Tracey Wakefield

Tag: mental-health

  • Less ‘side hustle’, more…

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    Tracey Wakefield
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    Now that I’m running my own business alongside my other job, it was only a matter of time before I was asked if it was my ‘side hustle’. And I wasn’t surprised that I rejected the term and went looking for an alternative. It isn’t an aversion to the concept in totality; it just doesn’t…

  • Closing the door

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    Tracey Wakefield
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    I’m going through an interesting season of my life where some things that were previously very important to me are becoming less important to me, and I have embarked on some new challenges that I had previously been afraid to explore. It has got me thinking about doors, both in a physical and metaphorical sense.…

  • And Naturally, I Thought: Podcast

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    Tracey Wakefield
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    This week, my brain did the thing it likes to do, jump from random thought to random thought, and landed on an idea for a new project. I have lots of project ideas; occasionally, some stick, but many of them remain in folders on the computer or in bags of craft supplies. I’m hoping this…

  • Welcome, Spring

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    Tracey Wakefield
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    It is the first week of September, which here in Aotearoa means we have officially moved out of winter and into Spring. I woke up this morning with a curious thought: why doesn’t Spring rate highly in my favourite seasons? Especially as I do love magnolias, cherry blossoms and daffodils (in that order). Currently, my…

  • Noticing Joy

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    Tracey Wakefield
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    Recently, almost unknowingly, I assigned myself a homework exercise: to look for and notice when I feel joy. I say ‘almost unknowingly’ because this wasn’t really planned. It wasn’t an instruction I read in a self-help book; it isn’t a 30-day challenge. It has just kind of evolved as I started being kinder to myself…

  • ADHD and Narrative Therapy: How to Train Your Dragon

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    Tracey Wakefield
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    I remember in my counselling training doing a class on group work. We were tasked with each running a group with our classmates. One of my classmates ran a group meditation session, and we imagined ourselves as animals and explored what the image meant to us. I was a dragon. This image of myself continued…

  • The Grief Felt in Career Transitions

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    Tracey Wakefield
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    In my counselling practice, grief was almost always part of the picture my clients shared with me. We commonly associate grief with the loss of a loved one, but grief has many forms, and one area I think we don’t talk about enough is the grief experienced with job loss and career transitions. Not just…

  • Living in tension and the in-between places

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    Tracey Wakefield
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    I have lived in the in-between most of my life. My early childhood was chaotic; I experienced what I now feel comfortable labelling as ‘chronic instability’. I have come to realise that this has shaped my relationship with certainty. I have also come to realise that I struggle to see life in black and white.…

  • Waiting Mode

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    Tracey Wakefield
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    My ADHD assessment appointment was pushed out by two weeks due to staff sickness. Externally, I was understanding; internally, I was spiralling. Two more weeks of fighting with myself, fighting the urge to create and rehearse a script of what I would say. Fearful thoughts oscillating between, “What if they say I’m fine? What if…

  • “I don’t have anything to talk about”

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    Tracey Wakefield
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    When someone says, “I don’t have anything to talk about“ Throughout my career, I have noticed that there can be resistance to being told to go to supervision. With a common response being “I don’t have anything to talk about.” Often this statement comes from people who haven’t engaged in supervision before and don’t know…