Affirmations are an easy tool that can be used which are remarkably effective. They are used while one is in a state of meditation, having chosen and committed to memory the affirmations to be utilised. These powerful, positive changes will enhance the communications links within your mind and is a first step in improving personal improvements. The power of words in affirmations can lead to improved self-worth, being more positive in matters in which you are involved and improve confidence in future situations.

HALO can help you make that first step from being shy and introvert to being more positive, confident and self-reliant.

Some of the most controversial issues in today's society relates to the use and misuse of alcohol and various substances that can be obtained on the social scene. However, keeping everything within moderation is easy to adhere to, but it may be difficult when frequently socialising with others or at other times when the temptation can become too much. Continuance of this type of behaviour may lead to a plethora of issues and problems associated with alcohol or substance misuse. These are both powerful substances with the potential to harm users or to tempt them into overindulgence, which apart from causing medical, mental health problems and psychological problems, issues may also arise within relationships, family, employment, and socially, to name but a few.

At HALO we can guide you to proceed to take control of your life and learn to take greater management of the alcohol or substance issues that have been a part of your life for far too long, whilst building bridges and mending broken relationships allowing you to move forward with your life.

For many people life and work in the present climate is fastly becoming more stressful allowing less time to have quality time with families. This expansion of stress, without the necessary coping skills and tools required by us to deal with stress and conflict, can cause behavioural patterns within us. In turn, this causes low self esteem and low confidence which results in relationship adversity with our families and friends, in other words, the people whom we love and care for the most.

Anger is a universal emotion, and in fact, can be one that is the most difficult for people to deal with, be it their own anger of someone else's angry or aggressive impulses. Anger and aggression are the last stages of a response that begins with feelings of uneasiness and vulnerability.

When confronted with aggressive situations, we are familiar with the 'fight' or 'flight' sensations in response to the sudden increase in flow of adrenaline through our bodies as this is grounded in fear. But when we look at the 'big picture' there is a complex interplay of factors that contributes to our assessment as whether we should 'fight' or 'flight'

HALO offers therapies to help eradicate the negative subconscious thoughts that make you feel angry and provide you with skills that teach you to feel in control of difficult situations using a variety of techniques to enhance your progress holistically. This will allow you to move on in life feeling more happier and confident having dealt with the angry emotions and allowing you to dissipate the destructive patterns of behaviour and learn how to utilise and benefit from your inner emotions, strength and skills.

This is a normal response to threatening situations. While most people at some time in their lives experience succinct incidences of heightened anxiety, some people experience many episodes during of their lifetime. Anxiety disorders manifest themselves when these episodes transform into recurrent or relentless episodes and commence to interfere or inhibit everyday life, or when the individual associates fear of them and the anxiety attacks may become exhausting along with the associated physical symptoms.

Anxiety disorders are a group of disorders that have as their primary symptom anxiety levels that are so high that they interfere with personal, occupational and or social. These disorders also produce symptoms that can range from mild to debilitating and can consist of excess worrying, free-floating anxiety, insomnia, depression, fatigue, unnecessary/uncontrolled worrying, trembling, dry mouth, sweating, shakiness, palpitations, dizziness and nausea. Some of the most common are:

• Anxiety attacks
• Panic attacks
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Social Anxiety Disorder
• Social Phobia
• General Anxiety Disorder
• Phobias
• Stress

HALO will develop a client-centred relationship with you to help convey empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence. There are many ways of treating anxiety and HALO can introduce you to both recreational and diversional activities with a view to reducing anxiety levels whilst assisting you to develop a more optimistic and constructive view of life free of negative expectations.

Asperger Syndrome or (Asperger's Disorder) is a neurobiological disorder where individuals can exhibit a variety of characteristics and the disorder can range from mild to severe. Persons with AS show marked deficiencies in social skills, have difficulties with transitions or changes and prefer sameness. They often have obsessive routines and may be pre-occupied with a particular subject of interest. They have a great deal of difficulty reading non-verbal cues (body language) and very often the individual with AS has difficulty determining proper body space.

Often overly sensitive to sounds, tastes, smells, and sights, the person with AS may prefer soft clothing, certain foods, and be bothered by sounds or lights no one else seems to hear or see. It's important to remember that the person with AS perceives the world very differently.

Therefore, many behaviours that seem odd or unusual are due to these neurological differences and not the result of intentional rudeness or bad behaviour, and most certainly not the result of 'improper parenting'.

By definition, those with AS have a normal IQ and many individuals (although not all), exhibit exceptional skill or talent in a specific area. Because of their high degree of functionality and their naivety, those with AS are often viewed as eccentric or odd and can easily become victims of teasing/bullying.

While language development seems, on the surface, normal, individuals with AS often have deficits in pragmatics and prosody (rhythm, stress and intonation of speech). Vocabularies may be extraordinarily rich and some children sound like 'little professors'. However, persons with AS can be extremely literal and have difficulty using language in a social context.

HALO has experience of dealing with this condition and if you think that we can help, please contact us.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a behavioural syndrome characterised by an inappropriate degree of inattention, impulsiveness and hyperactivity. Also known as ADHD or ADD (attention deficit disorder) and this is often linked with hyperactivity, impulsive behaviour, and attention problems in both children and adults.

People with ADHD/ADD often have problems concentrating, organising their work, or following through with requests. They may also have symptoms of other related conditions, including learning disabilities or disruptive behaviour. Treatment is often a combination of medication and therapy and the treatment aims are to assist the person to be able to take control of impulsive behaviours, improve social and family relationships and to achieve better performance at work or school.

ADHD children have a higher incidence of problems with temper outbursts, labile moods, poor school performance, rejection by peers, low self-esteem and enuresis (bed-wetting) and/or encopresis (faecal soiling). Children presenting with this condition may also show some of the following:

Inattention

• has difficulty paying attention in tasks or play
• does not seem to listen, follow through or finish tasks
• does not pay attention to details and makes careless mistakes
• dislikes activities that require sustained attention
• is easily distracted, looses things and is forgetful in daily activities (with symptoms worsening in situations requiring sustained attention)

Hyperactivity

• fidgets, unable to sit still or stay seated in schoolchildren
• runs and climbs excessively in inappropriate situations
• has difficulty in playing in leisure activities quietly
• acts as if 'driven by a motor', constantly 'on the go'
• talks excessively

Impulsivity

• blurts out answer before question is completed
• has difficulty in waiting for turns
• interrupts, intrudes into others' conversations and games

Other

• some hyperactivity, impulsiveness or inattention present before the age of 7
• clear evidence of impairment in social, academic or occupational functioning
• impairment from symptoms in at least two settings (home, school, work)

If you feel at the present time that the above applies to someone you know, then contact HALO who can assist yourself, your family or your carer and help you get your life back on track again so that you can can begin to feel more in control of your life.

Loss is part of the human experience, and grief is the normal response to loss. Loss may be of a relationship (divorce, separation, death, abortion), of health (a bodily function or part, mental health or physical capacity), of status or prestige, of security, of self-confidence, of self-concept, or of a dream, or loss can be of a symbolic nature.

Even though grief and loss are universal experiences, loss through death is a major life crisis for most of us. Grief is not a mood disorder, it is the characteristic painful feelings precipitated by the death of a loved one or by some other significant loss. Bereavement is the state of being deprived of a loved one by death. Mourning is the processes (grief work) by which the grief is resolved, and includes various phenomena identified subsequently.

