Welcome to Therapyhood: A Place and Time for You to Explore Yourself (a guest blog).

Hello, I’m Mik… here’s my website therapyhood.co.uk

I’m a counsellor who advocates for helping people explore supportive communities. One of which is the community that Melissa has welcomed us all into.

A bit about why I do this…

Growth, change, healing and understanding yourself starts with curiosity.

To be curious, though, you have to feel safe and supported enough to take a peek at the unknown, instead of keeping your eyes and mind shut tight as a defense… that’s not easy. I get that.

It is possible, though, when you have access to safe support and tools. Those tools are varied and can feel a bit elusive at times. I can help you to explore this.

Some of those tools are internal, sometimes they’re external. Some are learned, some are given, some are instinctual. We can collect them with age, experience, learning, adversity and happen chance.

The one thing that doesn’t happen, we don’t find them in a vacuum of isolation.

We are a total some of it all. Every interaction, experience, and relationship. Physically, mentally and emotionally, we are shaped by it.

Being ready for this or feeling the painful call that it’s time to open your eyes to take a peek, is you reaching your Therapyhood! The time in life when you are ready to explore.

Like in toddlerhood when you braved learning to walk, then childhood, when you discovered a world outside of the one you knew. Becoming self-aware and conscious of yourself in that wider world. Or during teenagehood, a time of confusion, change and physical awakening.

Lastly, adulthood - a vast expanse of responsibility, decisions, difficulty and emotional rollercoasters you were dragged on. Parenthood, motherhood, fatherhood, sisterhood, brotherhood, old age, trauma, loss, beginnings, endings, harm, survival, joy, adventure etc.… all phases, periods, seasons of life with varied communities. Some good and some not so.

Therapyhood counselling is a space and place for you to reflect and learn how to navigate these aspects of you and your history.

Therapy is not just talking about it. It's so much more.

It's about learning, unlearning, gaining, shedding and exploring your inner and outer world. Gently observing the marks left by what you have been through, the parts of you left overwhelmed or disconnected. The wonderful and the vulnerable parts that make you who you are.

Healing issues that will never be healed by talking alone. It’s about adding in the safe people, places, support networks and resources your mind and body need to comfort your current self.

I’m a working-class woman who has been through her own Therapyhood both professionally and personally – I know how sketchy some ‘hoods’ can be, that’s for sure. It’s a place and time I am always exploring, growing and changing within.

I also have my ‘hood’ now that I visit regularly. It’s the people, groups, places, tools, realistic self-care, insights, creative activities, compassion and communities I need in my ‘therapyhood’ era. Visiting daily to keep me connected and safe.

Remember we can’t help ourselves in isolation. Did we learn nothing from Sesame Street back in the day?!

My website gives you all the information on my practice should you have any questions about me or how we may work together, please get in touch for a free initial consultation.

I am also interested in connecting with other spaces and communities and welcome any signposting or guidance about resources you may want to share with me at therapyhood@outlook.com

Follow me on Facebook, too.