Indigo Counselling and Psychotherapy in Penrith, New South Wales | Mental health service

Indigo Counselling and Psychotherapy

Locality: Penrith, New South Wales

Phone: +61 434 865 429

Address: Level 1/ Suite 4 -450 High St 2750 Penrith, NSW, Australia

Website: https://www.caitwotherspoon.com.au

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25.01.2022 Let’s do day 3 - Create New Traditions of Doing Christmas Your Way.

25.01.2022 Today Im back in action on Facebook introducing Compassion Fatigue and loneliness. Join my email list and receive an ebook on Monday about Compassion Fatigue, what it is and what you can do to support yourself. Youll also receive more information, tips, videos and much more. See you in your inbox. Www.caitwotherspoon.com.au

24.01.2022 This is a time when we have hungry people, people out of work, and people out of spirit. This is a time where we need to uplift, not to separate Maya Angelou. I know were going through an uncertain time right now, however this is temporary and we will get through it. Switch off the news and notice the joy and happiness in your life.

24.01.2022 Today is World Refugee Day. A day to celebrate how refugees have added to our culture and make it a richer more inclusive culture. Remember we were all refugees once, except for our First Nation people

24.01.2022 The Ode recited at Anzac Day and Remembrance Day commemorations is the fourth stanza of Laurence Binyons For the Fallen, first published in the London Times in 1914. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning... We will remember them. https://www.defence.gov.au/events/RemembranceDay/TheOde.asp

23.01.2022 People are being so creative in how their coping with isolation. Take a look at Mummy And Daddys restaurant for their 5 and 2 year old sons who dont understand the lockdown

22.01.2022 What do you say after RUOK?

22.01.2022 Popping in to update you on the Compassion Fatigue E-book. Are you in my email list? Go to www.caitwotherspoon.com.au and pop in your email address to receive info on anxiety, grief, loss, depression and loneliness.

22.01.2022 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83187616250 Join me on Fridays at 1 oclock for coffee. Register for a free Zoom coffee (BYO coffee). ... Virtual coffee with Cait Free zoom call Fridays from 1:00pm to 2:00pm AEST, starting Friday 18th September and continuing the 25th September and 2nd October. COVID-19 has put a spanner in the works - Many are still in lockdown and alone. A little while ago I saw a teacher interviewed on TV. He was so sad and feeling really alone. He spoke about how much he missed family and friends. He was teaching via zoom and loved seeing this his students, however the main thing that he was missing was human contact. Human contact. Think about that for a minute. What comes to mind? Hugs, kissing, feeling someones physical presence. The scent of perfume or cologne, the smell of someone freshly showered. The smell of their hair, the touch of their fingertips, their energy and so much more. For many this is not possible anymore. One of my favourite things to do is sit down in my local cafe and talk to people. The things I miss the most in lockdown is family, friends, the gym, cafes and physically seeing my clients during lockdown. The one most powerful thing that is missing in our lives right now is human touch. When we experience affectionate touch, our bodies release oxytocin, a hormone known as the love hormone. This helps us feel love and trust. Studies show that touch soothes our cardiovascular system and helps to calm us. Research also shows in order to maintain both physical and emotional health, you need 8 to 10 meaningful touches a day. This isnt possible right now. I believe connection and sharing your stories is the next best thing, so Ive created Coffee with Cait, a virtual experience. If you have never heard of me before, click here to find out more. What I want for all of us is to be heard. These are extremely difficult times were going through - as they say, unprecedented. Grab a coffee on Friday the 18th of September at 1pm AEST - A significant time I know. Pop on to zoom and meet up with me in my virtual cafe. Lets keep emotionally healthy and share stories. Why is it important to share your story? It helps you to find your voice and gives you clarity on what youve been through. Its therapeutic. It helps others know theyre not alone, brings people together, gives hope to inspire and motivate, and promotes positive conversations. Id love to meet you and hear your story to help you know that youre not alone. There are others out there going through the same situation as you but experiencing it differently. Im curious to hear your story, and Ill be sharing mine too. Cait xx