Although grief is a normal phenomenon, it may at times be the focus of treatment. Most bereaved persons resolve their loss with the help and support of family and friends. The resolution of loss normally occurs through the stages of denial, isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Each stage has its own characteristics and the duration and form of each stage may vary considerably from person to person. It is important to keep in mind that these stages do not necessarily progress in an orderly fashion and may overlap during the grieving process.

Normal grief reaction includes depressed mood, insomnia, anxiety, poor appetite, loss of interest, guilt feelings, dreams about the deceased and poor concentration. Psychological states include shock, denial and yearning and searching for the deceased. The acute grief reaction lasts around 4 to 8 weeks, the active symptoms of grief usually last from 3 to 6 months, and the complete work of mourning may take from 1 to 2 years or more to complete and acute grief can be a time of exacerbation of any medical or mental health problems.

HALO have a deep and empathic understanding of feelings that arise at this sad time and we can help you to accept the present, resolve any problems arising and help you find new directions for growth.

Bipolar disorder, also known 'manic depression,' is a mental disorder that is characterised by changing moods swings. With bipolar disorder one experiences alternating 'highs' (mania) and 'lows' (depression). Both these periods can be concise, ranging from a few hours to a few days, perhaps even lasting up to several weeks or longer. These periods of mania and depression differ between individuals and many people may only experience very short periods of these intense moods. Manic episodes are constituted by extreme happiness, hyperactivity, little need for sleep, racing thoughts and rapid speech to name but a few. A depressive episode is characterised by low mood, poor self-worth, deep sadness, little or no energy, low self-esteem, feelings of helplessness and/or hopelessness and lack of interest in everyday activities and relationships.

At HALO we endeavour to give you the support and psychotherapeutic interventions to help you when you are experiencing these moods and to try and facilitate you to cope more easily with day-to-day living when going through these times in your life.

Body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD, is an obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder in which an individual is preoccupied with a greatly exaggerated or completely imagined defect in their appearance. Concerns of body dysmorphic disorder typically are focused around the head and face, eg shape or size of one's nose.

Many people who suffer from body dysmorphic disorder become so concerned with one aspect of their appearance that it becomes difficult to engage in activities, such as going outside, going to work or engaging in normal social functions. Thoughts on their perceived flaw(s) become all consuming. Body dysmorphic disorder affects one in fifty people and typically starts in the teenage years or early twenties.

Body dysmorphic disorder can lead to other mental health problems, such as depression and it also can co-exist with disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders, trichotillomania (hair or lash pulling) and eating disorders.

Because many of those afflicted with body dysmorphic disorder feel ashamed, or do not recognize that they need help, it can be difficult to diagnose. Fortunately, treatment can help return those suffering from body dysmorphic disorder to a normal life. If you think you or someone you know may be suffering from body dysmorphic disorder, contact HALO for advice and help in dealing with this condition.

No Fee – Discretionary Donations to Beatson Oncology Unit, Glasgow

At HALO we understand the impact that cancer can have on people, whether they are diagnosed as having a cancer, or a family member or friend and coping with a diagnosis of cancer can be devastating. People who have cancer and their families may have difficulty coming to terms with the illness and can experience feelings such as anxiety, fear, anger, sadness and depression and these feelings can occur at any time during their cancer journey - possibly many months or years down the road. Sometimes people feel they have a difficulty speaking to a close friend or relative and it is often very useful to speak to someone who is not personally involved. You may be able to express worries or concerns which you have to a counsellor that you do not wish others to know. Also, it can be difficult for people undergoing a stressful and emotional experience to talk to the people closest to them, as they may also be very upset at times like these it may be easier to talk to someone outside your immediate circle.

HALO can assist you in the following areas:

• the cancer journey
• advanced cancer
• side effects of cancer treatments
• complementary therapies
• emotions and cancer
• survivorship

HALO charges no fees for any undertakings regarding cancer issues, donations to the Beatson Oncology Unit, Glasgow, at client discretion, are most welcome

In today's dynamic, materialistic and competitive world, many pressures are put on children from an early age and sometimes these pressures can overwhelm a child leaving him/her to feel they cannot cope, feel inferior, unable to cope to name but a few.

Here at HALO we understand that the child's problems are as important to deal with as an adult's and we can give help, support and guidance to a child, family and others involved with the child.

We can help resolve problems with:

• bedtime
• bullying
• death and dying
• emotions/feelings
• forgiveness
• friendship
• manners
• moving/relocation
• toilet training
• protection and safety
• reading
• self-esteem
• separation anxiety
• starting school
• trustand responsibility

You may be feeling at the moment that your confidence is very low and that there is very little you can do about it as often people believe ‘it’s just my nature’ or ‘it’s just the way I am’. People who have confidence in themselves often enjoy more happy and enjoyable relationships, enjoy life to the full, make new friends easy, adapt to change with little or no problems and seem to be full of energy.

At HALO we believe we all possess within ourselves the confidence levels that we would like to achieve and that these levels are achievable. We can assist you do this by showing you how to take charge of your life and make these positive changes that you desire, to understand the various aspects of confidence, develop inner self-confidence, how to motivate yourself, to plan your confidence-building programme, exhibit a more confident image and how to maintain this and effect a more fully potential life both now and in the future.

The focus of counselling is to help you to obtain greater control of your life and to make your own informed choices. The need for counselling may come from the recognition that your life has reached some degree of crisis, or simply that you are not at ease with yourself and the way your life is going.

At HALO we can offer you counselling in a wide range of subjects and we are also listed in Counselling Directory.

• Abuse
• Addictions
• Anger Management
• Anxiety
• Bereavement
• Bipolar Disorder/Manic Depression
• Bullying
• Career Counselling
• Confidence Building
• Couples Counselling
• Crisis Intervention
• Dementia
• Depression
• Eating Disorders
• Exam Nerves
• Insomnia
• Low Self-Confidence
• Low Self-Esteem
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Personality Disorders
• Phobias
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Postnatal Depression
• Psychosexual Therapy
• Relationship Issues
• Schizophrenia
• Self Harm issues
• Sexual Issues
• Sexuality
• Smoking Cessation
• Stress
• Suicidal Ideation
• Termination/Abortion/Miscarriage
• Tourettes Syndrome
• Trauma
• Work Related Issues

A crisis is an acute, time-limited phenomenon experienced as an overwhelming emotional reaction to a:

• stressful situational event
• developmental event
• societal event
• cultural event
• or to the perception of that event

A crisis is a struggle for equilibrium and adjustment when problems are perceived as insolvable. During a crisis, a person may exhibit a variety of behaviours that indicate a number of human problems. When anxiety levels escalate to a high-moderate, severe or panic level, the ability to problem solve is impaired, if present at all. Ineffective individual coping may be evidenced by the inability to meet basic needs, use of inappropriate defence mechanisms and/or alteration in social participation. Anxiety (moderate, sever or panic) is always present, and the lowering of anxiety so that clients are able to start problem-solving on their own is key in crisis management.

Therapists at HALO can assist with crisis intervention and rehabilitation thus providing effective individual coping tools, strategies and skills and strengthen existing support systems to allow you to return to your pre-crisis life through learning more adaptive ways to cope with stress.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with one of the many forms of dementia, HALO can give you the support and guidance that you may require as HALO has considerable up-to-date experience in this field and understands the effect that a diagnosis of this sort can have on individuals or families. The most common dementias are Alzheimer's Disease, vascular dementia, Fronto-temporal Dementia (including Pick's disease), and dementia with Lewy Bodies. Dementia is a slow and insidious process progressing over many months or years, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse. How fast dementia progresses will depend on the individual. Each person is unique and will experience dementia in their own way.

