When we are creating plans for self care, we often forget to include the amount of sleep we get every night. Other things are important, but an adequate amount of sleep is the most significant thing that we can do for ourselves. Without it, we fall apart.

In the recent research on both physical and mental health, exercise and mindfulness meditation are frequently cited as two of the best treatments for many problems.

The concept of boundaries has escaped the therapeutic setting and has been captured in everyday life. But what does it mean, when we talk about establishing and enforcing our boundaries?

Our emotional, psychological and physical boundaries are all entwined—when someone crosses the emotional boundary or the psychological, we feel physically uncomfortable. Therefore, the easiest way of learning about ourselves and our boundaries is to play with our understanding of our physical ones.

People often wonder what happens when you see a counsellor. People start counselling for many reasons: they may feel stuck; they or others may be having problems that are very difficult to solve; they may have been asked or advised to see a counsellor by someone they trust; or they may need to know that someone is truly listening to them and wants to help them change. The reasons are as varied as the people themselves. But regardless of what brings you to counselling one of the first things the counsellor will help you with is self awareness, because you have to know what you are doing, or thinking, or feeling, before you know how you might change it.

What we need for balance is similar through different periods in our lives.

Being part of a couple has its own developmental arc: the formation of the relationship; settling into a working partnership; parenting (having children together; raising children; having adult children;) retirement years; and finally, bereavement or loss. Each transition into a new stage can be marked by stress as the couple adjusts to the role changes. One of the most difficult is when the couple has a child.

Have you ever reacted to something someone said or did and later wished you hadn’t? This reactivity causes numerous problems in our lives, so learning how to recognise and handle it is one of the tasks of psychotherapy.

On Valentines Day our culture celebrates romantic love. But how much do you feel like celebrating if your relationship isn’t working? If that is so, Valentines Day may underline your unhappiness, so that you become more determined to leave. However, unless you understand your part in what went wrong in the relationship, you may simply recreate some or all of the problems in your new one.

So, how are you doing with your resolutions? This is a question that we are all getting frequently at this time of year. Most of us talk about working to lose weight or exercise more. Some people are training for the Triathlon or the Test, but many of us are already struggling with staying on track.