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Valentine's Day 2024

Liz Headley
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Valentine’s Day has crept around once again, and whilst the day can be special for people in a relationship, it can also be difficult for those who are not. Especially those who have lost a loved one or have gone through a relationship breakdown. For...

The Onward Journey

Liz Headley
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We are now into February and most of us will be ready to wave goodbye to one of the gloomiest months of the year with a sense of relief. Maybe some of us have managed to stick with well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions, or maybe, like me, you have...

New Year Challenges

Liz Headley
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With Christmas and New Year celebrations now a distant memory, reality has probably kicked in and most of us have to face how expensive the festive season has been for us and how we have to continue to manage the cost-of-living crisis. I am sure that for...

Christmas As A Separated Family - Part 3

Liz Headley
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Whilst for many Christmas gives the opportunity to spend time with family, spoil loved ones and allows the time to catch up with old friends and family members we haven’t seen for some time, it also brings challenges. Sure, most of us, including me,...

Christmas As A Separated Family - Part 2 Letters to Santa

Liz Headley
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Ivy aged 6 Dear Santa, I hope that you don’t mind me writing to you, it’s just so you know that I am not in my usual house this Christmas. Something terrible has happened – my Mummy and Daddy told me that they don’t love each...

World Suicide Prevention Month - September 2023

Sarah Horton
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This month is World Suicide Prevention Month, a month in which to remember the lives lost to suicide and to raise awareness about suicide. Part of September’s campaign is World Suicide Prevention Day, which is on 10 September, though, I must admit, I...

The Benefits of Therapy

Liz Headley
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Counselling, and emotional support, can take many forms and be beneficial in a variety of contexts. Some people might believe that you only need to engage in therapy if there is something “wrong” with you, but this isn’t the case. Some...

Narcissistic Ex-Partners

Liz Headley
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For many who have managed to escape from an abusive relationship there is initially a huge sense of relief, finally life can become more ‘normal’ again and they can begin to rebuild their self -confidence and self-worth. Whilst this is true, the...

Mental Health Awareness Week 2021 - Family Breakdowns

Liz Headley
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Monday 10th May 2021 marked the start of Mental Health Awareness Week, looking after our mental health should always be a priority, but this year, having experienced a pandemic which, for most of us, has invited significant changes and increased stresses, it...

Relationship Breakdown During the Pandemic

Liz Headley
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This week on the BBC 1 programme Morning Live the recent increase in people contacting law firms about separation and divorce was discussed. A lawyer was interviewed online and asked what she felt individuals should be looking for in a lawyer when they were...

Children's Mental Health Week

Liz Headley
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Monday 1st February was the first day of Children’s Mental Health Week and it would seem that in these extraordinary times we should all be more vigilant about children’s emotional wellbeing and mental health.  Recent figures suggest that...

How to deal with January blues

Liz Headley
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Well, this week kicked off with what is known as ‘Blue Monday’. January is notorious for being a difficult month with people recovering from the excesses of Christmas, trying to keep to their new year resolutions, attempting to stabilise their...

Call "ANI" - Assistance for those Experiencing Domestic Abuse

Liz Headley
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Sadly, domestic abuse continues to affect many individual’s lives in a manner of different ways. In these troubled times as we search for a way to reduce and contain the sometimes awful consequences of Coronavirus, we have yet to find a cure for...

Self-care in the new year and beyond

Liz Headley
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I was listening to a GP who was being interviewed on a television programme talking about burn out and what he was saying appeared to make a lot of sense and for me was food for thought. Lockdown and the consequences of it has proved challenging for most of...

Coronavirus & Domestic Abuse

Liz Headley
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I know it’s a very different start to the year and I am sure we will all remember it as such. This time last year no-one could have predicted that 2021 would begin in this way, but let’s all try and remember that positives can sometimes come out...

A Different Christmas

Liz Headley
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Most families will be wondering how Christmas will be for them this year as we head towards, what is usually for most of us, a time of festivity with family and friends. Of course, the changes that COVID-19 has already brought to Yuletide 2020 are much in...

Life Under a Microscope..Making Difficult Decisions

Liz Headley
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The pandemic has invited us all to put our lives under the microscope and think about our choices. Things that we would normally take for granted have no longer been available to us and many of us have had to make some major adjustments to our lifestyle,...

Summer Holidays

Liz Headley
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To most of us, the word ‘holiday’ conjures up thoughts of time off, leave, or a break, suggesting a bit of respite from the humdrum of everyday life and some of those parental duties that dominate the daily grind. This year however, for some,...

Making Relationship Decisions During Lockdown

Liz Headley
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Whilst there are benefits to spending more couple and family time together, this prolonged period of isolating ourselves from family, friends and the outside world has potentially put a strain on the happiest of relationships. I have recently read about or...

Children Living With Adult Conflict

Liz Headley
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As mooted in a previous blog, lots of children and young people have returned to school with mixed feelings; glad to see some of their friends but a little resistant to a more structured day with some pressure on them to demonstrate learning. For some...

Supermarkets who are supporting domestic abuse victims

Liz Headley
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Spending a bit more time at home has allowed me the indulgence of watching the odd bit of daytime television, some of it being quite interesting and helpful. I have just watched part of a programme that has informed me that supermarkets have turned their...