Symptoms of dementia include:

• The progressive deterioration in intellectual function and memory, for example, forgetting the way home from the shops, or being unable to remember names and places, or what happened earlier the same day, confusion, inability to problem-solve and learn new skills, problems with understanding
• Mood changes especially as parts of the brain that control emotion are affected by the dementia. People with dementia may also feel sad, frightened or angry about what is happening to them
• Communication problems leading to a decline in the ability to talk, read and write

Finally, in the latter stage of dementia the person affected will have problems carrying out everyday tasks, and will become increasingly dependent on other people. HALO can assist you with whatever dementia-related problems or worriments you may have and will give in-depth support and understanding during your time with us and HALO will provide you with on-going support afterwards if required.

Mood refers to an emotion that dominates a person's mental health. Happiness and unhappiness are appropriate responses to life's events. When sadness, grief or low self-esteem is extremely intense and the mood unduly prolonged, a mood disorder results.

Depression is more than just occasionally feeling down. Depression is a mood disorder. You have no motivation, feel low and have little or no happiness in life. You may feel that you have nothing to live for. There are many types of depression, from simple depression to major depression.

Depression is not something you can just snap out of when told to by other people and it takes professional help to assist you to lift your mood. Depression can be short-term or long-term and often it can last just a few weeks but in some instances it can it lasts for many months.

Some defining characteristics of depression include:

• physical complaints
• sleep disturbance
• lack of energy
• fatigue
• general lack of motivation
• hopelessness
• helplessness
• inappropriate guilt
• frequent crying spells
• difficulty concentrating
• agitation
• change in appetite or weight

HALO can assist in helping you to lift your low mood so that you can gradually enjoy life again by teaching you how to make proper statements about yourself, lift your self-esteem, allow you to feel more in control of your life and enjoy life more. By using problem solving skills this will give you the tools and skills required to meet living in a busy demanding world and leave all the self-doubt, self-blame and negativity behind you.

The term dual diagnosis describes people who have severe mental health and drug or alcohol problems. The mental health problems may include schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder (manic depression) or personality disorder. People who have a problem with both mental health and misuse of drugs or alcohol often need a lot of support from families and carers.

If you feel at the present time that the above applies to yourself, then contact HALO who can assist yourself, your family or your partner/carer and help you get your life back on track again so that you can can begin to feel more in control of your life.

Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia and Binge eating are the most common eating disorders in our society today. People with Anorexia deliberately attempt to lose weight through self-starvation and, although they may be extremely underweight, they regard themselves as being 'fat'. They also deny issues regarding their heating habits, and often resist efforts made to encourage them to eat or to attempt to return to a healthy weight.

People with Bulimia engage in frequent secret and often daily binge eating scenarios where large amounts of food are eaten. They will then attempt to counteract the binge eating by purging (usually as a direct factor of feeling guilty), by self-induced vomiting, the use of laxatives or prolonged fasting and exercise. With this condition, people with Bulimia feel out of control in the cycle of binging and purging. Both of these disorders occur more frequently in young women, and recent evidence has shown that the condition is also increasing in young men, with Bulimia being the more common. Both disorders may have serious medical consequences.

While many people with Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia or Binge Eating deny the problem and are reluctant to seek help, they often come to the attention of friends and family and if you are know someone who needs help, of perhaps you have the condition yourself. HALO can assist in helping to break the cycle and help you take control of your life again.

This is a therapy which endeavours to help individuals who are experiencing emotional problems in their lives . Emotional therapy centres in helping individuals, by way of talking, to explain and discuss their feelings and emotions in an effort to heal and have final closure on old emotional matters. Left unchecked, these unhealed emotions can lead to problems such as depression, anxiety, relationship issues just to mention a few. Emotional therapy is also known as 'talking therapy', but treats the person holistically in mind, body and soul. This permits the individual to use their own personal healing powers from within the body and by using these powers they can obtain a deep-seated knowledge about themselves which in turn allows them to be more self-aware and bring more intimate strength to each session. This gives one a feeling of greater empowerment which they can utilise to build self-confidence and positiveness in their lives and move on to enjoy life. HALO can assist you to take the first step in eliminating these problems and guide you to have a brighter and more rewarding and fulfilling life.

Both University and College students face many common stressors, however one of the main ones students have to deal with are exam nerves. Anxiety can be a positive motivating factor in life - the anxiety a student experiences before an exam gives the student help with the awareness and sharpens focus. The symptoms can appear a long time before the date of the exam and in some students, as the day of the exam comes nearer, their nervousness, anxiety and stress increases rapidly while their coping mechanism appear to them to be non-existent.

Signs of exam nerves are:

• Total mind block when trying to think
• Shakes and shivers
• Increased heart rate and increased perspiration
• Dry mouth
• Feeling nauseated and dizzy
• Feeling out of control and overwhelmed
• Loss of appetite and/or insomnia
• 'Butterflies' in the tummy
• Increase in stress and anxiety levels
• Increased panic levels perhaps leading to panic attacks

These are problems that HALO can help with and by teaching you to empower yourself you will feel more in control, more calm and relaxed and hopefully achieve an excellent pass mark!

The factors which make HIV infection and AIDS unique makes for necessary specialised counselling which should provide personalised information and give social and psychological support focused on strengthening the client’s sense of responsibility. The client needs this help to accept and benefit from new information which can enable the adoption of changes in lifestyle. Counselling should help the client to define the problems that accompany the disease, and enable the persons concerned to make realistic decisions on how to reduce the impact of the disease on the client and significant others. It should help people to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes as well as the confidence to make the necessary lifestyle changes that facilitate preventive and therapeutic behaviour. This becomes particularly useful in resolving anxiety about relationships, intimacy and sexuality. Counselling can also help clients to accept the uncertainty of their future and objectively analyse such feared issues as illness and treatment, pain and separation from loved ones by death. Clients can also be helped to understand beliefs, religion and views about self as well as legal, ethical and human rights issues, as these are important to the clients and their significant others.

HALO has the necessary experience and expertise in this area and can be called upon to support and help the client deal with this condition.

Huntington's disease is a progressive, inherited neuro-degenerative/dementing disorder that affects both the mind and the body and can be devastating to individuals and families. HALO understands the anguish this condition can bring and has experience of dealing with this whilst guiding and supporting both individuals and families through the various stages and dilemmas to be considered .

A person with hypochondriasis presents with unrealistic or exaggerated physical complaints. The person becomes preoccupied with the fear of developing or already having a disease or illness in spite of medical reassurance that such an illness does not exist. Minor clinical symptoms are of great concern to the person and often results in an impairment of social or occupational functioning. Preoccupations usually focus on bodily functions or minor physical abnormalities. Such persons are commonly referred to as 'professional patients', who shop for doctors because they feel they do not get proper medical attention.

This disorder is usually accompanied by anxiety, depression and compulsive personality traits. It generally occurs in early adulthood and usually becomes chronic, causing impaired social or occupational functioning. The person may adopt an invalid's lifestyle and actually may become bedridden. This disorder is found equally in men and women.

If you or a loved one is facing problems with this condition, please contact HALO who can advise and guide you.

