Guides and pages to understand what is going on, sorted by theme and written by our clinical team.
Your son or daughter has changed and you do not know whether it is the age or something more. This guide explains what adolescence does to mood, which signs it does not explain, how to open the conversation and what therapy with a teenager looks like.
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If you are here, something is not right and you want to understand it. This page explains what talking to a psychologist is, what you can do if you do not want to tell your parents, and when it is better not to wait.
Read the guideNeeding routines, feeling overwhelmed by certain noises, having very intense interests or making an enormous effort to fit into social situations. This guide, written for young people and adults, explains what autism spectrum disorder is, how it can show up, what helps and when an assessment makes sense.
Read the guide"Really bright, but can't concentrate." "I know exactly what I need to do, but I just can't get started." ADHD is not a matter of wanting or not wanting to. This guide, written for young people and adults, explains what it is, how it can show up, which strategies help day to day and when it is time to seek an assessment.
Read the guideLearning very fast, asking questions all the time or needing to understand the "why" of everything can be a different way of relating to learning. But having high abilities does not mean everything comes easily. This guide explains what high abilities are, how they can show up, what helps and when an assessment makes sense.
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Do you feel that everything affects you more than it does other people? Do noise, bright lights or crowded places overwhelm you, and do other people's emotions reach you as if they were your own? You may be a highly sensitive person (HSP). This guide explains what high sensitivity is, how to recognise it, what helps you live well with it and when it makes sense to talk to a professional.
Read the guideReading a text, studying for an exam or writing an email can seem like simple tasks, but for someone with dyslexia they can take much more effort and time. This guide, written for young people and adults, explains what dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties are, how they show up, what helps and when to seek an assessment.
Read the guideFeeling anxious is not the same as having an anxiety disorder. Anxiety is the body's response to something it perceives as a threat, and it is often useful: it gets you ready for the exam or the meeting that matters to you. It stops being useful when it goes off without any real danger, when it does not switch off or when it starts taking over your time, your sleep and your decisions. It takes more than one form, but they all share the same mechanism: the body prepares for a danger that never comes. This guide explains what anxiety is and when it stops being useful, how to recognise its most common forms, from panic attacks to social anxiety and exams, what genuinely helps and when it is time to talk to a professional.
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Speaking in public, starting a conversation or asking for help can be very stressful. This guide explains what social anxiety is, how to recognise it and what helps you face it.
Read the guideCan you not stop going over an idea, even though you know it makes no sense? Do you need to check things or carry out small rituals to calm the anxiety? This guide explains what obsessive thoughts and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are, how to recognise them, what helps break the cycle and when it is time to talk to a professional.
Read the guideSuddenly your heart races, you cannot catch your breath, you feel dizzy or think you are going to faint, and all without anything serious apparently happening. A panic attack is an intense and terrifying experience, but it can be understood and worked on. This guide explains what it is, how to recognise it, what can help in the moment and when it is time to talk to a professional.
Read the guideBeing sad is not being depressed, and being depressed does not always feel like sadness. This guide explains what depression is, how to recognise it in yourself or someone close, what actually helps and when it is time to talk to a professional.
Read the guideBipolar disorder is much more than having mood swings: it means periods of very high mood and periods of very low mood that affect daily life. This guide explains what it is, how to recognise its signs, how it is treated and what role psychological therapy plays alongside psychiatric treatment.
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You can feel lonely surrounded by people, in a relationship or with a full calendar. This guide explains what loneliness is, how to recognise it, what actually helps and when it is time to talk to someone.
Read the guideWhether you are the teenager or their parent, this guide explains why home turns into a battlefield, how to tell bullying from a passing bad patch, how to recognise a friendship or a relationship that does harm, what genuinely helps and when it is time to seek support.
Read the guideA relationship does not look after itself: it is built every day. Over the years come living together, work, money, sometimes children and each person's own changes, and it is easy for a couple to slip into autopilot, with more logistics than conversation and more distance than closeness. Going through hard times is normal and does not mean the relationship has failed. This guide, written for young and adult couples, covers the four pillars that hold it up, communication, physical and emotional connection, shared values and a common project, how to recognise when they are under strain and when couples therapy can help.
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Do you say yes because you want to, or because you’re afraid of being left out? Recognise group pressure and find phrases to set a limit, buy time or suggest another plan.
More infoIf you searched for "I don't accept myself", this guide is for you. It explains what self-esteem is and is not, how to recognise when it is low, what actually helps, including emotional validation, and when it is time to talk to a professional.
Read the guideEmotions are not the problem; not knowing what to do with them is. This guide explains what emotional regulation is, how to recognise when anger, frustration or pressure about your body are running the show, what genuinely helps and when it is time to talk to a professional.
Read the guideFeeling sad, angry, scared or frustrated does not mean you have a problem or that you are weak: these emotions are signals that something inside you needs attention. What tends to make them worse is trying to ignore them or telling yourself you should not feel this way, because then the alarm rings louder and often ends up showing in your body too. This guide explains what emotional validation is, how to recognise when you struggle to accept what you feel and two simple ways to start practising it, the 90-second pause and the emotions journal. It also covers highly sensitive people and when it is time to talk to a professional.
Read the guideIf you hurt yourself to cope with what you feel, you are not the only one living with it, and it is treatable. Self-harm usually shows up when distress grows larger than the ways you have of handling it: it is a signal that you need help, not that something in you is broken. It is also worth assessing with a professional, because people who hurt themselves are at greater risk of ending up seriously harmed. At Psycho we work with the treatments current clinical guidelines recommend.
Read the guideIf you look after your mother, your father or your partner with Alzheimer's or another dementia, this guide is for you. It explains what changes in the person and in the one caring for them, how to recognise exhaustion before something breaks, what helps day to day and when it is time to seek support for yourself.
Read the guideIf your son or daughter, a teenager or already a young adult, has a mental health condition or an intellectual or physical disability, this guide is for you. It explains what caring involves at this stage, how to recognise exhaustion, what helps and when it is time to seek support for yourself.
Read the guideA change of job or career, a separation, the death of someone you love, retirement or children leaving home. This guide, written for adults, explains why these changes can be so unsettling, how to recognise when they are weighing on you more than they should, what helps and when it is time to seek support.
Read the guideIf you do not know what to study, a new stage has thrown you, you start things and drop them, or a bad result has taken away your will to try again, this guide is for you. It explains what lies behind it, what really helps and when it is time to talk to someone.
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