Fromtheedge counselling

10/12/2025

I often think of this poem when talking with clients about their support network aka "who can you talk to and rely upon?"

It was written in 1623, so please forgive the use of the word man to designate humankind.

Sometimes people tell me they don't want to burden their friends. This is a tough one and can speak to our belief in ourselves as deserving (of support).

The famous last two lines of the poem refer to empathy. Yes your friend will feel your pain as you feel theirs. You will feel better and your friend can handle it. Empathy is a gift and you deserve your share.

16/10/2025

https://smallscreen.org.au/social-media-is-changing-are-parents-ready/ Some good practical information and advice here.

Small Screen Social Media is changing — Are parents ready?

22/08/2025

Mark was staying up gaming until 2am, and constantly felt stressed and exhausted. Can you relate?

28/02/2025

Sleep underpins good mental health. Understanding sleep hygene can be useful.

42 per cent of Australian women have trouble sleeping, here's your guide on how to fix your sleep hygiene according to experts and doctors.

24/02/2025

YOUR PILE OF RUBBLE - About Recovery

Here is a quote from a person who lost their home in a fire disaster

“While you’ve got a pile of rubble its still your pile of rubble you know? But when that pile of rubble is gone you don’t even have a pile of rubble any more.”
Source: ABC news 22 Feb 25

This statement struck me. It is what can happen to people in counselling when trying to overcome past trauma, loss and even generalised anxiety and depression. I see so many people struggle to let go of the things that contribute to their current state of being. No matter how much they know they need to.

Imagine standing at that pile of rubble. That pile of rubble contains so much that is lost. Fragments might be recognizable but broken and unusable. Recognizing fragments and remembering what else is in that pile of rubble is heartbreaking.

There is nothing to do with heartbreak but accept it, step through it one moment at a time and know that the pain won't always be there. I often describe grief as a wave that seems to be relentless at first but as time goes on is not there constantly. We can be encouraged by this because it means we are on the road to recovery. Recovery is not a finite process and we know that grief can be never-ending, but can become much more bearable.

Letting go, grief, moving forward are great challenges in life and crucial in our journey towards living healthier mentally. These are terms that we can’t bandy around lightly because “Letting go” means being able to remove the rubble which represents so many memories and things that we worked hard for. Moving forward means accepting that endings are beginnings. Grieving means being able to accept that the sadness anger fear are not permanent. And each part of this is a process that often takes its own time and some hard work.

It is up to us to initiate that process, though. Staring at a pile of rubble is no way to live! It can feel uncomfortable and scary. But one thing is for sure. The discomfort and fear will not last forever, no matter how hard this can be to believe. The process begins with recognising this. Its ok to be afraid and it wont last forever is a good thing to tell yourself. Until you realise it is truth.

30/10/2024

Excited to have this very cool new tool in my toolbag. Evidence is growing rapidly to show that EMDR works!

18/07/2024

I have just discovered that if you do a Bing search for fromtheedge counselling it shows it as permanently closed. I have taken steps to rectify this, in the meantime be notified that we ARE open.
You can always email me on vicki@fromtheedge.com.au

19/06/2024

Here is a comprehensive review from the review experts

Movie review of Inside Out 2 by Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 18 June 2024 to help parents find age-appropriate and enjoyable movies for their children.

17/06/2024

We love hearing celebs getting real about mental health. One of our fav Young Royals reminded us that it's ok to be not be ok!

17/06/2024

Meet Anxiety
Inside Out 2 – a review

In this movie, which is set predominately in the mind of a teenager, the emotions are depicted as people.

Riley is 13. She is highly successful at school, has a good sense of self and is pretty much good at anything she does. All of a sudden the hormones kick in and we know this because suddenly she yells at her mum, which was completely out of character. Her mum knew exactly what was going on, tho. Fortunately. And then along come 4 more emotions to take over the control centre of Riley’s brain and then the fun begins.

Anxiety, one of the new emotions takes control. All good intentions to have the future all planned for backfire. This was a good representation of anxiety and what happens when it takes control. There is also no doubt that anxiety is on the rise, especially amongst teenagers.
One reviewer said:
“Seeing Anxiety from this perspective is somewhat eye-opening for anyone who’s struggled with it and may be a good lead-in for parents to talk to their kids about the emotion, which can be confusing and potentially stifling at times.”

ref: https://www.digitaljournal.com/entertainment/review-no-reason-to-be-anxious-about-inside-out-2/article

I told myself not to be too analytical and see if I could just enjoy the movie. I got a little frustrated with the first movie which was a bit too simplistic … but I had also found it extremely useful sometimes when talking to children about emotions.

A glance through the reviews of this movie shows that it has been very well received indeed. There are a lot of comments about this sequel being better than the original and I would have to concur.

Maybe the truth is that any movie that seeks to explicitly improve viewers emotional intelligence can only be helpful. As well as being entertaining.

13/06/2024

I did what I thought was right at the time. A useful mantra :)

Some inspiration to help you move forward.