Hey There! How Are You Coping With Life?

As we move through life, we cannot help but experience tonnes of stresses.

• Life-changing events: Death of loved ones and losses such as loss of jobs, health, relationships and even routines.

• Chronic stresses: Repetitive and yet important part of your life. Responsibilities of marriage, parenting, work, school and relationships. Stress level increase even more with unforeseen situations, such as financial issues, unhappy marriage, difficult bosses and being bullied at work or at school.

• Daily Hassles: Repetitive and unpredictable minor events such as missing buses, traffic jam, low mobile battery and laptop problem.

Leaving us no chance to recover before the next problem, all of these non-stop stresses accumulate. Being exposed to continuous stressful, unpredictable and uncontrollable situations may affect our physical health and mental well-being.

As much as we are trying our best, we are just not coping, but it may be hard to admit it.

Drawing from our cultural norms, we grow up learning to mask or suppress our expressions in our daily life. 

And so, we suffer in silence, feeling lost, helpless and hopeless. And yet we are not able to or do not have a channel to identify or express these unsettling emotions that is draining us physically and mentally. As a result, we are not able to stay focus at school or at work. Our daily functioning is affected and so is our relationships with our family members, friends, classmates, co-workers etc.

At times like this, we really need someone to hear us out.

Yes, emotion suppression seems like a good idea, because it makes us more sensitive towards others. After all, we need to hide our unhappiness to maintain peace and harmony within our social circle. Unfortunately, the drawback is, it may also decrease our empathy, increase our stigmatising attitude and stop us from attempting to help people around us.

As a result, despite your courage to open up, you may have been taken aback by lack of empathy and disapproval you receive from your friends and family. They may have belittled your problem without realising it. You feel judged, dismissed and rejected by them.

Your inner pains and sufferings are indeed very real.  After all, you are a human being who is capable of feeling sad, angry, depress or frustrated. Your problem, that everyone deems as insignificant, is like an invisible monster affecting you and your quality of life.

And yet, your family, friends and colleagues may not be hearing you the way you wish to be heard.

Maybe it is time for you to consider seeking counselling. 

Not many people are aware but counselling is not only for people with ‘big’ and serious mental or social issues.

In fact, preventive counselling is a self-healing talk therapy for anyone who wishes to sort out their big or small mind-boggling problems before they reach a breaking point.

Counselling:

• Provides a ‘safe’ space where you get to voice out your thoughts about your life, express your emotions freely and discuss concerns and worries without feeling judged.

• Helps you to identify and organise your problems, understand the meaning behind your feelings, thoughts and behaviour

• Helps you to gain a deepened awareness of your past and present self

• Helps you to identify an alternative future that is meaningful to you,

• Helps you to identify and set realistic goals to help you to move towards your desirable future

• Supports you in a journey of discovering new ways of coping with difficult situations, making changes and developing new skills and findings what works for you.

“When a person realizes he has been deeply heard, his eyes moisten. I think in some real sense he is weeping for joy. It is as though he were saying, "Thank God, somebody heard me. Someone knows what it's like to be me.”

~ Carl Rogers, founder of person-centered therapy

Chamomile Time - A Safe Moment To Freely Talk And Be Truly Heard