There was a show I used to watch as a child called “The Littlest Hobbo”. It was a story of an Alsatian dog who had no home. Each week the story revolved around this brilliant canine finding his way into people’s lives, hearts and homes and helping them resolve whatever issue that was going on …

Today I write to you on R U OK day to reiterate a very important question. So many of us ask each other from such a habitual place and we have such an automatic response.  Hey how are you? Good, you? Or as some of my Australian friends go asking a question and answering it …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MrOqkazy6Q I remember the day I truly understood the power of vulnerability.  It was 20 something years ago and I was in a mother’s group.  A scary place to be for a first-time mom.  I used to go there every week because I wanted to connect with other people. The early days of motherhood can …

Think of a resilient person in your life.  It could be a family member, a friend or even a famous person.  Think about what it is about them that makes them resilient.  Do you think they were born like that?  Is it that some people are born resilient the same way we are born blonde …

It is always interesting to reflect back on my ongoing journey to self-awareness. I am lucky I have the aid of copious amounts of journals that I have kept through the ages to help me track my perceptions and actions through life. There have been numerous shifts however, one of the most sedimented shifts that …

As a psychotherapist it is clear to me how much shame there is around mental health.  I often feel like my clients dirty secret when I hear comments like “My husband does not know I am seeing you” or “My mother does not know I am seeing someone”.   Is personal development really so wrong? The …

There is a Chinese Folk Tale about a poor farmer who had few possessions, but an old horse to till his fields.  One day, the horse escaped into the hills.  When the farmer’s neighbours came, they shook their heads, sympathizing with the old man, saying this was such bad luck.  However the farmer replied, “Bad …

It was still a birth! I was 24 years old, newly married yet had been with my partner for many years, he was my high school sweetheart.  We were eager to take the next big step into parenthood and were incredibly excited about it, as was our extended family, as it would mean my parents …

March 2015, Hayley Mayer Going from ‘Bff’s’ to ‘someone that you used to know” is one of the many painful things that a person can encounter. When I hear the one side of the story from girls who describe the demise of their friendship, with their once best friend – sister of the heart, to …