Insomnia is difficulty in falling asleep resulting in inadequate length of sleep and/or poor quality of sleep. The disturbances caused by insomnia can affect people during their waking hours. People with insomnia may wake frequently during the night and have difficulty falling back to sleep or may wake up too early in the morning. Insomnia is the most common type of sleep disorder.

Sleep requirements differ amongst individuals. Therefore insomnia is not defined by how long it takes to fall asleep or the total number of hours spent sleeping.

Primary insomnia is difficulty with sleep that is diagnosed after other underlying causes such as medications or diseases have been either ruled out or treated. Factors such as chronic stress, hyper arousal, poor sleep habits and behavioral conditioning may contribute to primary insomnia. If insomnia can clearly be attributed to an underlying cause, it is then referred to as secondary insomnia.

Many conditions can cause insomnia such as life circumstances - arrival of a new baby, death of a loved one, redundancy, moving house, financial problems, family problems and can contribute to you having difficulty staying asleep, waking too early, waking up feeling tired even after a full night's sleep, daytime fatigue or sleepiness, inability to concentrate, irritability, anxiety, depression or forgetfulness.

Other sleep disorders can include:

• Sleep apnea - a disorder in which a person's breathing stops and starts many times during sleep.
• Restless legs syndrome - a sleep disorder characterised by unpleasant sensations in the legs that are described as creeping, crawling, tingling, pulling or painful.
• Periodic limb movement disorder - characterised by periodic episodes of repetitive jerking and kicking during sleep.
• Circadian rhythm sleep disorder - involves disruption of the sleep cycle - common examples are jet lag and sleep problems associated with shift work.

Thus at HALO we endeavour to help you by using a number of therapeutic interventions to aid you endeavour to have your first good night's sleep in a long time.

Life coaching is a supportive relationship between yourself and a trained professional who can assist you in creating a more fulfilling life. While therapy focuses on healing the past and helping you to better understand your feelings, life coaching is about taking action. It's about moving forward and taking steps toward designing a positive future, such as embarking on a new career. A life coach often asks ‘What do you want and how would you like to feel?’ and then helps you to develop strategies to obtain your personal or professional goals, whether you're looking to save your marriage or get that much deserved promotion and be well on the way to achieve your goals and living a more fulfilling life.

HALO’s mission is to help you achieve personal fulfillment, better communication, attract and develop fulfilling relationships, greater success, improve interpersonal skills, create a clear sense of purpose, more time to do the things you want to do, enhance creativity and a more balanced life.

If you take any medication on a regular basis, chances are you’ve forgotten a few pills, or fudged the dosage amount. That’s no big deal, right? Wrong. Medication compliance is critical, and disregarding instructions for taking medicines can have serious or even deadly consequences.

There are many reasons people don’t comply with medication instructions, and the problem affects all segments of the population—although elderly people may be at higher risk.

Issues influencing compliance include:

• the 'health literacy of people' - the ability to read and understand medication instructions
• psychological traits and behaviours
• forgetfulness or dementia
• lack of information or incomplete information about medicines from doctors/GPs

Even highly motivated people may have trouble following medication regimens, especially those with multiple prescriptions or complicated instructions. 'It’s just hard to follow a regular course of medication if it’s more than once a day' – don't let this be you, if you are having problems in taking your medication contact HALO and we will guide you so you become medication compliant.

Menopause is the transition period in a woman's life when her ovaries stop producing eggs, her body produces less estrogen and progesterone, and menstruation becomes less frequent, eventually stopping altogether. Menopause is a natural event that normally occurs between the ages of 45 and 55. Once menopause is complete (called post-menopause) and you have not had a period for one year, you can no longer become pregnant.

The symptoms of menopause are caused by changes in estrogen and progesterone levels. As the ovaries become less functional, they produce less of these hormones and the body responds accordingly. The specific symptoms you experience and how significant (mild, moderate, or severe) varies from woman to woman.

In some women, menstrual flow comes to a sudden halt. More commonly, it slowly stops over time. During this time, the menstrual periods generally become either more closely or more widely spaced. This irregularity may last for 1 - 3 years before menstruation finally ends completely.

Common symptoms of menopause include:

• heart pounding or racing
• hot flushes
• night sweats
• skin flushing
• sleeping problems (insomnia)

Other symptoms of menopause may include:

• decreased interest in sex, possibly decreased response to sexual stimulation
• irregular menstrual periods
• mood swings including irritability, depression, and anxiety
• spotting of blood in between periods
• urine leakage
• vaginal dryness and painful sexual intercourse
• vaginal infections

HALO is here to assist, guide and help you deal with this troublesome time and support you using our knowledge and expertise on this matter.

HALO can assist individuals, carers, families and families on a wide variety of specific and general mental health matters. Please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss in what manner we may be of assistance to you as mental health matters is HALO's specific field.

Being self-motivated is about knowing what you want in life and being certain of your ability to obtain your desired goals. It is challenging to have motivation minus goals - the two are entwined in life.

An important part of increasing motivation is the setting of your goals, however unachievable you may perceive them to be at the present time and the energy required in attaining your goals. By far the most important aspect of increasing your motivation is to start believing in yourself.

You can improve your life by increasing your motivation levels and simply by possessing a vigorous self-esteem you can make it so much easier to achieve your goals in whatever area of your life you chose, be it relationship, career, personal or leisure.

By increasing your motivation you will be able to live your life to the full, be more energetic about your hopes, dreams and your future, be more self-confident, have more pleasure in things that you fulfill, have greater self-esteem but most importantly have a much more happier and meaningful life and HALO's varied therapies can help you with every step that you take on your new journey.

NLP explores the relationship between how we think (neuro), how we communicate both verbally and non-verbally (linguistic) and our patterns of behaviours and emotions (programmes). It is about knowing what is going on inside us and also what is going on inside other individuals. We all receive, store, search for, and recall information differently, in our own natural manner.

Neuro refers to your brain and to your neurology with reference to how you perceive and process information acquired by utilising the body's five senses - sight, taste, hearing, smell and feeling, (both physically and emotionally) and how you process this information in the brain and nervous system.

Linguistic refers to language, the words you link to experiences - we use these to organise, decode, store or attribute some form of meaning to our internal representations of the world around us. Attaching meaning and experiences to words, which are very powerful, plays a large part in our adeptness to communicate.

Programming in this context refers to consciously using the neuro-linguistic habits, patterns, and strategies (which define the world we live in now) to modify or install new strategies and change your life.

By using Neuro-linguistic programming as a catalyst, HALO can help you achieve your goals in life.

Obsessive compulsive disorder leaves one feeling inflexible and rigid with the deep desire to be in control, thus in some cases becoming perfectionists always being highly critical of oneself. This also has the effect of interfering with the completion of work tasks to the exclusion of friendships and leisure activities. The term 'compulsive' also relates to behavioural aspects of the condition. This may include preoccupation (obsession) with rules, schedules, lists and much more. There may be an inherent perpetual wish to touch things, to organise items in a particular order and often people having to commence again at the beginning of their ritual if they are disturbed.

People with OCD are also pre-occupied with attention to detail that their decision-making can be impaired. Relationship intimacy is often superficial and kept rigidly controlled even though they may feel a deep and genuine affection for their family and friends. Individuals with OCD, however, spend much of their time completing ritualistic activities causing great worriment which can interfere with daily life.

