Nicky, Author at A Step at a Time

May 26

10 top revision tips to reduce exam stress!

Posted by Nicky | BWRT, child therapy, hypnotherapy, Responsive Therapy | No Comments

Having spent 15 years working in education teaching 16+ I’ve seen my fair share of exam and assessment stress. However whilst some stress is motivational (it shows us that our exams matter to us) we can reduce the unnecessary stress by taking control early on and being prepared. For parents, the exam season can be just as difficult. You want the best for your children and the best opportunities. However keeping home life peaceful and planning opportunities for time out, as well as offering a quiet space where they can revise without distraction can make the whole home more peaceful. So I’ve collated my top ten tips for revision to make home and study a little more peaceful and under control: #1 – Get your notes in order Spend some time getting your school/college/university notes in order. Having everything together means that you can get organised and have everything at…

May 07

Have we become addicted to validation?

Posted by Nicky | anxiety | No Comments

I was talking to a beautiful friend this week and we got onto the subject of validation. Funnily it was the third time in only a week that I had had a similar conversation. Whilst not necessarily a subject topic purposely explored for it’s negativity it is a concept which impacts so many aspects of our lives, and whilst it can boost self-esteem it can also limit us to our comfort place, and in some situations prevent progress and development, therefore an area which we need to be aware of when working with children and young people. What is validation? Validation is defined as the ‘recognition or affirmation that a person or their feelings or opinions are valid or worthwhile‘. In expressing our views, thoughts or feelings we are actively seeking out an agreement from a third party that these thoughts are ‘valid’ allowing us to accept them as…

Apr 15

Lego® Based Therapy – how can it help my child?

Posted by Nicky | anxiety, child therapy | No Comments

If you follow my social media page (it’s here if you don’t) you would have probably seen me post about Lego® Therapy recently? Contrary to belief it is more than just an opportunity for me to practice my lego skills… here’s what it’s all about: Background of Lego® therapy The Lego® Based Therapy model was first developed in the 1990s to offer a social development intervention for children with spectrum conditions which affected their social competence. It was found that in using a Lego® based approach children were more enthusiastic and engaged than in traditional therapy models. it was previously found that children were resistant to group activities using traditional methods but in Lego® based therapy groups/clubs they felt safe, engaged and interested. Lego® Based Therapy aims to offer children social skill interventions that they can use in a wider context. Lego Therapy uses Lego models as a core opportunity…

Apr 02

My scars are on the inside…..

Posted by Nicky | anxiety, bereavement, BWRT, Responsive Therapy | No Comments

Over the many years I have worked with children and teenagers, and over the last 5 years working in my therapy office I meet so many clients with different backgrounds. Some have scars on the outside, from domestic violence, self-harm, eating disorders or alcoholism. Others have scars on the inside from emotional abuse, neglect, domestic violence, narcissism, bullying, grief and loss….. When we have scars on the outside it is easier for many people to comprehend the sadness and the pain. The medical intervention required means that there is a feasible reason to allow us to make sense of their suffering. When someone has scars on the inside we can easily forget the level of anguish, pain, self-doubt and suffering they have incurred as it is invisible to the naked eye; but its levels of impact are on an incomprehensible scale. Wounds heal, but internal scars remain for a long…

Mar 18

Top Tips for Supporting Separation Anxiety

Posted by Nicky | anxiety, BWRT, hypnotherapy | No Comments

After my fridge/freezer died on me this week I was tasked with having to purchase a new one, along with a full food shop to replace all that was lost. So on Saturday I was walking around Tesco and a dad walked past with his toddler in the trolley who was bawling his eyes out with a quivering lip as he wailed ‘mummy, want mummy’ it was enough to break any heart, but pulled me back to writing this blog about separation anxiety, which is well overdue. Separation Anxiety is generally a common issue in children from 6months to 3 years, and many children grow out of it. However for some children it becomes a greater issue and they need wonder support systems to manage their emotions around leaving familiar people or places. Separation anxiety occurs at the stage when children recognise that they are dependent on you, it can…

Mar 02

3 ways to stop being so ‘busy’…….(and improve your health)

