My story on quitting.

I have been delaying writing this email. Unsure of what to say and wondering who might be interested in reading it.

You may have seen that I have taken a break from Instagram and I wanted to explain why. In therapy, endings are always considered to be significant and with this open-ended break, it feels important, even if it is just for me, to acknowledge it.

And whilst I have you… I wanted to reiterate that this is a break from social media, not my therapy practice (check out my new rebranded website HERE).

As many of you know, I started my professional instagram account over three years ago during lockdown when I was a newly qualified therapist. Instagram felt like such a great way to share what I was learning, build a community around mental health, and get the word out about my new private practice.

And it worked! Within a few months, over 40k of you started following along (this was WILD to me!), offering such thoughtful comments and insightful messages. I was even able to leave my full-time job and work exclusively in private practice which has led to so many brilliant opportunities.

Lately though, things have felt different. The platform started to feel very salesy and this just isn’t how I run my business. I was starting to fall out of love.

I didn’t love that with virality of certain posts meant spikes in followers but also a loss of community.

I didn’t love that supporting my peers in the industry meant that I was constantly comparing my services to theirs. “Am I supposed to be running a group programme? Writing a book?!”

I didn’t love that success through an algorithm required hours of meaningless engagement.

That last one had started to really hit home after having a baby last year. This is something that I didn’t post about on my page (which also led to conflicting feelings around authenticity and identity). Ultimately, my priorities have shifted. While I still LOVE my work, I realized I don't want to spend multiple hours a day on social media anymore.

So I've decided it's time to take a step back and hit pause for now.

I might come back at some point or this might be the end of the instagram page. I'm not sure yet. I just know that for now, this feels like the healthiest choice for me.

I appreciate each and every one of you for your support over the years. This community has meant so much. ??

Even if I'm not on IG as much, I'm still practicing and available for sessions if you'd ever like extra support.

Wishing you well on your own mental health journeys!

Sometimes, we’re scared to quit. Quitting feels like the easy thing to do. We’re ‘supposed’ to persevere. And yet, sometimes quitting is the hardest thing to do. It is the brave thing to do. It requires a leap of faith. Sometimes, quitting is also starting….