HALO can assist you in coping with the disorder whilst gradually helping you to let go of the compulsions and return to leading a normal and healthy life.

Parkinson's disease is a disease of the nervous system that causes people to lose control over their muscles. About one in every 250 people over the age of 40, and about one in every 100 people aged 65 or older, are affected by Parkinson's disease. Although the average age of onset is 57, Parkinson's occasionally appears in childhood. Men are more likely to develop Parkinson's than women. In itself, Parkinson's is not a fatal condition, however, the end-stage of the disease can lead to pneumonia, choking, severe depression, and death.

Commonly, the first sign of Parkinson's in most people is a trembling hand. Later, the arms and legs may be affected. The jaw, tongue, eyelids, and forehead may also show signs of the condition. Tremors only appear at rest, and not when the person is making purposeful movements. About 25% of people with Parkinson's don't have tremors; rather, they find their limbs or other areas turning stiff or rigid. Most people, however, have both and rigidity becomes worse as the disease progresses, making movement difficult. The balance reflexes tend to become impaired, making it difficult to turn quickly or negotiate narrow corners and doorways. It's often hard to make an initial movement with the foot when wanting to walk.

The following symptoms are common in Parkinson's, though no one person will have all of them:

• abnormal gait
• decreased arm swing
• excessive salivation
• feelings of depression or anxiety
• general slowness of movement
• increase in dandruff or oily skin
• lack of facial expression
• less frequent blinking and swallowing
• lowered voice volume
• slight foot drag
• slow reflexes if pushed off balance
• small cramped handwriting
• stiffness of limbs
• stooped posture
• tremor when resting

Depression is common in Parkinson's sufferers and those with Parkinson's run a higher risk of developing dementia, which often results in problems with memory or concentration similar to what is seen in Alzheimer's disease.

At HALO we offer support, guidance and help to individuals or families who have an association with this debilitating condition.

Past Life Regression is a therapy that can be utilized to allow you to return in time to a life you had prior to your current life. The therapy part relates to information recalled from a past life (or lives) which has relevance to a particular challenge you have in your current life. This challenge can be of a psychological, emotional or physical nature and often all thee strata of one-self are ultimately involved in any condition. The mere act of becoming aware of past-life information is in itself therapeutic for many. A far deeper understanding of your current life circumstances can occur which can be both mentally and physically liberating.

Past life regression can be used for the following

• Free floating anxiety
• Unexplained fears and phobias
• Addictive patterns
• Personal and professional relationships
• Conflict resolution
• Inability to progress in life

HALO's therapists can help you with your dilemma using this intervention and many clients have found this to be extremely beneficial and therapeutic.

People diagnosed as having personality disorders have multiple needs that pose many challenges not only to themselves but to their family and friends. Personality disorders occur in about 10% of the population and are a major source of long-term disability and frequently occur in conjunction with other mental health disorders or with general medical conditions. For example, both major depression and panic disorder have a high rate of co-occurrence with personality disorders. People with a substance abuse problem may also have a co-occurrent personality disorder which can complicate a therapeutic working relationship and interfere with treatment.

Personality disorders are made up of personality traits that are maladaptive, persistent and inflexible. The intensity and manifestation of presenting problems may vary widely among people with personality disorders depending upon diagnosis and individual characteristics. Some people with personality disorders may have milder forms of disability, whereas other peoples' symptoms may present as extreme, even psychotic. However, all of the personality disorders have four characteristics in common:

• inflexible and maladaptive responses to stress
• disability in working and loving
• ability to evoke interpersonal conflict in family and friends
• capacity to have intense effect on others (this process is often unconscious and generally produces undesirable results)

Personality Disorder Clusters

Cluster A Disorders – Odd or Eccentric

Paranoid Personality Disorder, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Cluster B Disorders – Dramatic, Emotional or Erratic

Antisocial Personality Disorder, Borderline Personalty Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Cluster B Disorders – Anxious or Fearful

Dependent Personality Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder

Some of the most problematic behaviours found with personality disorders are manipulation, self-mutilation, suicide, anger, hostility, low self-esteem, ineffective coping and/or impaired social interaction and non-adherence to medication or treatment. Although people with personality disorders may be hospitalised briefly during a crisis, for the most part long-term treatment takes place in clinical and community settings.

These disorders can be dealt with confidentiality and HALO can help you get order into your life allowing you to live a happier and confident lifestyle.

This is defined as a deep-rooted fear of an event, situation, circumstance, person or experience and can be as common as a fear of flying, or of water and perhaps a little more uncommon, but all the same a rational fear, of buttons, cups or clowns, but to the sufferer, whatever the phobia, it is real and can have severe adverse effects on a person's day-to-day living. Despite the fact that the individual perceives these fears as being irrational, they are convinced that they are unable to change their feelings and even thinking about the fear or the thought of having to face their fear can lead to an increased stress/anxiety level, and in some cases, can be severe enough to trigger a panic attack.

By using avoidance techniques as a means of not having to face their fear, most people feel that they are in control and can take comfort with this thought - usually this works until the next time that the fear arises and then it all becomes a vicious circle again.

Like other anxiety disorders, phobias are capable of being resolved, allowing you to experience new adventures in your life without being held back by a fear and HALO can assist you in experiencing new delights that are achievable.

In today's modern society, many mums begin to feel depressed, increasingly despondent and hopeless soon after the baby is born. They may feel miserable and sad for no particular reason and may find that they spend a large part of each day in tears. Sometimes the mum may feel rejected by her partner, family, friends, or even by the new baby; these feelings usually have no foundation. The depressed mother may feel permanently tired and lethargic, unable to cope with household chores. She may give up bathing, dressing properly or making-up. This is not to be confused with a mum who has simply had no time to get dressed or has been catching up on sleep!

A depressed mum may feel extremely anxious about a variety of subjects and situations. She may be worried about her health, possibly having felt unwell since the birth of the baby. The most common form of anxiety is severe worry about the baby, ie what if she stops breathing?, is she sick?, am I doing this right? And so the list of endless questions continues.

She may experience severe pain for which the doctor can find no satisfactory explanation. This pain is often in the head or neck. Other mothers suffer backache and chest pains which they fear are due to heart trouble. The mother may have a number of minor medical complaints which can cause undue distress. Pain and a general feeling of illness or constant tiredness are very common symptoms of depression and can become worse if the depression remains untreated.

The mother may feel too tense and anxious to go out of her home. She may not be able to bear to meet even her closest friends, and may refuse to answer the door, telephone or letters. A depressed mother is often very confused by everyday situations and may experience feelings of panic. These feelings are unpredictable and often very distressing. She is unable to calm down and every effort should be made to avoid the situations in which she becomes distressed.

Feelings of tension are often associated with depression. The mother who experiences these feelings finds them extremely distressing. She is quite unable to relax however much she is encouraged to do so. She may feel as if she is about to explode when the tension is at its worst. This type of tension, when it is a symptom of depression, may not be helped by taking tranquillisers/anti-depressants. Women taking these drugs should not despair if they do not work, as there are other drugs which can be used; which run no risk of dependency and can be of more help.

A mother suffering from depression commonly has some obsessional thoughts. These may be about a person, a situation or about a certain activity. Some mothers become very frightened and believe that they may harm a member of their family, especially the baby. These fears are very common symptoms of depression and may or may not be accompanied by feelings of guilt. Such fears are almost entirely unjustified.

