Solas Counselling

14/11/2025

Lately I’ve been reminded how powerful it is simply to have someone sit with you, really listen, and help you make sense of what’s going on inside.

For so many people, taking that first step into counselling can feel scary, overwhelming, or like “I’ll do it when things get worse.”

But you don’t have to wait until you’re at breaking point.

I now have availability in Ayr, Airdrie, and online, and if you’ve been wondering whether therapy might help, you’re welcome to start with a free consultation call.

It’s a gentle, no-pressure space where you can:
• Get a feel for what it’s like to work with me
• Ask questions about counselling
• Talk about what’s been heavy or confusing
• See if we’re the right fit

Sometimes that first conversation is the moment something inside you finally exhales.

If you feel the nudge, message me to book your free call on 07719455114 🤍

You deserve support that meets you where you are, with compassion, clarity, and no judgement. 🤍

13/11/2025

It’s a busy day today at The Hive in Airdrie.
I’m driving over from Ayr later and then back tonight, as I’ve got my day off tomorrow and CPD on Saturday. The training is Working With Shame — a full day on how to guide clients safely out of shame spirals.

People often ask me how shame is different from guilt…

✨ Guilt: “I did something wrong.”
✨ Shame: “There’s something wrong with me.”

Guilt can support repair, reflection and healthy responsibility.
Shame, on the other hand, shuts us down. It pulls us into hiding, disconnects us from others, and convinces us we’re unworthy of care or belonging.

In counselling, shame often becomes a spiral:
👉 a mistake
👉 a story about who we are
👉 a belief that we don’t deserve support

My work is to help people untangle that.
To separate who you are from what you’ve experienced.
To meet the tender parts with compassion and curiosity.
To show that healing isn’t about being perfect — it’s about being human.

I’m looking forward to bringing everything I learn this weekend back into my practice. Shame can feel like a dark room… but once the light goes on, it loses its power. 🤍

12/11/2025

A great way to help out 💜💜💜

We're often asked: "How can I help?"

There's a simple thing you can do: please nominate the Moira Anderson Foundation to receive a donation of £1,000 via The Movement for Good Awards from The Benefact Group! 🤞

The Benefact Group is giving away £120,000 in December as part of its 12 Days of Giving festive campaign - giving 120 charities £1,000 each over 12 days.

The first draw takes place on December 1st and the last on December 16th with 10 charities drawn every weekday.

Nominations are open now and close on 15 December 2025.

Do a search for the Moira Anderson Foundation in the charity name, add the charity type, fill in your contact information and hit the big button that says "Nominate a charity for the £1,000 draw" - and MAF will be in with a chance!

💜 Please tag some of your friends and family and ask them to vote online for the Moira Anderson Foundation! 💜

Thank you for your help.

12/11/2025

Beginning again in January…Group Therapy for Women beginning again on Tuesday 13th January 2026 for 6 weeks

✨ A place where women can come together in a safe & supportive space. An opportunity to learn more about yourself & connect with other women who experience similar challenges. This group is for women of all ages who want to feel more connected to themselves & others.

✨ A therapist led group.

✨ For women who doubt themselves & their abilities, who struggle with self-criticism.

✨ During the group you will learn how to be more self-compassionate. Our aim is to help you become aware of your unique strengths, challenge any unhelpful thoughts to help implement new behaviors & help you to create an overall more balanced self-image, leading to more confidence & healthier self-esteem.

✨ Tools within the sessions consist of a mixture of CBT techniques, meditation & somatic techniques.

✨ Price: £99 for 6 weeks, 2 hours every Tuesday evening from 13th January 2026.

✨ Location: Glasgow city centre.

For more information or to book your space please e-mail Stephanie & Amanda: grouptherapyforwomen.scotland@outlook.com

12/11/2025

Join YAMS for this FREE workshop on Anxiety. In this session we'll look at what Anxiety is, why we experience it, and learn tools to manage it.

The session is led by Karen Lafferty, an accredited counsellor.

Open to all adults. Teenagers are also welcome if accompanied by an adult.

Sign up via our Facebook messenger or via email: enquiries@yams.org.uk

12/11/2025

Parenting teens today can feel overwhelming. Learn how to support your child’s wellbeing while staying grounded yourself. ⬇️ http://ow.ly/6Srk106p01Y

11/11/2025

At Solas Counselling, I bring together the best of psychology, body-based healing, and soulful awareness.

