Bold Venture Counselling Services

08/12/2025

Today's BV Radio pick:

This was a simple email from a follower saying that this song reminded them of their dad.

The whole point of doing this was to help show how powerful music can be for each of us and I think this connection shows that. When songs remind us of family, especially ones that are no longer with us, it can help give us a sense of belonging still 💙

Meat Loaf · Bat Out Of Hell · Song · 1977

05/12/2025

One of the biggest pressures we experience over the Christmas period is expectation and we put it on ourselves.

We feel the need to meet expectations we set ourselves based on our impressions of others.

The gift you have is being here and the best gift to give is your time.

Spend a minute taking stock, have a brew. Be kind to yourself.

The best thing I did in the past 7 days was reconnecting with friends I've not spoken too in ages. Spending time, listening to them and having a laugh. 💙

https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/counsellors/liam-sullivan?fbclid=IwdGRjcAOfkttjbGNrA5-S1GV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHoElD4-2TZi0h-shiAcANZr3CJ11nsPtaUkcz4dkEV96jAelGv_dOYem9Gaf_aem_3B9nMQpMv7tOzIPwImtMCg

Feelings of stress and anxiety are not uncommon and each of us are individual. Talking through our feelings, our experiences and our hopes and dreams can sometimes help clear a muddy picture and lighten our load. Get in touch for a free consultation.

02/12/2025

BV Radio is something I am running with an interest to get to people to look into, recognise and articulate their feelings.

The concept is simple, think of a song or piece of music which is emotive and personal for you and write to me about it.

Each week, I'll post anonymously what someone has written as well as a link to the song they are talking about.

The email to take part is: boldventurecs@gmail.com

Please like, share and follow 💙

01/12/2025

BV Radio.

This is a little later than I wanted to post. These are the thoughts and feelings about a specific track, emailed in by a follower. Feel free to join in by emailing boldventurecs@gmail.com

Thanks again to everyone who has emailed, and today's song and post submission :

Music has helped me massively through tough and sometimes dark times in life. Many different ways it can help, for instance; uplifting you, helping self-medicate or taking you away from an unhealthy state of mind, but also in some cases the words/lyrics just help to explain what you're feeling, and potentially show you that it isn't just something you yourself are feeling i.e. gives some degree of validation to your feelings. And for some folks, that's just what they need, something to hang their feelings on or best describe what they're feeling when the mind is foggy and not firing.

The Red Clay Strays · Live At The Ryman · Song · 2024

28/11/2025

I've had a few emails on this already, my plan is to post a new one each Monday.

If there's a song or piece of music that resonates for you, have a think into the feelings going on for you.

Feel free to email me with your thoughts and I'll post anonymously.

Please like and share

Boldventurecs@gmail.com

24/11/2025

BV Radio.

I've had some lovely emails already on this, but I volunteered to go first, so here we go:

We'll Live and Die In These Tows - The Enemy

I love this song, album, band. One of the best ever gigs I've been to and I think this is their best song.

However, there's a verse that relates to a time in my life and I've never made it all the way through when singing in the car:

Dirty dishes from a TV meal
That went cold from the wind through a smashed up window
You can't go out if anybody calls you
'Cause you can't have a bath when there's no hot water
And your friends are out on the town again
And you ask yourself if it'll ever end
And it's all too much for your head to take
Just a matter of time before you break

I remember distinctly having to sleep in my spare room as my bedroom was in a dire state. I had no money and the roof was leaking in. Like the song said, I'd go to bed not knowing where it'd end, only knowing it couldn't get much worse. Then one night it rained so hard the window frame in the spare room started gushing like a waterfall. Looking back, I don't even know how I managed to fix this in the short term. My only memory is full on sobbing while I lay in bed listening to the window and the roof leaking.

So this song takes me back to this time and specifically this moment in my life. And it's not a good memory. But my life has changed since then, I must have somehow sorted the window and eventually the roof. I can look back on those days now and recognise that they were days passing by. But I know that in the moment, I was overwhelmed and couldn't see the way out.

This song helps remind me that in the darkest moments, we endure and better days will come 💙

If you've read this far, feel free to send your song and story to:

Boldventurecs@gmail.com

The Enemy · We'll Live and Die In These Towns · Song · 2007

24/11/2025

BV Radio

Something I've been thinking about for a while is how music means so much to us. The thoughts and memories we associate with music can bring so many emotions. Often, when we struggle to say the right words, the music we listen too seems to summarise our thoughts perfectly.

Years later, those same tracks can make us smile with fond memories or reduce us to tears, music has the power to move us.

In sessions, I often find that people have never tried to recognise, let alone try to articulate their thoughts or emotions, struggling to bring themselves to "look under that rock". My idea was to try to use music and social media to break the stigma around reflecting and looking at our emotions.

So, I'm asking for people to contribute to a playlist of songs that mean something to us. I'll go first and post my track shortly. But I'd like people to email me with song suggestions and a brief explanation of why that particular track means so much to them. I will add the song to the Spotify playlist and post anonymously with a link to the track on here.

If you think you could do this, please email me on the address below and please share to try and see as many people's experiences as possible 💙

email: boldventurecs@gmail.com

18/11/2025

Some of my thoughts about "having anxiety" and mindfulness.

Anxiety is a normal reaction to threat by our body, the symptoms we feel are our body preparing for a "flight or flight" scenario. When we overthink, we create a scenario in our head which makes our body prepare for this perceived threat. The more often we treat our mind like this, the lower the threshold to create a reaction, the more "on edge" our emotions become.

When we keep our minds occupied by regular distractions, the subconscious is still holding on to these thoughts that trigger an anxious response. Like an internet browser, where the front page is what were reading, but the tabs open in the background are still whirring away. Often, these symptoms of anxiety creep up on us when we aren't aware of any concern, unable to explain what is causing them.

Mindfulness is the use of technique or exercise to quiet the conscious mind allowing us to focus on the subconscious. Like closing the sports tab in your browser to see what's whirring in the background. This doesn't immediately shut off the concerns, stopping the symptoms of anxiety. But it allows us to see what is causing us the concern, work through it and in time close the tab from running in the background.

https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/counsellors/liam-sullivan

10/11/2025

Life is a journey and the path can be rocky, dimly lit and feel lonely at times.

But if putting one foot in front of the other, surviving and being here tomorrow is all you CAN do, then that is enough.

Keep going and don't give up.

You are enough 💙

08/11/2025

06/11/2025

Having looked back through my posts, one thing I noticed was that there was very little about myself, so I decided to post a short introduction.

My name is Liam and I am a qualified counsellor, I am fully insured and an accredited member of the BACP. I offer person centred therapy, which is non-directive and is guided by what each client wishes to discuss.

I have availability for face to face or remote sessions (by telephone or video call) and my face to face sessions take place in a secure and confidential office space in Darwen.

If you or someone you know is looking for counselling, I offer a free, no obligation 10 minute telephone consultation to talk through how I may be able join on your journey.

boldventurecs@gmail.com
07455190402
https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/counsellors/liam-sullivan
💙

28/10/2025

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