Often a depressed mother will have some form of sleeping difficulty She may be awake until the early hours of the morning, or get no sleep at all. Some find that they sleep very fitfully and waken frequently, others that they wake in the early hours of the morning with nightmares, and then cannot get back to sleep. Many depressed mothers dread going to bed as their symptoms trouble them more at night. Indeed, if the depression is treated normal sleep will be restored.

If some of this is familiar to you, a loved one or a friend, contact HALO who will give support and encouragement during this difficult time.

This is a devitalising condition following a frightening event or an alarming occurrence experienced by the person. People with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb and unable to function properly with everyday life. Triggers for PTSD may be something that has threatened the person's life or the life of a loved one or a stranger. Being witness to an event such as a road traffic accident or a vicious physical attack on someone amongst many other triggers can be the source of PTSD.

The condition affects people to repeatedly relive the trauma in the form of nightmares and disturbing recollections during the day. They may also experience sleep problems, anxiety, panic, depression, feeling detached or numb, or being easily startled. They may lose interest in things they used to enjoy and have trouble with personal and professional relationships. They may feel irritable, aggressive, or even violent.

The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in one or more of the following ways - recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, or perceptions, recurrent distressing dreams of the event, acting/feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring, intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event, physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event. A flashback may make the person lose touch with reality and relive the event for a period of seconds or hours. A person having a flashback, which can come in the form of images, sounds, smells, tastes or feelings commonly believes that the traumatic event is repeating itself over again.

PTSD can be severely debilitating to a person and at HALO we can help you understand the causes and effects of the problem, show you new skills with coping mechanisms to use when the need arises and hopefully help reduce the intense feelings experienced so that you can achieve normalization back into your life.

Pregnancy Issues

An unexpected pregnancy can be a source of great excitement but more often it can be a confusing and frightening experience. Not everyone has immediate access to a listening ear to confide in or ask for help. HALO offers a confidential service that provides the time and space to come to terms with the unexpected nature of your pregnancy. This offers a valuable opportunity to consider the options without the pressure, however well intentioned, that can sometimes come from friends and family.

By providing full information and time to reflect, HALO offers support to put you in a position to make an informed and considered decision that is right for you.

Termination/Abortion Issues

For some, the feelings that surface after a termination/abortion can be almost overwhelming and these can emerge days, weeks or even years after the event.

If you are one of those affected in this way, here at HALO we have the time and expertise to help you understand and come to terms with the emotions involved. This will help you to find a way through current issues and move on with your life.

Miscarriage Issues

Not everyone expects or understands the intense sense of loss that can follow a miscarriage. Many times those closest to you are oblivious to the pain inside despite the changes that they sense in you.

With the help and support of HALO, you can face up to the loss you feel and learn how to move on in life.

Relationships are an essential part to having a happy and confident life whether it is with your family, partner, business, acquaintances or friends and can be a solid foundation for our basic needs in life – support, feeling of belonging, happiness, tranquility and love. However, when things don't go according to plan and relationships turn sour they can also be a starting block for low self-esteem, loss of self-confidence, of anxiety and stress and worry. The problems in relationships can emanate from a diversity of sources and reasons and at times one can feel overwhelmed and swamped with irrational negativity that everything in life appears to be hopeless with no end in sight.

If we have had adverse or damaging relationship experiences in the past this can compound the present problem leaving us feeling empty and unable to deal with the dilemma facing us. With this we can lose respect and trust in others and continue to try and solve the predicament alone often struggling and feeling totally alone.

This need not be the case as HALO can help you find direction in your relationships, help you address the unwanted feelings and memories that are within you and help you achieve your goals within your relationships.

These techniques are skills that can be learned with practice and because they work they have proven their worth. Some of HALO’s relaxation techniques include:

YOGA
Yoga offers a holistic approach to body, mind and spirit, which can provide us with the mechanism to cope with challenges in our daily lives.

VISUALISATION
Visualisation is an outward projection of the mind and has its foundation in desires and emotions. Using your imagination, you can stimulate emotions which in turn can register new attitudes in the mind. It can be a candid communication with the profound levels of the mind, accommodating a powerful prominence for enhancements in your behaviour patterns, attitudes and all-round confidence.

MEDITATION
This traditional discipline has been recognised for both its spiritual and restorative powers. By including meditation holistically into the routines of your life it can re-energise you and help you attain a positive new mindset for the present and the future.

BREATHING TECHNIQUES
Breathing harnesses its powers and transforms into a natural and effective stress relief technique. When we breathe, many of us do not breathe correctly or deeply but by changing our habits and breathing properly, this action can reduce anxiety, tension and stress. At HALO we affirm that the interconnection between body, soul and mind is plain and simple breathing which in turn can aid managing stress and stress- related symptoms.

HALO can assist you bring balance to your life through physical disciplines, visualisations, affirmations and breathing techniques.

This is the most common psychotic disorder and is characterised by abnormalities to perception, beliefs, thought processing and expression and volitation. This condition affects about 1% of the population and about 95% of individuals who become schizophrenic have it throughout their lifetime and is a relapsing psychotic disorder. A psychotic disorder is one in which people have difficulty with differentiating reality from fantasy.

The symptoms usually become apparent during adolescence or early adulthood (15 to 25 for males and 25 to 35 for females). Paranoid schizophrenia has a later onset. Although schizophrenia is not caused by psychological events, stressful life events may trigger an exacerbation of the illness. To aid the sufferer, family, group and behavioural approaches, for example, can help the person increase their social skills, maximise their ability in self-care and independent living and maintain medication compliance. Client and family education greatly improves the management of schizophrenia.

The phenomenology of schizophrenia can be divided into acute and chronic features:

• Acute - auditory hallucinations, somatic (bodily) hallucinations, delusional beliefs, thought insertion/withdrawal/broadcast, passivity experiences, formal thought disorder and mood
• Chronic - also referred to as 'negative' symptoms, the symptoms of chronic schizophrenia include affective blunting, apathy, poverty of thought and speech, social withdrawal and self-neglect. Although the acute symptoms are extremely distressing, and may lead to potentially life-threatening behaviour, it is the chronic symptoms that are responsible for impairment and handicap.

Subtypes of schizophrenia

• paranoid - the person has intense and strongly defended irrational suspicions and includes hallucinations and delusions
• disorganised - this is the most regressed and socially impaired of all the schizophrenias as the person has highly disorganised speech and behaviour, bizarre mannerisms and oddities of behaviour
• catatonia - the essential feature is abnormal motor behaviour and two extreme motor behaviours are seen in catatonia – one extreme is psychomotor agitation which can lead to exhaustion and the other extreme is psychomotor retardation and withdrawal to the point of stupor. The onset is usually acute and prognosis is good with medication and swift intervention. Other behaviours may includes autism, waxy flexibility and negativism
• undifferentiated (mixed type) - the person experiences active hallucinations and delusions but no one clinical picture dominates eg not paranoid, catatonic or disorganised, rather the clinical picture is a mixture of symptoms
• residual - here the person no longer has active symptoms but there may be a persistence of some symptoms eg marked social withdrawal, lack of interest, lack of energy

A personality disorder can be severely debilitating to a person and at HALO we can help you understand the causes and effects of the problem, show you new skills with coping mechanisms to use when the need arises and hopefully help reduce the intense feelings experienced so that you can achieve normalisation back into your life.

