Mandy Rodrigues - Clinical Psychologist

15/11/2025

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02/10/2025

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢…
𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚." 🐘

A short fable about avoidance, strength, and the courage to face what we fear.

30/09/2025

The ways we respond to each other aren’t 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑚 — they’re 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯s. We can use other manners of connecting with others transiently or with deliberate thought, but we are likely to return to our innate way of communicating.

Knowing this 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱. It is not an anomaly. It is not a failure. It is how life is.

🐭 Sometimes we pull away. We might feel unseen or unheard. We anticipate traps. We feel afraid.
🐘 Sometimes we try to fix.
🦔 Sometimes we lash out.
🐕 Sometimes we simply stay beside.
🐢 Sometimes we stonewall. Not out of malice. But coping.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝘼𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙨 prompted me to write a fable. A universal, relatable, simple story.

After I wrote the initial fable, I realised there is always a lion 🦁 . A leader. A driver. Someone who roars. Not out of malice or arrogance. But born out of necessity. Lions are necessary for societies, ecosystems, companies, and relationships to work. We all have a role. They are all meant to work together.

🌳 Discover more at www.empathy-toolkit.com

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23/09/2025

This is just the start 🌳The original Cards that I have used for years in therapy.

I found it worked in couple therapy where I would give each person the same cards. Each card would have a description of a reaction to infertility. I would get them to put down their personal reactions - on the table - and then create discussions about the differences in reactions.

As the years passed, I started using animal pictures. It was less threatening to use animals. I have expanded the game and written a fable around the Empathy Animals. The website is almost complete at

The Empathy Toolkit: a story-based guide with simple tools that help you understand, practice, and grow empathy in every relationship, including compassion for yourself

03/09/2025

🌱 We all hope to be the empath… at home, with our children, our partners. Even to
ourselves.
But sometimes we slip into being the stonewaller or the fixer.

💡 The key isn’t perfection — it’s humility when we misstep, and forgiveness when others do.