Rising anxiety in children and how to help

Liz Headley
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In the last few weeks I have received an influx of referrals requesting I offer work to children and young people who are experiencing raised anxiety levels. This probably isn’t surprising as the Covid-19 crisis has potentially invited all of us to...

Grandparent's Gloom - being a Grandparent during COVID-19

Liz Headley
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As a grandparent myself, I enjoy reading contributions to Gransnet daily. Today I was drawn to a piece written by one grandmother regarding her low mood and how she was struggling to manage isolation under Covid-19 restrictions. I am sure you will be...

Safe Space for Those Experiencing Domestic Abuse

Liz Headley
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For those who are living with an abusive partner, lockdown has provided greater opportunity for their abuser to exert even more control. As I said in a previous blog, we can’t blame lockdown as being the cause of any sort of abuse but it has provided...

Domestic Abuse Helpline

Liz Headley
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I have just been watching BBC News on BBC 1 where part of the programme was dedicated to Domestic Abuse and how calls to the National Helpline run by Refuge have increased in this period of lockdown. I think it’s a good thing for society in general to...

Self-Care is Important - Especially Now

Liz Headley
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We are all managing these difficult circumstances in our own way and hopefully seeking whatever support is available to us in whatever way we can. For those who are fortunate enough to have a partner they can share their worries and emotions with, hopefully...

What can we do if we are concerned about family or friends living with domestic abuse?

Liz Headley
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I have continued to consider the plight of those living with domestic abuse in these difficult times and I remain extremely concerned for the risks that they might be facing whilst self- isolating. I guess we all have a responsibility to try to be aware of...

Relationships Under Pressure

Liz Headley
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I don’t think any of us are in any doubt that Covid-19 has had a huge impact on all of us, it has certainly made me reflect on the things that I have taken for granted, from the freedom to go out whenever and wherever I want, to seeing those who I love...

How to Manage Rising Anxiety

Liz Headley
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I have just been listening to the news and it mentioned that Mental Health Helplines have had an unprecedented increase in calls from people talking about their raised anxiety levels. I guess this is nothing to be surprised about, for most of us this is an...

Bereavement during COVID-19

Liz Headley
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I have just read the Gov.uk latest advice for safe funerals and whilst I can completely concur with the safety aspects, my heart goes out to all those who can’t say goodbye to their loved one in the way that they would wish. Anyone who has been...

Contact with Both Parents

Liz Headley
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Hopefully many separated parents will feel reassured by the information offered in the blog  from Melanie Tubbs, lawyer at Brethertons LLP. It very clearly outlined guidelines on how separated parents can manage contact with their children during this...

Men in Controlling Coercive Relationships

Liz Headley
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After commending the programme I Am Nicola, aired by Channel 4, I was thinking how useful it would be if we were able to watch a programme where a male suffered abuse at the hands of a female perpetrator. Unfortunately, in my experience it is not uncommon to...

Emotional Abuse and Control - 'I am Nicola'

Liz Headley
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Did you watch the Channel 4 programme “ I Am Nicola ” aired on 23 rd July 2019 starring Vicky McClure and Perry Fitzpatrick? It was extremely powerful viewing offering great insights into the insidious nature of emotional abuse. Nicola and...

Stress of Summer School Holidays

Liz Headley
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It would be nice to think that the idea of having your children home for six long and sun filled weeks would bring a certain amount of pleasure to parents and I am sure that it can. However, the other side of that is the worry about childcare, if parents...

Valentine's Day

Liz Headley
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Well it’s that time of year again and for those more optimistic than me it can be a time of anticipation and excitement. What could be better than waiting for a huge romantic gesture from either your partner or your potential new partner? I do wonder...

Changes in Domestic Abuse Laws

Liz Headley
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It was good to see and hear in the media last week that there are going to be potential changes in Domestic Abuse Laws in the future. It feels at last that some of the ‘mysteries’ around domestic abuse are being addressed. Not so long ago when...

Emotional Abuse - Crystal's story

Liz Headley
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The idea of domestic abuse usually conjures images of physical suffering however, a great number of individuals suffer from emotional abuse which is just as damaging but often suffered for longer due to the lack of visible evidence. Crystal is a fictional...

Domestic Abuse - Hidden Effects on Children

Liz Headley
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Sometimes it can be hard for parents to accept that even though they believe they have done their very best to protect their children from the conflict between them, children can be really good at picking up on tension and there will be an emotional and/or...

Abusive Relationships: Part II

Liz Headley
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Emotional Abuse It’s a sad fact that some people remain in very unhealthy relationships and become completely diminished by them. Emotional abuse is often insidious and can be extremely difficult to recognise if it has always been part of a long term...

Abusive Relationships: Part I

Liz Headley
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What is an Abusive Relationship? If someone mentions the word abuse a whole range of mental images appear in people’s minds usually depicting physical maltreatment of some description, where victims are bruised, battered and left considerably visually...

Valentine's Fallout

Liz Headley
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Well it’s the morning of February 15th and you might be basking in the afterglow of a very romantic, loving evening where you were showered with compliments, good food and other gifts. You might be in a right old ‘strop’ because your...