Strive2Thrive

17/08/2025

15/07/2025

The Thought Aquarium

“Let’s imagine that you are visiting an aquarium. It’s an incredible sight, up there with the world’s finest, such as the Georgia Aquarium in the USA, or L’Oceanogràfic Aquarium in Spain. The centerpiece of this aquarium is a huge tank filled with millions of litres of water surrounding a tunneled walkway snaking around the tank’s floor. Imagine that you are walking through that bright and airy tunnel. The water is a beautiful translucent blue as the sunlight shines down from above. Large rocks and colorful corals litter the aquarium floor to your left and right. As you advance, you can see fish of various shapes and sizes swimming into view. Imagine that these fish represent the myriad thoughts you experience; you have entered the Thought Aquarium.

Small tropical fish, including colorful clownfish and butterfly fish, catch your eye as they swim into view, only to disappear quickly with the flick of their tail. These are the joyous thoughts that accompany good news or moments of success. Their appearance can be fleeting and all too infrequent. Then there are medium-sized fish – think of mullets and snappers – that swim casually into view. These represent your ‘run-of-the-mill’ thoughts: tasks you need to remember to do, opinions you hold, news stories that have piqued your interest. And then there are the larger, more menacing fish—the manta rays and sharks… You can feel the sense of foreboding as they swim into view and linger overhead. These fish represent the more challenging thoughts you experience and the shadow of cold emotions they can cast – health concerns, financial stresses, regrets about the past, fears about the future, concerns about your ability to cope… Thoughts that can stop you in your tracks.

Now let’s pause to appreciate that no matter how beguiling, attention-grabbing, or threatening the fish in an aquarium might be, the tunnel walls ensure that they are separated from you. Despite how it may seem, they can’t consume you, nor can they block your path as you make your way through the aquarium. So, too, with your thoughts. Whilst being inquisitive and curious about thoughts is essential, we must appreciate that these are transient elements of our experience that come into view before passing on. Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, “There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so“. By adopting an attitude of detached curiosity, we can notice that whereas thoughts come and go, we prevail. We have thoughts; thoughts don’t have us.”

Full article: https://trainingmag.com/the-importance-of-developing-a-flexible-mind/

Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS)

04/07/2025

In July’s ‘5 to Thrive’:

✅ The ‘Nature Pyramid’ and its impact on wellbeing 🌱🌲🌊

✅ ’Titan’ the film about the loss of the submersible at the wreck of the RMS Titanic 🚢

✅ ‘The Forest is The Path’ the book by Gary Lightbody of 📕🌳

https://tinyurl.com/Thr5July25

16/04/2024

Nature is a teacher. After the storm comes the light.

The Tree That Bends: How a Flexible Mind Can Help You Thrive

https://amzn.eu/d/3960FaW

05/03/2024

In the March issue of ‘5 to Thrive’:

⛰️ The ‘peak-end rule’: how parts of our experience shape our impressions overall

📔‘The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling’ documentary

😑 ‘Right Kind of Wrong’ a book by Amy Edmondson

tinyurl.com/Thr5March24

15/02/2024

Are you experiencing difficulties with your psychological wellbeing? Feeling distressed, unfulfilled, or that you should be more content with life?

Strive2Thrive can help.

A private clinical psychology service based in Northern Ireland, we can see clients in our bases in Belfast or Moira, or meet with clients online.

We help people to manage a range of difficulties including symptoms linked to low mood, anxiety, burn-out, loss and/or life challenges (including experiences of injury, chronic pain, adjusting to retirement, the ending of relationships etc.).

We also deliver bespoke mental health and wellbeing training to organisations and businesses.

More information is available on our website: https://lnkd.in/gR5v7jQP

Feel free to drop us an email: admin@strive2thrive.co.uk

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

14/02/2024

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) - One Day Introductory Workshop in Belfast

Are you a psychology practitioner keen to learn about how you can use ACT with your clients?

Join us in Belfast on Wed 5th June for a 1-day introductory workshop on Acceptance & Commitment Therapy led by Ross White an Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) peer-reviewed ACT trainer.

Register now to avail of the ‘Early Bird’ reduction in registration fee, which runs until 29th March 2024.

Click the link in my profile to register.

14/02/2024

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) - One Day Introductory Workshop in Belfast

Are you a psychology practitioner keen to learn about how you can use ACT with your clients?

Join us in Belfast on Wed 5th June for a 1-day introductory workshop on Acceptance & Commitment Therapy led by Ross White an Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) peer-reviewed ACT trainer.

Register now to avail of the ‘Early Bird’ reduction in registration fee, which runs until 29th March 2024.

https://ACT-Introductory-Workshop-Belfast.eventbrite.co.uk

A one-day experiential workshop aimed at providing psychology practitioners with an introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

07/02/2024

In the February issue of ‘5 to Thrive’ newsletter:

😨 The Stockdale Paradox & optimism’s downsides

🚴‍♀️ ‘The Last Rider’ - a documentary about Greg LeMond

🔥 ‘ACT for Burnout’ - a book by

Click the link in my insta profile or access it at this link: http://tinyurl.com/Thr5Feb24

29/01/2024

Last chance to catch the January edition of the ‘5 to Thrive’ newsletter.

➡️ 5 minutes of reading
➡️ 5 resources to help you thrive

This month focuses on:

🤫 The Dunning-Kruger Effect - our inability to realise how little we know

⚡️ ’I am Bolt’ - a documentary about Usain Bolt

🤷‍♀️ ’How to Know a Person’ - David Brooks’ new book

Access the newsletter by clicking the link in my profile.

Or here: http://tinyurl.com/Thr5Jan24

You can subscribe and get February’s newsletter into your inbox.

http://tinyurl.com/Thr5subscribe

15/01/2024

Interested in learning more about psychological concepts that can make a difference in your life?

Resilience
Burnout
Confidence
Savouring
Flow etc

Subscribe to the free ‘5 to Thrive’ newsletter & get it delivered to your inbox every month.

tinyurl.com/Thr5subscribe

04/01/2024

In the new issue of ‘5 to Thrive’:

🤫 The Dunning-Kruger Effect - our inability to realise how little we know

⚡️ ’I am Bolt’ - a documentary about Usain Bolt

🤷‍♀️ ’How to Know a Person’ - David Brooks’ new book

tinyurl.com/Thr5Jan24