Time to regroup and reset your compass. Then come back and show up. Listen to your partner, wrestle with your kids, eat dinner without the phone.

Solitude makes you stronger for them.

Isolation just makes you disappear from them.

Know the difference.

Your family feels it long before you say it.

04/11/2025

Shine a light - a fun father/child workshop coming soon.
Limited places so book now.
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03/11/2025

Shine a Light Workshop – Connecting Fathers and Children

Looking for a meaningful way to connect with your child outside of screens and routines?

Join us for the Shine a Light Workshop, a hands-on session where fathers and their children create a timber lamp together. This is about more than woodworking — it’s about building memories, confidence, and connection.

Link in comments and bio.

28/10/2025

A good man, doing good things.
Glad to be part of this community supporting Dads.

Pop’s Shed Throwback Any Idea What This Is?

For all the woodwork enthusiasts out there or if you’ve ever seen one of these sitting in your pop’s shed what do you reckon this is used for? 👇

Caught up with our Dad:Man Therapist, Matthew Lewin from Timber Therapy.
Mate, your space is unreal relaxed, grounded, and just the perfect spot for a good yarn. 🔨💬

07/10/2025

What if engagement was a responsibility of the practitioner, not a deficit of the client?

I’m speaking at the National Men’s Health Gathering on Thursday 23rd October, on this topic of engaging men in therapy.

This expands to engaging fathers in the child protection space as well. Reading the stats and working in the sector reflects that engagement of dads still needs a bit of work.

Come join me and have yarn.

03/10/2025

Make plans that make memories.
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Happy Friday, can’t wait to hear of your adventures come Monday!
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02/10/2025

Change is the only consistent thing in fatherhood. How you manage it is key.
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02/10/2025

Gratitude changes our view on life.
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01/10/2025

Prevention is better than a cure, but a cure is better than regret.
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Deal with it today. Let’s talk.
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