Learn the 5 steps to get your message across effectively Helping people – it is a great, often noble thing to do and for many of us, it is what we want to dedicate our life to. That is fantastic. Chances are that we are all touched by a tragedy or a difficult challenge in life that makes us think about what really matters in life and results in some life changes even. This is perfectly normal. Change teaches us…
September 10 was World Suicide Prevention Day. It is great that we have a day dedicated to such an important issue. We need to talk about suicide more. We need to improve services and life quality in general to help more people. As a counselor, I am glad that we have a day where we shine the light on the fact that so many people end their own lives. The numbers are rising. Amongst the many lives lost too soon…
3 simple ways to comfort someone who is struggling 2018 hasn’t started well for me. In fact, 2017 ended badly and the two are connected. You see, I received some distressing news in December 2017 about my health but had to wait until mid January 2018 to have them confirmed by a specialist. Don’t worry, I am not dying yet and while things are serious, it is not hopeless. I am still struggling to come to terms with my…
Hey there, brave and courageous people. Again a bit late with my newest blog post (life interfered once more with my nicely drawn up schedule) but this one has to get out as it is a topic very close to my hear. Today, I want to write about the curious beast that is social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the like. We all like them but that is as long as we have happy and maybe ‘braggy’ things to share….
Welcome to the third and last post of my mini series about grief vocabulary. Part I and II were about what needs to be part of our grief vocabulary and what kind of attitude to pick when trying to comfort the grieving (https://karinholmes.com/we-need-to-change-our-grief-vocabulary-part-i/. and https://karinholmes.com/why-we-need-to-change-our-grief-vocabulary-part-ii/). This last part is about how we can use more empowering language to help us create a safe space to grieve. I’ve noticed recently that our language is quite defensive when we try or are forced…
Welcome to part two of my grief vocabulary mini series. In the first part, I wrote about what to say to someone who is grieving and why. In today’s post, I want to talk about what not to say and more importantly, the right attitude to go with expressing your sorrow. I have written before about what not to say and I have a whole section dedicated to those terrible phrases in my book ‘How to survive a miscarriage’ because…
Hello there, world! I am glad you are still around as it has been a bit quiet on my blog lately. That is about to change though which is great, don’t you think? 😀 I have been busy working with clients through my online grief counselling practice, which is very inspiring but leaves me little time to write. Or at least not as much as I’d like. However, recently I have come across the same thing again and again in…
I must have been living in a bit of a bubble. Up until recently, I thought people appreciated any effort made to raise awareness for pregnancy- and babyloss as it is not that often talked about. It seems that is not the case. I received my first reality check recently where I was advised that people find my Facebook page ‘How to survive a miscarriage’ embarrassing ( check it out here if you haven’t had a chance to do so…
Healing. As you know by now, I talk about it a lot, mostly in regards to self-care. You could say it is a passion of mine. I can’t really let go of it because I am still healing and I am trying to help others on their healing journey. So, naturally, I talk about it. That makes this blog post no less uncomfortable to write. Something has come up over and over again recently when I talked to other loss…
Does the New Year make you feel a bit meh? It kind of does with me. I admit, I am very, VERY glad 2016 is over. It was a very tough year and I am surprised I am still standing. So yeah, good riddance to 2016. Although, let’s not kid ourselves. The last year was meant to teach me a few lessons and I do think I learnt a lot through these very rough patches. I also believe that if…