There's no such thing as a perfect holiday season Society has largely agreed that Christmas is all about love and hope and family and togetherness. Yet, what many of us actually experience at Christmas is far from these ideals. We buy more than we can afford, commit to more than we have energy for, eat and drink to excess, and care for ourselves less than we ideally need. Many of us allow ourselves to be pressured into versions of Christmas that are not really satisfying or nourishing and that leave us feeling the opposite to what we should be feeling... read more

What the family need to know There are few things more distressing than watching someone you love head down a seemingly self-destructive path. Families and friends of those caught in the cycle of destructive behaviours often struggle to make sense of and cope with the crisis faced by their loved one, and find themselves at a loss in terms of knowing how to help. Just as the person suffering impacts their family, the family and others impacts them too. In this sense, the family’s power to support and invite change in their love one is often underestimated and misunderstood. More... read more

Renowned facilitator, therapist and trainer, Maria Dolenc highlights her experience and understanding of shame in the addiction process. Frequent connection is made between the role of shame in addiction, eating disorders and codependency. When the cycle of addiction and self-loathing are acted out without awareness the cycle can not be changed. With overwhelming feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, or self-loathing individuals experiencing toxic shame are separated not only from others but also from themselves, unable to see through the persistent, debilitating and unconscious beliefs, supporting a spiral back into addiction and other maladaptive behaviours. This article comes from my perceptions over the many years of... read more

Alcohol consumption is so embedded in our culture, that just being born in Australia means you are twice as likely to exceed the recommended daily drinking guidelines than those who live overseas. While for some alcohol use is casual and little cause for concern, a large portion of us, have a less than ideal relationship with it.  So common is the overwhelming feeling of being physically fragile coupled with a sense of anxiety and guilt following a night of drinking, that we have even coined a term for it: ‘hangxiety’. While alcohol is still Australia’s most popular drug, and one... read more

The way we think about ourselves and the world around us has the power to impact the course of our lives. Overwhelming research shows a direct link between our mindset and how we adapt to stress, how we create our success, the way we learn, our resilience and even how our immune system functions. An abundance mindset is the fundamental belief that there is enough, while the opposite, a scarcity mindset, is the pervasive feeling of not having enough, no matter what we acquire. Abundance is not only who we are, but how we value ourselves and how much we... read more