If you are someone who commonly gets depressed during the winter months, then you might be suffering from something known as Seasonal Affective Disorder. This type of depression (also commonly referred to as SAD) really does cause problems in all types of people at the onset of winter. This is because there are some people who are seriously affected when the seasons change. Recent studies have shown that up to nine percent of British adults may experience SAD, meaning that one out of every ten people or so could experience depression during the long winter months.

The symptoms that are most commonly experienced by those suffering from seasonal affective disorder include a problem waking up in the morning, a craving for carbohydrates, a decrease in energy, concentration problems, and a general withdrawal from friends, family and job duties. While these symptoms are not specific to SAD (as they are also commonly associated with general depression), what is important is noticing when these symptoms take place.

Most commonly, people who have a winter depression will start to experience more problems during the months from December to March. It may also be helpful to note that this kind of depression is one that appears to affect more women than men on a general basis. While everyone occasionally gets a case of the winter doldrums, those who suffer from SAD are operating at an even higher level.

For many, seasonal depression is something that often remedies itself when the sun begins to come out more in the spring, there are some people who may need to get professional help to stop their problem with SAD. This may be especially true if the symptoms have progressed to a point where it is affecting day-to-day functions and ability to hold down a job or go to school.

Since this disorder is one that most commonly occurs during adolescence, it can be difficult to know if it is something that you should treat with medications. Knowing the specific symptoms of SAD can help a sufferer seek out help and treatment to get through winter and HALO are here to help you enjoy the winter months

Self harm is the term used when a person inflicts pain on themselves. The most common mode of self harm is cutting – cutting any or several parts of the body with a sharp object eg knife, razor or glass. Other forms of self harm include burning, scrubbing the body, scratching with finger nails, pinching or hitting oneself.

Self harm is a way in which some individuals cope with difficult feelings. No two people will have the same reasons or the same ways of hurting themselves and harming can be a daily, weekly or periodic occurrence and can often quite ritualistic. Individuals, for example, may use particular tools, use the same method of harming or use the same room at the same time of day etc.

Self harm can be triggered by various reasons such as depression, hopelessness, desperation, worthlessness, hating one's physical appearance, anxiety, anger, fear or solitude and is used to obtain relief of these feelings.

This is a condition that affects all age groups in society and often has an underlying cause, which may or may not be apparent to the individual, and harming creates a vicious circle as the source of the harming is not being addressed.

HALO can assist individuals with this condition and provide the necessary skills and coping strategies to support, guide and maintain a programme in order that the negative aspects in one's life are being eroded and allowing more positive personal feelings to surface and move forward to a richer, happier and fulfilling life.

In a world of diverse behaviours and interests in the realm of sexuality, where do you go for help or advice? Sexuality is a multi-faceted component in the life of every individual. The answers are no longer as simple as explaining the birds and the bees to a maturing child.

Are you in turmoil over your relationship? Can't tell if it's love or simply lust? Are you questioning your sexuality at its most basic level?

You're not alone, no matter what level of concern you have over the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of sexuality, HALO can offer reassurance and confidentiality to enable you to overcome your problem.

Smoking is bad for you, and that's a fact that you already know or you would not be reading this now. You have the choice either to stop smoking or not to stop smoking and only you can make that option. Why did you start to smoke? When did you start? People state varied and numerous reasons for initially starting to smoke. Perhaps smoking is possibly one of the many habits that started when you were young or when it was socially acceptable to smoke, but today times have changed and so have attitudes towards smokers and smoking.

In today's modern times, the price of cigarettes increases without fail each year by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, more and more people are beginning to realise the health problems that smoking can bring, legislation has been brought into being and also many people consider smoking to be anti-social. But habits are difficult to break and need not only willpower and determination but a deep-seated desire that you wish to stop smoking and it is a combination of factors that determine the success of you being able to stop successfully.

On the other hand, however, giving up smoking can initially be a trial – but it is a trial that you can share with us and with the help of HALO, you can learn how to change attitude and think towards stopping smoking and you will be given support all the way, especially at those times when relapse appears and those cigarettes are too much of a temptation!

Whether we like it or not, stress is a factor of today's hectic modern lifestyle. Stressful situations are all around us and for most things we can deal with the situation. However, there can be times at some stage in your life when your level of stress begins to increase to such a state that it takes over your life leaving you feeling out of control.

Stress itself is a feeling of emotional or physical tension and has many harmful effects on the body and the mind - muscles tighten causing pain and headaches. The stress hormones impede normal body functions and sleep patterns are disrupted. Digestive problems start to occur - heartburn, indigestion pain. These are a few of just some of the main signs of stress that can affect you.

Stress can arise via many factors from some the following:

• Emotional stress
• Family stress
• Financial stress
• Situational stress
• Work stress

Emotional stress can arise when people consider situations too difficult or feel they are unable to manage. Different people see different situations as stressful, thus one person may cope stress-free in a situation that causes another to conceive it as a stressor.

Physical stress refers to a physical reaction of the body to various triggers. Physical stress often leads to emotional stress, and emotional stress often occurs as physical discomfort.

A person's attitude can influence whether or not a situation or emotion is stressful. A person with a negative attitude will often report more stress than would someone with a positive attitude.

Everyone needs someone in their life they can rely on when they are having a hard time and having little or no support makes stressful situations even more difficult to deal with. HALO, by using stress management techniques, can help you reduce your stress level so that you feel more in control of your life and can spend your new found energy in a more beneficial and productive way.

Although suicide is a behaviour that needs careful assessment in depression, alcoholism/substance abuse, schizophrenia and personality disorders (borderline, paranoid and anti-social), suicide is not necessarily synonymous with mental health problems. Physical illness may play a role in suicide behaviour (pain, recent surgery, chronic physical illness). Suicide seems to be most prevalent amongst people with diseases that result in suffering and dependency such as AIDS and cancer.

Suicidal people may share other commonalities. They are often poor problem solvers, have troubled emotional lives (depression, anger, anxiety, guilt and/or boredom), have a low threshold for emotional pain, are often impulsive, and may engage in extreme solutions sooner than non-suicide-prone individuals. People who are isolated (have poor social supports) and people who are experiencing severe life stress at any age may also be at risk.

The strongest risk factors for youth are alcohol or other drug use disorders and aggressive or disruptive behaviours. Depression and social isolation are also risk factors. Suicide in youths is the second leading cause of death following accidents.

The strongest risk factors for adults are depression, alcohol abuse, substance abuse and separation or divorce.

Most elderly suicides have visited their primary care doctor in the month before suicide. Recognition and treatment of depression in the medical setting is a promising way to prevent suicide in the elderly. Other risk factors include social isolation, solitary living arrangements, widowhood, lack of financial resources and poor health. The elderly commit suicide more than any other group in the UK.

If you, or you know someone who is in this situation, please contact HALO in order that we can help where help is urgently needed.

Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder characterised by repetitive, involuntary movements or vocalisations called tics. The age of onset is usually between 7 and 10 years old, although the symptoms may start appearing early in childhood and men are affected about three to four times more often than women.

People with Tourette Syndrome display unusual behaviours over which they have very little control. They may repeatedly blink their eyes, shrug their shoulders, jerk their head or stamp their feet. They may echo everything someone says, or repeatedly clear their throat, sniff, or make grunting sounds. They might even shout obscenities.

