Health and Wellbeing

health and wellbeing Let’s Talk

About Therapy!

By Reeta Minhas-Judd

For many years if you spoke of having any form of therapy, many people would use the term “Mentally Unstable” to describe you. However, nowadays that perceived stigma is much less prevalent. With so many forms of media promoting wellbeing and mental health, therapy is now at the forefront of most people’s minds, especially since the pandemic. However, there is still a minority who believe that they don’t need any form of therapy and that their coping mechanism is all they need in order to survive on a daily basis. This said, the coping mechanism I refer to is not sustainable and therefore this is when you hear of people having mental breakdowns because they are unable to cope with the pressure of suppressing their emotions and feelings for a lengthy period of time.

Suppressing ones emotions can be a cultural thing as being a British born Asian myself, my parents never promoted talking openly about your feelings and mental health. From their parents teaching them to show no emotion and just get on with it attitude, this was filtered down to my parents who as loving as they were, did not encourage my siblings and I to share their issues or concerns. To then carry this mindset onto the next generation is heart breaking because this pattern will continue unless it is addressed and spoken about. I was bullied throughout the whole of my secondary school and because I was never encouraged to express emotion I suffered with this trauma for a large proportion of my life and this was very detrimental to my wellbeing.

It can also be a gender issue where again men were told “to be a man” and not to talk about how their feeling etc. My clientele currently is predominantly male. I hope this will continue and more males will learn from their peers that it is not a sign of weakness to express emotion and to seek help when they feel they need it.

This is why today, as a Life Therapist of my own company RMJ Wellbeing, I encourage everybody to talk. However, “trivial” or petty you may think your concerns are, I would implore you to speak to a professional. It is far better to deal with a what you may categorise as petty now, rather than have to deal with a major disaster further down the line. Mostly it is when somebody reaches crisis point, that is when they will seek therapy, however why not address it at an earlier stage and this way your able to work through it before it reaches the point of no return.

Reeta Minhas-Judd is a Life Therapist who runs her own wellbeing company, RMJ Wellbeing.Whether you are a business or an individual struggling mentally, Reeta can help you to enjoy a happy existence. If you would like a taster, why not book a FREE 90 minute Life Therapy Session and make your dreams a reality!

For more information either visit www.rmjwellbeing.com or email

reeta@rmjwellbeing.com

COVID response plan

needed to help businesses

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is urging government to provide a clear framework for businesses on living with COVID as high levels of absence rates and infections continue to disrupt firms.

Now that free testing in England has been removed, businesses are still reporting absence rates of up 20% and say advice on how to protect vulnerable staff and customers, including pregnant women, is still far too vague.

Hannah Essex, co-executive director of the BCC, said: “Research by our Chamber Network has found that many firms are still struggling to get to grips with the way ahead. “Business leaders are keen to get back to prepandemic trading conditions and full capacity in the workplace, but they are worried about their legal responsibilities and liabilities once the working safely guidance is removed and replaced with general public health guidance.

“Businesses need crystal clear guidance, especially smaller firms who don’t have their own HR departments to help them manage these sorts of issues.

“For many firms, living with COVID really means living with disruption. One positive COVID case in a workplace has the potential to be hugely disruptive if it causes several other colleagues to become ill and need time off work.

“Firms are also concerned about how to protect their vulnerable members of staff when the removal of free testing means either not being able to identify COVID cases or incurring additional costs for tests that they can ill-afford in the current climate.

“If the government is not prepared to provide tests for the workplace, then it must at least look to secure low-cost options for hard-pressed firms that are already facing a rising costs crisis.

“Businesses also need to understand how the government will respond to further variants of concern – or any future pandemic – and what support would be put in place if new guidance or mandatory restrictions are introduced that have a negative impact on the economy.

“Firms will only truly be able to live with COVID when they are confident that a plan is in place for future outbreaks. Otherwise, uncertainty will put a brake on investment and the shadow of the pandemic could continue to loom over our economy for months to come.”

Companies have been hit by soaring energy bills as the war in Ukraine intensifies, as well as higher raw material costs in some cases. They have also had to cope with a rise in employer national insurance contributions, from 13.8% to 15.05%. Research conducted by the BCC shows that more than four out of five employers (81%) say they have been impacted by the increase in national insurance contributions.