Autistic burnout isn’t the same as ordinary stress or exhaustion — it’s a deep, overwhelming fatigue that comes from navigating a world not built for autistic people. It can affect every part of life: energy levels, mood, memory, communication, and even a sense of identity. At Hampstead Psychology, we often hear autistic clients describe burnout as “hitting a wall”  — a point where daily demands, masking, or constant sensory and social strain become too much to manage. What I

If you’ve experienced trauma, stress, or chronic fatigue and feel disconnected from your body, therapy can help you begin to reconnect with it — one safe step at a time.

One widespread problem that can last a lifetime, according to Dr Paul Lewis, is a tendency to put others’ needs ahead of your own. It becomes a habit and can go unnoticed. It is a problem that feeds on itself, because we can never please all the people all the time – but we can certainly keep on trying, sidelining we want from life. It can be changed. Firstly, lose the ambivalence: Looking after yourself is not selfish. There are ways to balance getting what you want while st

Life can feel overwhelming at times. Deadlines pile up, relationships demand attention, and your mind races with worries. How do you stay grounded when everything seems to pull you in different directions? The answer might lie in developing mental flexibility. This is where Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) steps in, offering practical tools to help you navigate stress with calm and clarity. ACT is not about avoiding difficult feelings or trying to control every thought

Shame is a powerful and often overwhelming emotion that can affect every aspect of our lives. It can make us feel unworthy, isolated, and stuck in negative patterns. However, there is a gentle and effective way to counteract shame: self-compassion. By learning to treat ourselves with kindness and understanding, we can begin to heal from shame and build a healthier relationship with ourselves. Understanding Self-Compassion for Shame Self-compassion involves treating yourself w

A body scan is a relaxation technique that can help us to control anxiety or unhelpful emotions. It works in two ways: firstly, it helps us to reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety but also, because we are focusing on something, it helps by providing the mind with a focus other than worrying or stressful thoughts. When we first start doing body scans, it is sometime difficult to feel anything inside of our body but with time and practice, we realise that we can actually fee

When we are anxious we breathe more shallowly and do not breathe out a full breath. The idea when learning how to breathe properly, is that it should be a natural and relaxed breath in and breath out. There are many suggestions about how to relax your breathing but our aim is to just understand how to lower anxiety through breathing using a full natural breath. We need to be able to do this anywhere - if we are sitting in a meeting or at a social event. We need to practice th

A quick body scan to get you through the day.

Before reading this article, I would like you to familiarise yourself with the basic model used in Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, called the five-area model, which can be found here: https://www.drstuartpsychologists.com/post/cognitive-behavioural-therapy. I am writing this on the 29th January, 2021, which I believe is one of the best times of the year to talk about guilt but before we discuss ways of dealing with guilt, we will understand together how it fits within evolutio

A Portable Paradise or as psychologists call it 'A Safe Place'. Help with trauma, feeling overwhelmed and generally to help us feel better.

For most people there is nothing better than getting in to bed and relaxing before dropping off to sleep. For others, this process can be a painful one of fretting, worrying and hours of trying to sleep. Here we will briefly outline the important areas of consideration when wanting to drop off easily. Let’s begin with the important things to remember during the day. Day-time events: · It is important to try to exercise each day – if we use our muscles during the day this can

Research shows that if we have the same routine for between thirty minutes and an hour each evening before going to sleep, then our brains develop the understanding that that particular set of behaviours results in us going to sleep. After a short time of having the same routine each night, when we carry out the first behaviour in the set of behaviours, our brain starts to shut down in preparation for sleep. As such, a sleep routine is really important. A sleep routine is ver