Both multiple motor and one or more vocal tics have been present at some time during the illness, although not necessarily concurrently. (A tic is a sudden, rapid, recurrent, nonrhythmic, stereotyped motor movement or vocalisation.) The tics occur many times a day (usually in bouts) nearly every day or intermittently throughout a period of more than one year, and during this period there was never a tic-free period of more than three consecutive months. Perhaps the most dramatic and disabling tics include motor movements that result in self-harm such as punching oneself in the face or vocal tics including coprolalia (uttering swear words) or echolalia (repeating the words or phrases of others). Some tics are preceded by an urge or sensation in the affected muscle group, commonly called a premonitory urge. Some with Tourette Syndrome will describe a need to complete a tic in a certain way or a certain number of times in order to relieve the urge or decrease the sensation.

Tics are often worse with excitement or anxiety and better during calm, focused activities. Certain physical experiences can trigger or worsen tics, for example tight collars may trigger neck tics, or hearing another person sniff or throat-clear may trigger similar sounds. Tics do not go away during sleep but are often significantly diminished.

Although Tourette Syndrome can be a chronic condition with symptoms lasting a lifetime, most people with the condition experience their worst symptoms in their early teens, with improvement occurring in the late teens and continuing into adulthood. The disturbance causes marked distress or significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

HALO's therapists can help you with your dilemma using interventions and many clients have found these to be extremely beneficial and therapeutic.

If you’ve gone through a traumatic experience, you may be struggling with upsetting emotions, frightening memories, or a sense of constant danger that you just can’t kick. Or you may feel numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people.

When bad things happen, it can take a while to get over the pain and feel safe again. But treatment and support from family and friends can speed your recovery from emotional and psychological trauma. Whether the traumatic event happened years ago or yesterday, you can heal and move on. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and alone can be traumatic, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective facts that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatised.

A stressful event is most likely to be traumatic if:

• it happened unexpectedly
• you were unprepared for it
• you felt powerless to prevent it
• it happened repeatedly
• someone was intentionally cruel
• it happened in childhood

Emotional and psychological trauma can be caused by single-blow, one-time events, such as a horrible accident, a natural disaster, or a violent attack. Trauma can also stem from ongoing, relentless stress, such as living in a crime-ridden area or struggling with cancer.

Not all potentially traumatic events lead to lasting emotional and psychological damage. Some people rebound quickly from even the most tragic and shocking experiences. Others are devastated by experiences that, on the surface, appear to be less upsetting. A number of risk factors make people susceptible to emotional and psychological trauma. People are more likely to be traumatised by a stressful experience if they’re already under a heavy stress load or have recently suffered a series of losses. People are also more likely to be traumatised by a new situation if they’ve been traumatised before – especially if the earlier trauma occurred in childhood.

Traumatic experiences in childhood can have a severe and long-lasting effect. Children who have been traumatised see the world as a frightening and dangerous place. When childhood trauma is not resolved, this fundamental sense of fear and helplessness carries over into adulthood, setting the stage for further trauma. Childhood trauma results from anything that disrupts a child’s sense of safety and security, including:

• an unstable or unsafe environment
• separation from a parent
• serious illness
• bullying, sexual, physical or verbal abuse , domestic violence or neglect

At HALO we endeavour to give you the support and psychotherapeutic interventions to help you when you are experiencing these traumas and to try and facilitate you to cope more easily with day-to-day living when going through these times in your life.

Trichotillomania is characterised by the persistent and excessive pulling of one's own hair, resulting in noticeable hair loss. Hair pulling in trichotillomania can occur on any part of the body where hair grows. The most common area of hair pulling is the scalp, followed by the eyelashes and eyebrows, underarms, limbs, torso and face. The resulting alopecia can range from thin unnoticeable areas of hair loss to total baldness in the area(s) being plucked. In addition, trichophagia (ie mouthing and/or ingesting hair) is common in persons who pull out their hair.

Trichotillomania is an impulse-control disorder. The hair-pulling behaviour can occur during both relaxed and stressful times, but people with trichotillomania often experience a mounting sense of tension before hair pulling occurs or when attempting to resist the behaviour. In addition, a 'gratification' or 'sense of relief' occurs after the hair is pulled. Therefore, at times, trichotillomania may be described better as a type of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) because of its compulsive-like nature.

In many individuals, adolescent-onset trichotillomania indicates more severe psychopathology as an impulse-control disorder or OCD, whereas pre-school-onset trichotillomania is often described as a childhood habit disorder. Trichotillomania in younger children is often mistaken for a short-term habit of hair pulling; therefore, careful analysis of the duration of the behavior is important for making the diagnosis because the behaviour must last several months to be considered trichotillomania.

Trichotillomania signs and symptoms can include:

• pulling hair – people may report hair loss related directly to hair pulling or plucking. However, unexplainable alopecia or hair loss is frequently the complaint, as the behaviour is typically conducted in private and subsequently denied.
• an increasing sense of tension immediately before pulling out the hair or when attempting to resist the behaviour
• pleasure, gratification, or relief when pulling out the hair
• denying hair pulling - children often deny hair pulling and as the behaviour is usually not conducted in the presence of adults or others, it is often difficult to diagnose as self-inflicted hair loss
• pulling hairs from other objects or people - occasionally, people may engage in hair pulling or plucking from other people, pets, dolls or other fibrous materials (eg carpets).
• avoiding social situations - some individuals may avoid social situations to maintain the privacy to engage in hair-pulling behaviour and to escape the embarrassment such behaviour may bring
• experiencing increased stress levels and/or anxiety - although hair pulling can occur during periods of relaxation, increased stress frequently precipitates or exacerbates trichotillomania

HALO can assist you in coping with the disorder whilst gradually helping you to let go of the compulsions and return to leading a normal and healthy life.

Sometimes work causes difficulties that can affect other aspects of your life, such as job burnout, job stress, and overwork. Some specific causes of stress are lack of control over work-related decisions, being bombarded by technology, lack of resources, workplaces changes, downsizing or inadequate working decisions.

When people feel overwhelmed, they lose confidence and become irritable or withdrawn, making them less productive and effective and their work less rewarding. If the warning signs of work stress go unattended, they can lead to bigger problems. Beyond interfering with job performance and satisfaction, chronic or intense stress can also lead to physical and emotional health problems.

Signs and symptoms of excessive job and workplace stress

• feeling anxious, irritable, or depressed
• apathy, loss of interest in work.
• problems sleeping
• fatigue
• trouble concentrating
• muscle tension or headaches
• stomach problems
• social withdrawal

You may find it harder than ever to cope with challenges on the job. Both the stress we take with us when we go to work and the stress that awaits us on the job are on the rise – and employers, managers and workers all feel the added pressure. While some stress is a normal part of life, excessive stress interferes with your productivity and reduces your physical and emotional health, so it’s important to find ways to keep it under control. Fortunately, there is a lot that you can do to manage and reduce stress at work.

When stress on the job is interfering with your ability to work, care for yourself, or manage your personal life, it’s time to take action. Start by paying attention to your physical and emotional health. When your own needs are taken care of, you’re stronger and more resilient to stress. The better you feel, the better equipped you’ll be to manage work stress without becoming overwhelmed.

Taking care of yourself doesn’t require a total lifestyle overhaul. Even small things can lift your mood, increase your energy, and make you feel like you’re back in the driver’s seat. Take things one step at a time, and as you make more positive lifestyle choices, you’ll soon notice a noticeable difference in your stress level, both at home at work.

HALO can assist you with whatever work-related problems or worries you may have and will give in-depth support and understanding during your time with us and will also provide you with on-going support afterwards if required.