Blog
Insights and resources on mental health, therapy approaches, and wellbeing from our team.
HQ Therapy Partners with Mind of the Student + Join us In July at their Charity Race in the QE Olympic Park!
The exciting news at HQ therapy is that we have recently partnered with Mind of the Student (MOTS), an organisation that educates mental health within schools and family hubs. This is achieved by delivering school-wide mental health workshops and community-led programmes. Their mission is to equip
Beyond Four Walls: How Outdoor Therapy Can Revitalise Your Mental Health
Outdoor therapy (also referred to as nature therapy or eco-therapy) is an emerging format of therapy that feels great, is entirely adaptable, and uses the natural atmosphere around you to rejuvenate all aspects of who you are, mentally and emotionally. Along with offering your preferred type of
The Essential Role Life Coaches Play In Supporting Men’s Mental Health
In today’s fast-paced world, mental health has become a paramount concern, especially among men who often face unique challenges. Life coaches are increasingly stepping in to provide support, guidance, and strategies that can significantly enhance men’s mental well-being. This article explores the
CBT and Social Anxiety – How therapy challenges negative thoughts & builds long-term confidence in social settings
If the thought of speaking in a group, making small talk, or even answering the phone fills you with dread, you’re not alone. CBT and social anxiety are often talked about together because Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is widely recognised as one of the most effective treatments for this kind
How Does Therapy Support Individuals With Learning Disabilities Deal With Their Grief.
People with learning disabilities often face unique challenges in navigating grief and bereavement due to several factors related to their cognitive differences and communication abilities. Their understanding of abstract concepts like death and loss may be limited, making it difficult to fully
What Is Neurodiversity: Understanding, Embracing Cognitive Differences, and Therapeutic Approaches
So, just what is Neurodiversity? It’s a question that many of us have started to ask ourselves as it has suddenly started to appear in the media mainstream with more frequency recently. In short, neurodiversity is a concept that has gained significant attention in recent years, reshaping our
The Transformative Impact of Self-Love on Mental Well-Being
In pursuing mental well-being, self-love often emerges as a beacon of hope and a transformative tool. At its core, self-love is not just about feeling good about oneself; it’s a profound journey toward understanding, accepting, and valuing who we are at our deepest level. This journey influences
The Wisdom of Women: How Men Can Learn Through Loss & Listening
Something occurred to me earlier today, and I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t acknowledge the fact that the wisdom of women has played a big part in this. I’ve had a strange week, I was dumped…kind of twice, I’ve been adjusting to the lifestyle of the unemployed after leaving my job which
Happy Feet! The Benefits Of Foot Reflexology On Your Body
It’s time for you to take the weight off your feet and learn about the benefits of foot reflexology and the finer points of this ancient practice that dates back to the Egyptians. Have you ever considered the fact that your feet are so much more than just a limb or appendage attached to your…
Behind The Glass: Living Life In A Slow, Cruel, Self-Induced Purgatory
I feel like I’m behind the glass, knocking on a large, thick window. Sometimes impassioned, irate, wanting to shatter the pane and step through into what is ahead of me. More often, I just glance through and watch, pathetically defeated, with nothing to offer, barely even any anger or drive to stir
Therapist Ellie Harvey Talks About Group Therapy For Adults
My name is Ellie Harvey and I am a therapist and coach. As a practising psychotherapist, and someone who has experienced different kinds of therapy, I believe that while personal therapy is greatly beneficial, there are some unique and profound qualities that group therapy can bring to our personal
Why Join A Men’s Therapy Group? Rob Francis Outlines The Reasons
If you’re a man and thinking of engaging in counselling or psychotherapy, a men’s therapy group can be an excellent place to start. Men join therapy groups for many reasons, to work on all kinds of experiences and themes, as they do in starting individual therapy. These can include things like the
Leveraging The Connection Between Diet & Its Effect On Mental Health
It’s no secret that a healthy diet leads to a healthier body. A well-balanced diet and regular exercise help keep us fit and healthy. However, recent studies seek to establish a scientific link between mental health and diet. For example, the connection between struggling with anxiety and
When Love Hurts: How Couples Can Get Stuck in a ‘Dance of Distress’
What do you do and who do you turn to when love hurts? Most of us seek a close, committed, loving relationship; someone who is there for us when we need them, someone who can respond to us when we require close connection and with whom we can confide and share our feelings and concerns.…
How Do You Love Someone? Couples Counsellor & Psychotherapist Candy Newman Asks The Big Question
So how do you love someone? It seems like a very simple question, but when someone asks ‘how do you know you love someone?’, it evokes an answer that will be totally unique to your own self and the answer can be very complex. Everyone is different when it comes to addressing their role in…
Know Thyself And Become Who You Are – True Wisdom Is Knowing What You Do Not Know.
