Cara Hitchcock Counselling

04/11/2025

Continuing what "Grief can be series...."

01/11/2025

27/10/2025

Words from Julia Samuel's MBE post -
"Monday Top Tips

Monday Top Tips
My first model of therapy and still the place I feel most at home was Carl Rogers Person Centred therapy.

He taught us about trusting our inner compass, called it having an internal locus of evaluation — building your sense of worth from within, not from what others think of you—external locus of evaluation.

When you live from that place, you move from doing to being.
You stop chasing approval and start trusting your own instincts, feelings, and senses.

This week, practise noticing:
When am I seeking validation?
And when am I grounded in what feels true for me?

That’s where self-trust begins."

26/10/2025

24/10/2025

Emotion & Feeling Wheel -
How you use the emotion and feeling wheel will be unique to you however, you can use this visual tool during reflecting, identifying strong feelings & emotions, increasing self-awareness, for communicating with family and friends, teaching children, journaling or perhaps in some other creative way which is unique to you!

18/10/2025

The Power of Imagination - The Creative Ability of the Mind - "Over time, these imagined experiences activate neuroplasticity—carving new neural pathways that anchor safety, power, and connection."

Your imagination can help heal your trauma.
Not by escaping reality—but by rewiring it.

Most people think healing only happens through what’s real—what we do, say, or experience in the outside world.

But neuroscience shows something extraordinary: your brain responds to vividly imagined experiences in many of the same ways it does to real ones.

That means you can start forming new neural pathways of safety and connection even before those experiences happen in real life.

✨ Imagining being held by a caring figure can calm the amygdala and activate oxytocin pathways.
✨ Visualizing yourself setting a boundary or speaking up can strengthen prefrontal circuits involved in self-agency.

While imagination doesn’t fully replicate lived experience, research shows it can activate enough of the same neural pathways to begin changing how the brain encodes safety and connection.

This is what makes imagination one of the most powerful ways to create corrective experiences in trauma healing—moments where your brain and body get to feel, even symbolically, what should have happened but didn’t.

Because trauma locks the brain into rigid patterns—hypervigilance, shutdown, shame loops. Imagination reintroduces flexibility.

Even something as simple as imagining yourself moving, running, or being protected can begin to complete the defensive cycle your body never got to finish.

In that imagined movement, your brain begins to relearn: I can act. I can choose. I’m not frozen anymore. And as those images become felt in the body—not just seen in the mind—they begin to anchor a new sense of safety.

Over time, these imagined experiences activate neuroplasticity—carving new neural pathways that anchor safety, power, and connection where fear once lived.

So when you close your eyes and picture a new ending, don’t dismiss it as “just imagination.”

That’s your brain—and your body—practicing healing in real time.

12/10/2025

Seeing the colour green slows heart rate........

09/10/2025

Today is the start of Baby Loss Awareness Week (9-15 October), and just a gentle reminder to look after yourself this week.

Over the next week perhaps recognise it's a time to prioritize self-compassion, accept all emotions as valid, and take breaks when feeling overwhelmed.

Here are some practical tips and ideas to help you this week,
be aware of your environment,
spend time in a calm environment,
drink water
connect with nature, connect with support
journal, paint, draw, write
cook your favourite meal
watch your favourite film or TV series
listen to mood-appropriate music to feel closer to your lost baby
you can also plant a tree or flowers in memory of your baby or create a memory garden
Or possibly something with unique meaning just for you.....

24/09/2025

Nourishing moments....when to pause....by Dr Rick Hanson