It has been a little while since my last blog post, and that pause hasn’t been accidental.

Over the past few months, a number of significant changes have been unfolding behind the scenes as I prepare to move to the South of France and transition my practice online. I’m aware that I don’t usually write about my own life here and that choice is intentional. As a counselling psychologist, I’m mindful of the importance of professional boundaries and of keeping this space focused on your inner world rather than mine.

That said, this feels like a moment where a degree of transparency matters.

Most of us have found ourselves there: phone in hand, scrolling without thinking, only to look up and realise that half an hour, or an entire evening, has disappeared. Often it’s not just the lost time that weighs on us, but how we feel afterwards: restless, overstimulated, negative about ourselves, our lives or the state of the world, and strangely disconnected.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

As the long days of summer begin to shorten and the air takes on the first crispness of autumn, many of us may notice small shifts, not just in the world around us, but within ourselves. The turning of the seasons has a way of inviting reflection on time passing, on what we’ve experienced, and on what lies ahead.

There’s a quiet pressure that creeps in for many people in their late twenties and thirties. It might begin with friends getting engaged, baby announcements on social media, or conversations about mortgage rates and nursery schools. Without even realising it, you might start to judge your own life and ask, “Am I behind?”

In a world that seems to reward speed, productivity, and constant availability, the idea of slowing down can feel countercultural or even indulgent. But in the therapy room, I often see how relentless busyness disconnects us from ourselves, from others, and from what truly matters.

Grief doesn’t follow a straight line. It doesn’t move through tidy stages or resolve on a set timeline. However, many people I work with come to therapy wondering if they’re grieving “properly” - whether they’re doing it too slowly, too quickly, or not in the right way.