As this funny old year draws to a close we can mull over what has happened in our lives over the last 12 months, the good, the bad and the same old sort of stuff we normally get.

For myself it has been a difficult year, I will not lie. My mum had so many health issues that we were virtually on constant call with the care home. She ended up in hospital several times with pneumonia, sepsis as well as a broken hip and it was very clear she was becoming more and more frail as the months passed. She finally passed away in September and in many ways it was a massive relief that she was no longer suffering.

It still feels quite strangely disorientating to be without both mum and dad, it certainly makes you feel much more aware of your own mortality. It seems to have marked a new chapter in my own life where I have a bit more freedom to do the things that I would like to do.

My therapy business remains the one constant, it is something I love and feel wonderfully privileged to be able to do. But there are also other things that I would like to do more of, including playing the piano, creative writing, crochet (still can’t really get the hang of it) walking and much more reading. It is lovely to feel that I can now really put my mind to doing more of these things.

I am still also really interested in the way diet impacts on mental health and will be going on a course at the end of January at the Royal Society of Medicine which explores the effect of inflammation on the brain. The idea that depression could have a physiological – and not so much psychological – cause fascinates me.

How are you feeling as this year draws to a close, and the new one starts? Are there particular aims or goals that you have? Maybe this is the year that you decide to try hypnotherapy for the first time?

Whatever the new year holds for you, may I wish you a very happy, healthy and peaceful one.

All good wishes,
Wendy xx