Welcome to the Resting Tree blog, where we delve into the intricacies of mental health, healing, and personal growth. As a private practice specializing in trauma-informed, compassion-focused, and humanistic approaches, we are dedicated to providing insightful and empowering content to support your journey towards holistic well-being.
Our blog is a safe space for exploring the complexities of the human experience, offering valuable resources, and fostering a sense of community. Join us as we navigate the path to healing and self-discovery, one blog post at a time.
Codependency Crisis: Recognizing the Signs and Finding Healing in Family Relationships
In this blog post, we dive deep into helping you recognise the signs of codependency and offer practical ways to find healing. We will walk you through real-life scenarios and help you recognise if codependency is at play in your own family. We will also share powerful strategies and therapeutic approaches that can lead to positive change. Join us on this journey of self-discovery and transformation as we navigate the path towards healthier, more fulfilling family connections.
Of Love & Scars (1) : Understanding the Chaos of Toxic Family Dynamics
Many individuals face toxic family dynamics and childhood trauma, which can cause emotional, psychological, and physical scars. Toxic family dynamics consist of unhealthy behaviors like manipulation, control, emotional abuse, and neglect, leading to a negative impact on family members' well-being. These environments are marked by an absence of support, affection, and empathy, resulting in isolation, invalidation, and emotional exhaustion. Addressing these issues is vital for promoting healing, growth, and a more fulfilling life.
Of Love & Scars (2) : Healing from the Chaos of Toxic Family Dynamics
Toxic family dynamics, which can include emotional and physical abuse, neglect, manipulation, and constant criticism, often cause deep pain and confusion, impacting mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Healing from childhood trauma and toxic family dynamics is a non-linear, complex, and personal journey, requiring courage, patience, and self-compassion as we confront our past and work towards wholeness.
What Makes A Good Friend? 7 Green Flags to Look For
A friend is someone who you can count on and who can count on you. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that needs to work for both sides of it. To be able to see these things in our friends is important because it can help to realize who really has our best interest at heart. These can be big actions or small that pull the friendship in one direction, and while it is important to think about and realize these “red flags” it is even more important to be able to view and identify the “green flags” these points that make our friends indispensable. These are the actions that make us feel safe and comfortable in the presence of others. Read on to see some of the more common green flags that are easily identifiable in our close friends.
Are you in An Abusive Relationship? Here are 10 signs to look out for
Abusive relationships rarely start out with blatantly severe acts of abuse. More often than not, abusive relationships begin with weird “Red Flags” that may at first appear to be acts of love. It is not uncommon for manipulative behaviours, words, and actions to be initially disguised with seemingly good intentions, but make no mistake. These red flags indicate dangerous behaviour is likely, and whenever these red flags appear, overt acts of dominance and control tend to follow soon after.
People Pleasing (2): How does it Help or Hinder us?
People-pleasing involves adjusting our words and actions for the sake of another individual. Typically, they can be considered very helpful and kind people who will drop everything to come to your aid. However on the other end, some people may even think of them as manipulative or hypocritical as they try to win the praise of those around them. Therefore there are pros and cons to people-pleasing. On the positive side, people-pleasing can help you be adaptable and open to situations and different personalities. However, on the negative side, people-pleasing can have an extraordinarily hard toll on your emotional wellbeing as you are constantly putting your own needs on a back burner for those of others.
People-Pleasing (1): Why do we People-Please?
People-pleasing is a term you may have heard of in different lights. It might not sound bad at all, because, what’s the problem with trying to make other people happy. Nothing right? However, people-pleasing usually comes at the expense of our own wants or needs. It involves changing or adjusting our words and actions for the sake of another individuals' feelings or reactions. By doing this, we are putting other people's wants, needs, and happiness, ahead of our own. One may not even notice that they are a people-pleaser in the bad sense, as it is a very subtle response to diffusing conflict that had to have been developed at an early age.
Understanding Anger and How to Deal with it
Whether we are dealing with our own anger or that of those around us it is a good idea to try and understand what anger is and where this specific anger is coming from. Within you can find a few helpful tips and strategies to express your anger in a healthy way so that you will reduce tension and can help build better relationships. Take a minute to step back and look from the outside.
How to Support a Grieving Friend
It is often hard to witness a loved one or friend going through intense emotional experiences like grief and loss. Let’s learn about some meaningful and practical ways we can show our care and support through this post.
Healthy Relationship Skills: How to Set Boundaries
By setting boundaries, we let others know how to treat us. Honouring our needs also includes asserting our boundaries. Drawing our boundaries kindly and firmly is an act of love towards ourselves and others.
Healthy Relationship Skills: How to Express Your Needs
We all have needs and expressing them healthily is part of maintaining a strong, loving and respectful relationship with ourselves and others.
Healthy Relationship Skills: How to be a Good Listener
Active and empathic listening skills are necessary for listening effectively. To listen is to be able to understand and validate the other party’s feelings and needs, which sets the foundation for great communication.