Wise Minds Counselling & Psychotherapy

12/11/2025

.therapist

11/11/2025

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11/11/2025

10/11/2025

🌿 Medical Gaslighting & Invisible Conditions 🌿

Something that comes up so often in counselling is the experience of not being believed when you’re trying to explain your own body.

People with conditions like Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), chronic pain, fatigue conditions, and other complex or less-visible health issues often find themselves moving through the medical system being told things like:

“It’s just anxiety.”

“Everyone gets tired.”

“You’re very flexible, that’s a good thing.”

“Your tests are normal… so it must be in your head.”

This is not only invalidating — it can be traumatic.

When your pain or symptoms are minimised, dismissed or questioned, it can create:

• Self-doubt (“Maybe I am making a fuss?”)

• Shame (“I should be coping better.”)

• Fear of seeking care (“What if they don’t believe me again?”)

• Emotional exhaustion

• A deep sense of being alone in your experience

This is what many people mean when they talk about medical gaslighting — not that healthcare professionals are deliberately causing harm, but that the impact of being unheard can be profoundly damaging.

And for those with hEDS, symptoms often fluctuate — one day you’re “fine”, the next you can’t walk, breathe comfortably, or sit without pain.

That inconsistency can make others doubt your reality, even when it is absolutely real.

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If this is you — here’s what I want you to hear:

Your pain is real.

Your experience is real.

Your knowledge of your own body is valid.

Your voice deserves space.

You are not being dramatic, difficult, or “too much.”

You are advocating for yourself in a system that can be very hard to navigate — and that is strength, not weakness.

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Ways to support yourself emotionally during medical journeys:

• Bring someone with you to appointments

• Write symptoms down beforehand

• Take photos/videos of flare-ups or mobility issues

• Ask, “Can you explain what you’re basing that conclusion on?”

• Remind yourself: You are allowed to seek a second opinion

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And most importantly:

You deserve care that is compassionate, curious, and without judgement.

Your story matters.

Your pain matters.

You matter.

If you’re navigating this, I see you.

You’re not alone. 💛

09/11/2025

09/11/2025

08/11/2025

Something I’ve been reflecting on lately is how often women’s emotional experiences are misunderstood or dismissed.

For generations, women expressing anxiety, overwhelm, or strong feelings were labelled as “hysterical” or “too sensitive”.

But when we look more closely, there’s an important biological reality underneath this:

Hormones shape how our nervous systems respond to stress.

For many women, fluctuating estrogen can heighten emotional awareness and sensitivity.

For many men, testosterone naturally dampens anxiety and emotional reactivity.

This doesn’t mean one way is better or worse.

It simply means we experience the world differently.

Yet historically, women’s emotional expression was not just misunderstood — it was pathologised.

Instead of asking “What has happened to you?”

systems often asked “What is wrong with you?”

And we still see the echoes of that today.

The diagnostic and funding systems in mental health tend to be built around categories and labels, rather than the full human story.

So women who feel deeply — who notice, sense, empathise, and carry — can end up being treated as though they are disordered, rather than responding naturally to the lives they’ve lived.

It’s okay to feel deeply.

It’s okay to have a sensitive nervous system.

It’s okay to need support, rest, boundaries, or softness.

Our emotional lives make sense.

They are not hysteria.

They are human experience asking to be understood, not silenced.

Your sensitivity is not the problem.

It may actually be your wisdom

07/11/2025

WHAT YOUR BRAIN DOES WHEN YOU FEEL FEELINGS

Your Brain is a Predictor.

Your brain doesn’t wait for things to happen — it’s always guessing what might come next.

It uses everything you’ve learned before to make quick predictions:

“What’s happening?” “What do I need to do?”

These guesses help you stay safe, get ready, and respond to the world around you.

Your Body Sends Clues

Inside your body, tiny signals are happening all the time — your heartbeat, breathing, hunger, energy, or tension.

Your brain listens to these signals to figure out how you’re feeling.

This process is called interoception — your brain’s way of checking in with your body.

Your Brain Puts the Pieces Together

When your brain feels something happening in your body, it searches its memory for clues.

“Have I felt this before?”

“What was going on?”

“What did I call this feeling?”

Then your brain names the feeling — an emotion — by mixing body sensations, memories, and what’s happening right now.

Why Feelings Feel Different Each Time

The same body sensation can mean different things.

A racing heart could mean you’re scared… or excited… or angry…

Your brain gives the feeling meaning based on the situation.

That’s why no two people feel exactly the same emotion at the same moment.

You Can Teach Your Brain About Feelings

Every time you name a feeling or talk about what’s happening inside you,
you are helping your brain learn.

You’re building more emotional awareness, understanding, and calm.

Feelings Are Skills You Can Grow

Your brain is always learning.

The more you practice noticing and naming what you feel,
the stronger your emotional awareness becomes.

Emotional regulation isn’t about stopping feelings —
It’s about understanding them.

It’s okay to feel how you feel.

Your brain is doing its best.

🦉 Wise Minds Counselling

06/11/2025

To manage post-traumatic challenges, we need our attachment needs to be met, by having someone who is a 'secure base' for us – easier said than done. Find out more at www.carolynspring.com/podcasts or via Spotify ('Conversations with Carolyn Spring').

05/11/2025

To start with, I thought my biggest problem was within my own mind – dissociative parts of the personality. If I could just fix 'them', I would be fixed, I thought. But recovery from complex involves so much more ...

Read more: https://www.carolynspring.com/blog/boundaries