21.01.2022 My Day In Lockdown I spent 4 hours today editing a 4 video on my mood today and it wouldnt upload. Apparently its too big and I dont know how to shrink it to fit. Oh well, Ill find out and upload it later. This is what it was about... Missing life as we knew it and learning to accept the new normal days in lockdown. ... Celebrating Easter without being with my gorgeous family (physically) is going to be difficult. Heres some suggestions for you. Have a Zoom party and each bring eggs to hand through the screen of your computer. Im going to be sharing a video later today of what Im making for my family who are here and those who have died. We want to remember them. And of course that video was part of todays debacle and it isnt uploaded either. This Easter be creative, do Easter a little bit differently and add heaps of fun because we really need an injection of fun and joy in our lives. Stay at home to enjoy it. . . . . . . #griefateaster #eastergrief #easterinlockdown #funwiththefamily #funwithfamily #feelingsadateaster #eastercelebrations #easterwithoutthefamily #feelingsadandlonelyateaster #easterfun #funateaster #missingfamilyateaster #griefandloss #grieflossandbereavement #grieftherapist #grieftherapy #easterfunandfamily #wereallinthistogether #seeyouontheotherside See more

21.01.2022 Today is Dying to Know Day, its held annually. Its the day to start conversations about death, dying bereavement. The question I get asked most in my office is: Why do we talk about having a baby, the pregnancy and the birth in such detail and all the time? Yet we dont talk about people dying. My mission in life to have the death, dying and grief conversations be a part of our everyday conversation.... Lets do this together and join the Online Death Cafe and be a part of the conversation. See you there xx

20.01.2022 finished for 2020.

20.01.2022 ANZAC Day 2020 is different. We didnt gather at dawn at cenataphs, we stood outside our homes in silent remembrance Lest we forget

19.01.2022 Christmas is just around the corner, I've had "Do Christmas Your Way" on my website and people have been emailing me to walk you through it because they feel anxious about Christmas and that's what I'm going to do. First go to www.caitwotherspoon.com.au and download it. I've got a video to show you what it looks like. Download and print it off and I'll pop on everyday for the next 8 days to explain a bit more about it. I'll put the days and times up later and you could pop i...n for a chat or just follow along. See you tomorrow at 5:30pm AEDST. Hope to see you there.

19.01.2022 Dont worry about the What ifs, enjoy What is. Worry and anxiety robs you from having a wonderful life. I hope you can live in the now. When you start feeling your emotions escalating into overwhelm, ground yourself by noticing what you hear, see, touch, smell and taste. Settle into your space and breathe. Fill your lungs with cool air, notice where your breath goes in your body, breathe out, feel the warm air flow out and continue to do this until you feel relaxed

18.01.2022 Day 5 - Do Christmas your way

16.01.2022 I set up for Zoom sessions, then go make my cuppa and this is what I return to Kahlua knows someone is going to be on the screen soon. He sits patiently waiting. I place his seat next to mine, he hops over and generally says, Hi to my clients then lays down for his nap. Until someone cries and he’s up at the screen just being with them. Nothing needs to be said. . Just be with another human being.

15.01.2022 Happy Easter I hope youre day is relaxed and calm. Isolation is pretty difficult on a day when were meant to celebrating with family and friends. ... Now we need to think outside the box to connect and celebrate. Do what you can and be okay with that, this is temporary and we will get through it. Stay home, relax and enjoy the moments. From Kahlua and myself, thanks for your support we really appreciate you still being here. Happy Easter

15.01.2022 I dont know who originally wrote this quote but I love it. Is your pet your therapist?

14.01.2022 A little insight from mans best friend

14.01.2022 Watch this with your kids to help them understand whats going on in the world today and ease their anxiety

13.01.2022 Dont worry about What ifs, enjoy What is. You only get one life, make it your best life

13.01.2022 Wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas. Thank you for being here. I hope you’re with your loved ones and those who love you