I work with people who’ve been through a lot, those who’ve spent years surviving, coping, or holding it all together and are now ready to find calm, strength, and a sense of self that isn’t defined by what happened to them.

My approach is collaborative and grounded, blending counselling with somatic awareness, energy work, and trusted referrals to specialist practitioners when deeper or different support is needed.

Because healing isn’t about fixing what’s broken, it’s about remembering who you are beneath what you’ve been through.

10/11/2025

07/11/2025

🌿 Mental Health Isn’t Just About “Coping”

Most people don’t reach out for support because they’re falling apart — they reach out because they’re tired of holding it all together on the outside while crumbling on the inside.

Mental health can look like:
• Being exhausted but still functioning
• Feeling numb instead of “sad”
• Appearing organised but internally overwhelmed
• Knowing what you should do but not having the capacity
• Smiling while feeling disconnected from yourself or others
• Saying “I’m fine” because you don’t know where to even start

If any of that sounds familiar, please hear this:

🧠 You don’t need to be at rock-bottom to get support.
🧠 You don’t need a diagnosis to deserve help.
🧠 You don’t need to justify why things feel hard.
🧠 You don’t need to “fix yourself first” before talking to someone.

Sometimes the most important thing you can do for your mental health is stop trying to do it all alone.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, emotionally flat, wired-but-tired… there is nothing wrong with you. Your nervous system is trying to cope with too much, for too long, without enough support.

That’s where counselling can help — not by giving you “quick tips” or telling you to be positive — but by giving you a space where you don’t have to hold it all.

If you’d like to explore working together, send me a message or comment “info” and I’ll reach out privately.

06/11/2025

✨ Fully booked today — spaces next week ✨
It’s a full day in the therapy room, and I’m grateful for every soul I get to sit with.
But if you’ve been thinking about starting counselling, I have a few openings next week.

Reach out if:
• You’re feeling overwhelmed or stuck
• You keep repeating the same patterns in relationships
• You’re exhausted from holding it all together
• You’ve been saying “I’ll deal with it soon” for too long

You don’t have to wait for a crisis.
Sometimes the best time to start is when you first feel the nudge.

05/11/2025

🧠 If you’re neurodivergent, energy management isn’t just about what you do — it’s about what you carry.

So many of my clients feel exhausted not because they’re doing “too much” physically, but because of everything happening internally:

✨ constant mental stimulation
✨ overthinking, anxiety and worry
✨ masking, people-pleasing, or trying to “hold it together”
✨ unprocessed grief, loss or big feelings pushed down instead of released

All of these drain your energy reserves just as much — sometimes more — than the things people can see on the outside.

In counselling, we explore how energy is being used, blocked or burned through, and we gently begin to process the emotions that are quietly taking up space in the background.
When your inner world is supported, your outer world becomes easier to live in.

🧩 If you’re neurodivergent and constantly running on empty, feeling done before the day has even started, you’re not broken — you’re overwhelmed.

💬 Get in touch if you’d like support to understand your energy patterns, protect your capacity, and build a life that doesn’t leave you permanently knackered.

Researchers suspect that the reason mental fatigue is so prevalent in ADHD may be related to how cognitively demanding coping with ADHD is. While a neurotypical brain is wired to intuitively tune out environmental distractors, control impulses, and sustain attention, many of the mechanisms required to do those things are dysregulated in ADHD, including weak alpha wave modulation

The result is that someone with ADHD exerts more cognitive effort to achieve the same level of productivity that someone without ADHD can achieve almost effortlessly.

With mental fatigue, there’s really only one thing you can do: rest and allow your brain to restore its energy levels. With that said, resting with ADHD is easier said than done, especially if you have sleep difficulties. So here are a few tips to help you get the rest you need:

Choose an enjoyable physical activity. If you’re feeling too anxious or unproductive to sit still and rest, try going for a walk or bike ride. Physical exercise can help your brain recover from fatigue and potentially make falling asleep easier come bedtime.

f you’ve hit a wall, staring at the unfinished work isn’t going to change anything. Step away, switch activities, and get outside if you can. Don’t bring your phone with you. Try practicing mindfulness to focus on your present surroundings and your present feelings. Name what you see and what you’re feeling right now, physically and psychologically. (Verywell ❤️)

Image Coaching With Brooke ❤️