Posted by Nicky | anxiety, hypnotherapy, Responsive Therapy, Uncategorised | No Comments

‘I can’t I’m busy’ ‘I”m just so busy’ ‘I cannot believe how busy I am!’ ‘I’ve worked XX hours today!’ Busy, busy, busy…… but is it really something to be proud of? And at what point is being a busy bee actually affecting your health, happiness and fulfilment? I work with women everyday who are experiencing anxiety, depression, sadness or a lacklustre feeling that life just isn’t all it should be…. the common theme with at least 75% of them – they are so busy being busy. In fact their commitment to being busy is directly impacting their contentment from life as they feel guilty for doing things they love due to a feeling that doing these daily tasks that keep them busy is a prerequisite to their life. With the rise in use of social media and the internet we know we can effectively work 24/7. We can Christmas…

Feb 03

Why mental health is like building a house….

Posted by Nicky | anxiety, BWRT, hypnotherapy, Responsive Therapy | No Comments

Why is mental health like building a house… let me explain… Growing up I would colour in my dad’s architecture drawings for the latest house he was building, it filled me with dreams of being an architect and designing the houses that my dad would build. Coming from a household where my dad could literally build anything you drew, from rabbit hutches and runs to later the office where I now work, I quickly became attuned to the time, effort and energy that sits behind those pictures which later become homes. In Year 6 my science project was about cavity walls, as my dad taught me about the reality that the walls of a house are not just one layer, that the insulation is an important factor and that those measurements are imperative to the house fulfilling it’s function I spent hours drawing the illustrations to support this new knowledge…

Jan 29

3 things you can learn from my Eating Disorder….

Posted by Nicky | anxiety, body-image, BWRT, hypnotherapy, Responsive Therapy, Uncategorised | No Comments

Eating Disorders often become one of those judgemental taboo subjects – we see television, magazines and social media body shaming, we hear flippant remarks of ‘my god is she anorexic!’ passed around as easily as the names of celebrities… but what we actually know about them is very little. Much like many taboo subjects eating disorders make many people feel uncomfortable, and as such they avoid any discussion about them. Behind closed doors they may discuss a friend, family member or work colleague who they have noticed has ‘different’ eating habits but the likelihood of someone actually sitting down and having that uncomfortable conversation with someone is unlikely. I should know – I had one. I was late to the game, at 26, to develop an eating disorder isn’t as expected as if I had been a teenager, and being older (and in full time employment) I had more control…

Jan 22

5 Things to do when you’re exhausted…..

Posted by Nicky | anxiety, BWRT, Uncategorised | No Comments

In a world that seems to never stop what do we do when it all catches up with us? The reality is that we can’t just push the pause button and so when barriers, obstacles or difficulties crop up we still need to go to work, look after our families and do the housework and whilst what we really want is to curl up in a ball it can sometimes be….impossible. But what impact does it have on our health? When we have conflicts that occur in our home lives they can take multiple forms: Bereavements Family conflicts Stress at work Breakups of relaionships Illness Financial worries ….the list goes on Some of these can be easily resolved, others may pass in a short amount of time, and some slowly chip away at us over a period of time. With this comes the slow burn on our brain, as stress…

Dec 09

The story behind our books!

Posted by Nicky | Adventures of Brian, anxiety, bereavement, books, hypnotherapy | No Comments

I often get asked WHY I wrote the Adventures of Brian. With an ever growing book collection many people we meet want to know how it was inspired and what comes next. So it seemed an apt time to share it with you, as the anniversary of meeting the little girl who would prove to be a game changer to my life is coming up soon. So here’s our story… the Adventures of Brian Back Story… I’ve worked with children for my whole career, at 16 I worked in nurseries, progressing up to Nursery Manager and Early Years support roles within the local council. I additionally became a lecturer in early years and health and social care over 14 years ago so I suppose you could say that working with children and young people was in my DNA. I’ve always been a book worm and I love anything creative, as…

Nov 26

Brains, filing cabinets – and why noone is coming to do your filing!