13.01.2022 Julia Baird poses the question, What can we do to nurture our inner lights? While anxiety and stress are high right now due to the COVID19 changing our lives day by day. We can change our focus from that to finding our inner lights. Things that give us a spark of joy. Things like doing something for another person, for example creating Zoom groups. My gorgeous cousin has done this to lift peoples spirits. She has such a big heart and realises there are friends who have anxiety and depression and need support because working from home is isolating in itself. We all need connection and feel a sense of purpose. Check in with your friends and do something fun with them remotely

13.01.2022 His mum reminds me of my mum. Im sharing this to let you know how much patience it takes to take care of someone who has Alzheimers and dementia. You need so much compassion and love

13.01.2022 Keep connected. During this tough time surround yourself with people who uplift you and are positive. My husband and I are always there for each other. Im very fortunate to have him by my side, however many people dont have their partner with them anymore (either from death, divorce, or by choice). Check in on people, especially those living on their own. They need the positive energy of others and feel connected to the wider community. Lets do this together!

12.01.2022 Can you relate to this? I have and it’s tough. This is a lovely video to share with kids during COVID19. It’s great information to help them understand what’s going on and how to deal with their feelings. ... You are not alone

12.01.2022 Are you on my mailing list yet? Ive written a new E-book on Compassion Fatigue and Im sending it out on Monday. Its filled with helpful information, activities, worksheets and more.

11.01.2022 This is an awesome book and very timely. The author was going through tough times herself and decided to record what she did. Ive only read the first chapter, however its pulled me in with the beauty of her description. I think it will be helpful in this difficult time

11.01.2022 I had the privilege of being interviewed by Tamara Stiller of Dignified Conversations today. We spoke about compassion fatigue and how important it is to take care of yourself during this time of isolation due to COVID-19. Kahlua (who is a trained therapy dog) got into the conversation too. Please, if you are a care giver to a loved one or professional care giver, pop over and follow Dignified Home Care (Facebook and Instagram). Tamara does an awesome job of sharing informa...tion and to top it off she is a wonderful human being. Thank you Tamara for all you do.

11.01.2022 Day 6 and 7 - Joy and Grief. Danielle LaPorte describes joy as the oxygen and is ever present and grief is the loss of something or someone and causes great pain. It’s also the change of anything like divorce, moving house, losing your job or anything life changing.

11.01.2022 A little humour in this stressful time Sending you lots of love and strength

10.01.2022 As you know im doing the @tribelife8 30 day photo challenge. This challenge is so much fun, its not too late to join. Im using the word "adventure" instead of "challenge" because to me adventure is exciting experience, its creative and fun. I can remember when we were told to isolate ourselves, all gyms, cafes and shops were closed and I had a meltdown. I felt like the world was ending. ... I would have no contact with anyone, it was the worst thing that could happen to me. I can quickly sink into depression, however through my own therapy Ive learned to accept my feelings and work with them to see which serve me and that I have the choices. I allowed myself to sit in these feelings of being lost and hopeless. The next day I worked out how to live my life in a different way and I keep reviewing this. Reviewing my routine each week helps me to see light at the end of the tunnel. Ive now accepted that this is temporary and we will have to live our lives differently but thats okay, I can do that and so can you. When @tribelife8 put up these 30 day prompts it helped me to focus on the changes Ive made and how much its added to my life, rather than taken away from it. The prompts help me think outside of the box and focus on the things that I really love about my life that I want to keep and am grateful for. One of the things that have changed is my exercise routine. I used to get up at 5:30 and go to and F45 class and now I have two online classes that I do. These are @thefunctionaleffect in the morning and @krave_fitness_ at night. Im grateful for my trainers from @f45_training_southpenrith who started an online training programme and Shereen from Krave who has online dance and exercise programmes too. Im grateful for my body and its strength. What are you grateful for today? . . . . . . #isosurvival #livingeachday #thrivinginisolation #goodtherapy #griefandloss #grieflossandbereavement #wereallinthistogether

