Jennifer Day

I was once a counsellor in a small private school with very kind and loving teachers. Each class had only ten children who all received high quality tuition and caring attention. All the children came from privileged backgrounds, wanting for nothing as far as we could tell, so there was an assumption amongst the staff that this was why they all behaved like (in the frank words of one or two teachers) grumpy, spoilt brats. I figured there was more to it, so I decided to observe all the classes...

Do you sometimes feel like you’ve run out of empathy? Is your empathy feeling more like a burden or an obligation but you’re not feeling it? Could there be such a thing as ‘empathy burnout’? So many of my clients tell me that all the disasters and painful events they see on screens daily can be just too much and they start to tune out. Many also tell me they feel this way in their personal or professional lives, when they have been empathising with others and their troubles all day or over...

Holiday time is here – and whether we are on holiday or not, a break and relaxation is on the agenda! The question is, when you relax, do you really relax? With the state of the world, the climate, AI, and numerous other issues to worry about, it can be a bit of a challenge - to put is mildly. But if we’re to ensure we are resilient and can stay active, the body and brain both need to relax and recover – it’s actually not a choice! Yet I need to remind myself as much as anyone else! ...