Socrates said that “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom” (Latin translation – Nosce te ipsum ac fias qui es“; however, this is easier said than sensed. For nearly 2 years, many of us who were living through the Covid 19 pandemic in the land of lockdown had to retreat to our homes and,…
Reflective Practice Workshops for Therapists: Two participatory workshops with psychotherapist Joe Moran
This Spring, psychotherapist, supervisor and facilitator Joe Moran will be offering two CPD, reflective practice workshops for therapists held over respective weekends in May and July at HQ Therapy Rooms in Haggerston, East London. These welcoming and experiential workshops welcome experienced and
A Recovering Addict Discovers The Clearmind Awakening Workshop
This is the story of a recovering addict called Paul and his experience with the Clearmind International Awakening workshop, a life-altering invitation to a deeper, richer experience of self, through the transformative power of authentic, vulnerable connection. The Clearmind international institute
The Weekend University: Making Psychology Accessible
It’s called The Weekend University (TWU), and its aim as an organisation is to make the most important ideas in making psychology accessible to a wider audience. We believe that a great deal of human suffering is unnecessary and caused because we don’t properly understand the human mind, and how it
How To Deal With Uncertainty In An Uncertain World
The question that I’m sure many of us have been asking ourselves regularly in recent times is ‘how do we deal with uncertainty?’ Especially in a world that feels like it has radically changed over the past 2 years. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting stress and anxiety caused in our
Healthy Eating Plans: New Year’s Resolution Food Tips You Can Stick To
When it comes to healthy eating plans there are few people more well placed than Rowena Humphreys to share knowledge on how to maintain a healthy diet. And not only eat well but still enjoy cooking and helping get more plants (vegetables, fruits, grains and beans) on your plate. Which in turn
Christmas Stress & Anxiety: How To Cope During The Festive Period
Christmas can be a time of magic and wonder for children, but for some of us, the festive period can also be a time of Christmas stress and anxiety. This was amplified in the past by the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures that were put in place, affecting all of us, along with the…
Lonely At Christmas: Dealing With Anxiety & Isolation That Causes Christmas Depression
Many people are worried about feeling lonely at Christmas this time of year, even with the relaxation of lockdown measures, the Covid-19 pandemic is still very much present. Added to that, they are unaware of the anxiety and the onset of Christmas depression that can occur from isolation during the
Transitioning Back To Normal: The Long Road Back From Lockdown To A Sense Of Normality
There have been many announcements in the press recently about ‘Getting Back To Normal‘ now that many of the Coronavirus lockdown restrictions have been lifted, but what is ‘Normal’? At this time of health alert and uncertainty during the Covid-19 pandemic in the land of lockdown, we have been
Eating Disorders: The importance of a Mind-Body approach on the journey to recovery
So What Are Eating Disorders? Dr. Jenna Daku explains in this article how eating disorders can affect many of us in this modern world. Our minds and bodies are deeply connected. Tears well up in our eyes when we are sad, and tension builds in our muscles when we feel anxious or afraid. Perhaps
BodyTalk Therapy: The New Consciousness-Based Healthcare System For Rebooting Your Body
What is BodyTalk and how does it work?: BodyTalk Therapy is based around the belief that your body knows how to heal itself and the ability to carry this out, but just like in this day and age, similar to a computer, your body can get overloaded, leading to malfunction. A BodyTalk Therapy
How To Build Emotional Resilience – The Benefits Of Meditation & EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)
When it comes to a person’s ability to deal with stressful situations or personal crises, learning how to build emotional resilience is key to adapting to the problems that arise and managing them in a healthy way. It has been shown that people with a higher degree and understanding of emotional
Body Psychotherapy: Getting your body & mind into a harmonious relationship with each other.
What is Body Psychotherapy? Many forms of psychotherapy, as well as other embodied practices, acknowledge the body not only as a biological network of physical information but also as an accurate and wise messenger of emotive and intuitive knowledge. The body and the mind are different parts of us,
How To Be Kind To Yourself: Showing self-compassion to both you & others experiencing the same kind of feelings
Why it’s important to be kind to yourself: It’s an ongoing internal tug of war, attempting to be kind to yourself using self-compassion can sometimes be a difficult task, especially when so many of us are having to deal with very similar challenging situations and emotions as a result of the
The Labels We Live By: And Why Labelling People With Addiction Problems Is Complex
Modern society it seems is intent on labelling people, why do we have the need to do that? At what point did the person become the label, or did the label become the person? It’s an interesting question that can be applied to pretty much any form of human behaviour. My name is Rowenna
Mind Training: Become an observer of Your Own Mind With Mindfulness Meditation
Gaelle Tuffigo is someone who knows a lot about Mind Training and Mindfulness Meditation, she is passionate about equipping people and teams with the right tools and skills to be happier and more performant, and over the years has worked with thousands of people teaching her Mindfulness Meditation
Man Down: Why Is It That Males Find Sharing Their Personal Issues So Difficult?
When it comes to males sharing their personal issues with a friend, family or therapist, there seem to be large barriers for them to overcome in order to seek help with the problem. For example, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in a car, even when hopelessly and utterly lost, is
How To Deal With Smartphone Addiction: Ditch Those Toxic Tech Habits & Become A Better Version Of You
Care to admit it or not, smartphone addiction is something that many of us suffer from. We have become a nation of digital dependents where we spend more time looking at our smartphone screens every day than we do sleeping (on average 8 hours 41 minutes). In fact, smartphone addiction is on the
Touch Starved: Dealing With Skin Hunger & Lack Of Physical Contact In Times Of Social Distancing
So who’s been feeling touch starved recently? In these strange times of Coronavirus lockdown and the ensuing need for social distancing, we are all forced to limit or altogether forgo physical contact. The result is that more people than ever are struggling with symptoms of touch starvation (or
Mindful or Mind Full? Joining A Gestalt Personal Development Group In London
Personal development group work using Gestalt therapy offers the opportunity for individuals to explore personal issues with others who are interested in understanding themselves, and their relationship with others. Some of the benefits that may arise from Gestalt group work are: The development of
How To Turn Your COVID Precautions Into A Mindfulness Practice
Ever wondered how you go about turning your COVID precautions into a mindfulness practice with everything that is currently happening? Because it really does seem at the moment that our main topic of conversation is the Coronavirus pandemic and how to fight it and stay safe. What is it? How will we