Professional Insights
May 2026
Grief Isn’t Only About Death
When people think about grief, they often think about bereavement. But grief can emerge through many different kinds of loss, not only the death of someone we love.
We can grieve the end of a relationship, a version of ourselves, a future we imagined, or a life that did not unfold in the way we hoped. Sometimes grief appears after a major change: becoming a parent, leaving a career, moving away, or recognising that something important is no longer possible.
Because these losses are less visible, people often minimise them. They tell themselves that nothing “serious enough” has happened to justify how they feel. And yet grief does not depend on whether a loss is publicly recognised. It emerges wherever there has been attachment, hope, meaning, or love.
Often, non-death grief goes unnoticed because it hides beneath other experiences. It can look like anxiety, numbness, irritability, or a constant sense of emotional exhaustion. Many people cope by staying busy, focusing on others, or pushing difficult feelings aside. Sometimes these strategies helped us survive at one point in our lives. But grief that has no space to be acknowledged rarely disappears completely.
In therapy, people sometimes discover they are grieving not only what happened, but what never happened: the care they did not receive, the safety they were missing, or the version of themselves they feel they could have been under different circumstances.
Naming grief can feel uncomfortable, but it can also bring relief. There is something powerful about recognising that what we are carrying is not weakness or failure, but loss.
Grief is not only about death. It is part of being human, of becoming attached, of loving, hoping, and changing throughout our lives.
April 2026
Menopause Action Plans:
What They May Mean for You at Work
You may have seen increasing conversation about Menopause Action Plans in the workplace and wondered what this actually means for you.
Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, UK employers are being encouraged to introduce formal Menopause Action Plans alongside gender pay gap reporting. From April 2026, larger organisations will be expected to publish these plans voluntarily, with a move towards them becoming mandatory from 2027.
While this sits at a policy level, it may begin to shape your day-to-day experience at work.
From an employee perspective, these changes are intended to create clearer and more consistent support around menopause in the workplace.
You may notice things such as:
Managers becoming more informed and confident in conversations about menopause
Clearer workplace policies or guidance being introduced
Greater access to flexible working or reasonable adjustments
Improved awareness of occupational health or wellbeing support
A gradual shift towards more open and respectful conversations
The aim is to move away from inconsistent or “case-by-case” responses, towards more reliable and visible support.
In my work as a counsellor, I often hear how menopause can affect not just physical wellbeing, but also confidence, concentration, and emotional resilience at work.
Symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, sleep disruption or brain fog can feel harder to manage when there is uncertainty about whether it is safe or appropriate to talk about them in the workplace.
Where there is understanding and support, people often feel more able to stay connected to their work without feeling they have to struggle alone.
February 2026
How Therapy Can Help with Work Stress 2026 Mental Health UK - Burnout Report
The latest Mental Health UK Burnout Report paints a familiar but concerning picture. Burnout is no longer an exception in UK workplaces, it is becoming part of the everyday backdrop of working life.
The report shows that around nine in ten adults experienced high or extreme stress in the past year, with a significant proportion taking time off work due to stress-related mental health difficulties. Younger workers, particularly those aged 18–24, are disproportionately affected, with many reporting time off linked to stress and burnout.
What stands out is not only the level of pressure, but how widespread it has become.
Whilst it is now acknowledge the importance of mental health, the report suggests a persistent gap between awareness and meaningful support. Many employees describe environments where stress is recognised in principle, but not always responded to in practice.
In this space, people often adapt by pushing through, minimising their experience, or continuing until the pressure becomes harder to manage. From a therapeutic perspective, this is often where burnout develops, not suddenly, but gradually, through sustained disconnection from personal limits and boundries.
The report also highlights key drivers that are structural rather than personal: high workload, long hours, and job insecurity remain central contributors to workplace stress.
This matters, because it challenges the idea that burnout is simply about individual resilience. Instead, it reflects the environments people are working within and the expectations placed on them.
Burnout is rarely just about workload. It is often shaped by blurred boundaries, work–life balance, family pressures, and the weight of internal and external expectations. Over time, these pressures can build quietly, alongside what is not said or acknowledged, until they begin to feel difficult to manage.
From my perspective, talking therapy offers a space to slow things down and make sense of what has been building. It can help people look more clearly at what is contributing to their stress and how they have been managing it over time. This process can support clearer thinking, better self-understanding, and practical shifts in how they relate to pressure and demand.