10.01.2022 A quote from the book, Phosphorescence. Apparently humans glow in the dark too. I wonder if this is where having an Aura originated? This book is so informative, creative and insightful. Im really enjoying reading it

10.01.2022 I love starting my weekend with the one I love (my husband, not the coffee ). It gives us a chance to slow down and catch up on our week gone by. We dont see each other much during the week, so Saturday morning is our date. We spend hours chatting about all different things. One of the subjects was, who will support us through our grief when one of us dies Were so lucky to have supportive friends who will share in our grief and who know that grief doesnt end Have you had that conversation with your partner? How did it go?

09.01.2022 How are you spending your Easter Celebrations this year? We usually spend the day at our eldest daughters property, today it was Zoom meetings and videos shared between us. Its different and we had so much fun.... Heres some of the fun that my 4 older grandkids had.

08.01.2022 Im so excited, Ive just received my new logo design from @inkwellbyzara Isnt it gorgeous? Ive been working with Zara for a while now. Shes awesome at graphic design. She understands what I want, we just need a couple of tweaks and voila I see my dream image appear. Thanks so much Zara, I look forward to working with you again soon

08.01.2022 Mrs Halstead is 92 years old, she tells a great story and makes easy, delicious scones. I saw her couple of mornings ago on ABC News Breakfast. They not only report the news but weave really interesting stories on everyday people through the show. Below is the story of Mrs Halsted, her scones and a small portion of her life. Id love her to have a TV show because shes lived an interesting life and has lived to tell the story.... She also includes the simple recipe for her scones, made with 3 ingredients, lots of live and laughter. Im making them today https://www.abc.net.au//cwa-member-muriel-halsted/12189722

07.01.2022 Can you relate to this? I have and its tough. This is a lovely video to share with kids during COVID19. Its great information to help them understand whats going on and how to deal with their feelings. ... You are not alone

07.01.2022 Today is Dying to Know Day, it’s held annually. It’s the day to start conversations about death, dying bereavement. The question I get asked most in my office is: Why do we talk about having a baby, the pregnancy and the birth in such detail and all the time? Yet we don’t talk about people dying. My mission in life to have the death, dying and grief conversations be a part of our everyday conversation.... Let’s do this together and join the Online Death Cafe and be a part of the conversation. See you there xx

07.01.2022 Looks like I'm promoting drinking coffee, doesn't it? Nah! I'm not, I'm promoting World Health Day. A day to share how you're going, what you're doing, being vulnerable and just being you. The focus is mental health. We're all suffering at the moment with restrictions on how we live. Our relationships are different, maybe even strained.... I love getting together with my family. It's usually over coffee at the kitchen bench or a cafe. I think every cafe owner in Penrith knows my husband and I. So there's lots of photos of our family with cups of coffee in their hands (especially me ). Our Coffee Talks We’ve had all the talks over coffee. Talks about death and dying, how we want to be taken care of if we can’t take care of ourselves. Talks on grief, how we remember those loved ones who have died and how we miss them. We even had a practice funeral in our daughter’s kitchen. We’ve talked about anxiety, what it’s like and how it travels down the generations. We’ve discussed bullying and the impact of that on everyone. So many wonderful talks over coffee. Where do you have your talks? And what do you talk about? #worldmentalhealthday See more

07.01.2022 This is my good friend and colleague Jodie, who has been researching the things we can do for ourselves while in lockdown. Watch this and get some different ideas on what you can do

