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I’m a counselor, but not 24/7

As a counsellor, I've learned personally that empathy is a very strong tool for connection and healing. My work has trained me to look beyond the behavior and into the story behind the behavior  When someone sits in a session with me, I’m not just looking at what they’ve done; I’m looking into the story that shaped them, what wounded them, what formed the lens through with they see the world, I’m trying to see the patterns. Empathy allows me to meet people in their humanity, even if their actions have caused harm  This is where it gets interesting  Overtime, this way of seeing people doesn’t just stay in the counselling room.  The nuance appears when this shows up in my personal life  In therapy, empathy is guided by boundaries, training, emotional distance. In personal relationships, these guides doesn’t always exist  You can look at someone who hurt you and see their pain, their story, their insecurities, their childhood, their attachment styles. And here...

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 2021

WHAT IS IT ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH 🤷🏼‍♂️ Why is there so much fuss about mental health? Why should mental health be taken seriously it's not even tangible, the mind is not something we can see so how does it have "health", Doesn't mental health mean someone is crazy? can someone explain all these to me?  I got you!  Mental health, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can make a contribution to his or her community Does this sound like something that affects your day-to-day life? Yes! Our mental health affects how we think, feel and act in that order  According to the WHO definition, a person with healthy mental health realizes his abilities, can handle everyday stress, can be productive, and is also able to contribute to the community. When the mind is not healthy, these things can become a ...

Fear of abandonment

I have always had this anxiety, that people close to me that I care about are going to leave. Once I meet someone who is ready to be good and real with me, I dissociate; running away mentally while physically present. I had this overwhelming fear that if I pull down my walls for you to come in, you're gonna see all the insecurities I'm trying to cover up and also my many flaws.  These insecurities and flaws are things I couldn't accept about myself and automatically didn't believe they could be accepted by anyone.  I put on a facade to mask the way I really feel about myself I have self hated to a point in my life when I hated looking at mirrors, I didn't want to see that girl in the mirror, because it would just remind me of everything she's going through Oh, I didn't even know who I was anymore I will find myself asking myself questions " Who are you"?, " who are you really"? "Is this you?" But all these started to...

Mental health awareness amongst the older generation in Nigeria

The older generation needs more awareness of mental health and mental health problems Studies have shown that childhood trauma causes a lot of the mental health problems we have in adults today.  In most Nigerian homes, enough attention is not given to the emotional health of children, emotional abuse is being packaged as discipline Parents live under the same roof with children who are suicidal and know nothing about it. Most children are not taught how to express themselves, they were taught indirectly that their feelings don't matter and no one cares. In some homes, only certain emotions are allowed to be expressed  Do you wonder why you keep asking a child " what is wrong with you"? And they can't say anything? It is because they don't have the emotional vocabulary needed at that point to articulate their feelings I feel a type of way but I don't have words, so I just bottle it up and let the pains eat me away. Many adults today still find it very ...

I am responsible for the way i feel and react

We often time shy away from taking responsibility for the way we feel and act in response to a particular event  And try to shift the blame to something else In doing this, we transfer our power and authority to them unknowingly When you take responsibility for your emotional responses and behaviours, it is then that you recognise that the power to heal is in your hands and not with the other party.  For example, someone calls you a loser The way you interpret it is based on your beliefs which include your rules, thoughts, demands you've made on yourself, other people and the world and also how you see yourself. The consequence of these processes is your emotions and behaviours until we learn that all these are coming from within us, that is when the change you want can kick-start. Have you heard the saying "peoples behaviour is how they feel about themselves"  Well, let me rephrase that, "my behaviour, is not about anyone, it is how I feel about myself"  And I ...