Posted by Nicky | anxiety, bereavement, BWRT, child therapy, hypnotherapy, Responsive Therapy | No Comments

Is your brain talking to you? Just take a moment and scan this communication list…. My head hurts all the time… I have a permanent headache…. I just can’t turn my brain off… I can’t sleep… I am permanently exhausted… I had to take a day off as my neck and shoulders hurt so much… I can’t concentrate… I keep forgetting things… The smallest thing makes me angry… I can’t deal with being around people… I’ve suddenly developed anxiety about things I used to find easy… I feel so fragile all the time.. My family are getting really fed up with me being so helpless… (If you didn’t tick off anything on this list then I can only say well done, you either have fantastic coping strategies in place, a support system which is second to none, are in therapy regularly or have had a peaceful year or a combination…

Nov 16

5 reasons why anxiety in teenagers is increasing and how you can help

Posted by Nicky | Adventures of Brian, anxiety, Uncategorised | No Comments

The NHS defines anxiety as “a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe”, it’s prevalence in the population has seen a steady increase over recent years and in 2016 Mind.uk identified that around 6 in 100 people suffer with anxiety issues and Anxiety UK suggest that 1 in 6 teenagers will experience anxiety. This means that on average there will be around 5 children in any given classroom experiencing anxiety symptoms at any one time. The Fundamental Facts of Mental Health Paper 2016 found that ‘in the UK, women are almost twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders. From the APMS (2014) results it can be deduced that, in England, 6.8% of all women were diagnosed with general anxiety disorder compared to 4.9% of all men.’ It was shown that generalised anxiety disorder diagnosis’ rose from 4.4% in 2007 to…

Nov 02

Child Therapy – From a child’s perspective… (testimonial)

Posted by Nicky | Adventures of Brian, anxiety, books, BWRT, child therapy, Uncategorised | No Comments

I really love my therapy and coaching work with young people, their imaginations and willingness to open up and explore the child therapy techniques I offer means that they often experience big breakthroughs in 1-6 sessions (depending on the reason for attending). So you can imagine how touched I was when I received this beautiful story from one of my 12 year old clients which she submitted to a local radio station story writing contest, it looks at the session we completed to help her find some inner peace and joy…. she even had the chance to meet Brian my therapy dog! I’ll let her say the rest… “Once there was a girl named Poppy and she was a big worrier for many reasons that cannot be explained. One day something life changing happened; she was going to see her one and only hero, worry expert Nicki Edwards and her…

Oct 27

Perfectionism, Stress, School and our Teenagers

Posted by Nicky | Adventures of Brian, anxiety, BWRT, hypnotherapy, Responsive Therapy, Teenagers, Uncategorised | No Comments

Having worked with the 16+ age group for 14 years this year (still feels like yesterday that I started) it’s been an interesting concept to watch the changes in mindset, challenges and mental health. One of the key things that is becoming more and more noticeable is that a higher number of teenagers and young people are striving to obtain a level of perfectionism that is causing higher levels of: Stress Anxiety Worry And in more extreme cases: Disordered eating Self-harming behaviours If you read my previous blog ‘Is the world causing our children anxiety‘ you’ll already know that I discussed the influence of social media and technology on our children’s limbic brain development (the part of the brain responsible for emotional behaviours) if not it is worth a perusal to look at the statistics released in the Child Mental Health Report 2017 where we see the links between social…

Oct 20

Why self-care is NOT selfish

Posted by Nicky | anxiety, bereavement, BWRT, hypnotherapy, Responsive Therapy | No Comments

Every day I hear mums and my professional clients utter the same words ‘I can’t be that selfish’…. In fact it’s probably the main thing that they have in common, a belief system that looking after their own emotional health and well-being is ‘selfish’. Having worked in the teaching industry for many years i’m quite accustomed to skipping meals, working ludicrous hours, cancelling personal engagements to opt for lesson planning and marking and collapsing in a heap at the end of term wondering what way the steam train that hit me had gone in… So why is the main thing that I am accustomed to hearing ‘I can’t be that selfish’. Perhaps it’s an archaic belief system, maybe a new one from the unrealistic expectations that we have placed on life, but is it time to acknowledge that selfceare is NOT selfish? How is looking after your emotional health selfish?…

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