06.01.2022 A final thought as #nationalnursesweek wraps up.

06.01.2022 See you at 6:15pm AEDST to learn about creating new traditions this Christmas

06.01.2022 Hi there, we’ve done number one - where you wrote a list of people, places and events and then you wrote yes or no intuitively alongside each thing. Day 2 you planned the events that you’ve Decided to attend and that if you change your mind, that’s okay too just be flexible. Day 3 was create new traditions and decide which you want to keep and which you want to change or get rid of all together.... And today is day 4 - NO. You know it’s okay to say no. You don’t have to say yes to everything you’re invited to. I know it’s difficult to say no because you feel people will judge you or you feel you’ll upset your friend or you’re afraid if you say no they won’t ask you out again. You’ve got to save people from your resentment. My therapist told me that years and years ago and I continue to pass it on to my clients. You can let them know that your going through tough times right now and need to take care of yourself more. When I first heard my therapist say it, I didn’t understand it at all because I felt I’d lose all my friends. And I did lose some of them. The one’s who didn’t understand that it wasn’t personal. Maybe I didn’t feel like I could cope with a crowd, sometimes I didn’t have the energy to go out and sometimes I didn’t feel like dealing with anyone at all. I used to say yes to everyone and I used to stress about it and get anxious about what I’d say or what people would think of me. I can remember trying on every bit of clothing I had and still not being happy with how I looked. I couldn’t believe how exhausting it was and how unhappy I was. The number one thing to know is to take care of yourself to live your life and if your caring for others. Say yes to the people who understand what you’re going through and you feel supported by and who can sit with you, no matter how you feel. You don’t owe anybody, anything. If you say yes to everything, you’ll be very busy and exhausted and won’t have time to take care of yourself. One thing you need to remember is that you can’t control others, the only person you can control is you. You’re the only one who knows your priorities. If someone asks you to a party and you don’t want to go and find yourself saying yes, before you say yes. You can say Let me think about that and I’ll get back to you This gives you time to think about how you’re going to respond and if you really feel like going or not. And remember to be flexible and kind to yourself, you don’t have to go. Next time I’m talking about #5 teach - this is about teaching friends and family about your style of grief and understanding theirs. See you next time

04.01.2022 Okay, let’s do this. I’m sorry it’s late. Lets Do Christmas Your Way and plan it out today

04.01.2022 OMG! Theres a glitch in my system. I can see 107 people have registered their email address on my website, however my system isnt responding or recognising them. Thank you for signing up to receive my E-book on Compassion Fatigue. I appreciate your support and want you to receive what was promised. ... The ebook is done and Ill send it to you as soon as things are restored to normal

03.01.2022 I’m going to be a little late today. I’m waiting for a phone call and didn’t want to be interrupted in the middle of a live stream. I hope it doesn’t take too much longer. I’ll update you on a time asap. Thanks for your patience

02.01.2022 Im doing a pic a day challenge for @tribelife8 This is day 1 - Workspace. Im going to be a bit creative and maybe a bit obscure to entertain myself At the moment my workspace is filled with domestic animals, this is Kahlua. Hes my time keeper. If Ive spent too long sitting still hell pull my hand away from the keyboard and if I dont stop hell stare and bark at me until I do. Hes relentless The hashtag is iso survival, I dont f...eel Im just surviving, I feel like Im thriving and loving the slower pace now. It took a while to work out that my life was actually out of control and disorganised. Ive used this time to get organised and focused, I feel so relaxed . . . . . . #isosurvival #workingfromhome #abitoffunatwork #abitoffun #lovemydog #lovemylife #lovemylife #lovemywork #lovemywork See more

01.01.2022 During our time of isolation, take notice of the ordinary. This is a time to be mindful and appreciate what we have. What do appreciate in your life?

01.01.2022 Thinking of our loved ones who are in heaven and those we cant be with because of lockdown. Stay safe Happy Easter

01.01.2022 Let’s do Christmas Your Way. Go to www.caitwotherspoon.com.au and download Do Christmas Your Way and over the next few days I’ll walk you through it.